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After
30 years of cruising, Mona O’Connell felt
like a fish out of water.
“It all happened on the cruise ship,” the 76-year-
old Richardson resident says.
“My husband and I had finished dinner, done a
little walking on the ship, and gone to bed. I had
heartburn, but that was pretty normal for me. It
wasn’t until I woke up that I felt something was off.”
Her left arm was numb, but she attributed that to
sleeping on a hard mattress. Then after taking a baby
aspirin and having a little breakfast, she realized that
the numbness had nothing to do with how she slept.
“The pain started radiating down my arm,” Mona
says. “I knew then that we needed to get help.”
The O’Connells went to the ship’s infirmary, where
the medical team ran blood and EKG tests. They soon
determined that Mona had had a heart attack and
needed stents placed. Two options were given: have
the procedure in Mexico, where the ship was headed,
or come back home to be treated.
“I immediately knew I wanted to be back home, and I
knew I wanted to be treated by Dr. Nguyen,” Mona says.
Safe on dry land
Nhan Nguyen, MD, cardiologist at Methodist
Richardson Medical Center, had treated Mona’s
husband, Jim, with exceptional service for years. She
made sure it was Dr. Nguyen and Dr. Nguyen alone
who treated her.
“When I first saw Mona, we determined that
multiple stents would need to be placed,” Dr. Nguyen
says. “We didn’t know the extent of her blockages till
we began the procedure.”
In a procedure called cardiac catheterization,
Dr. Nguyen inserted five stents into Mona’s arteries.
One artery alone needed four stents placed, but the
procedure went smoothly, and Mona left the hospital
the next day.
Calmwaters
Only three weeks after her procedure, Mona says she
was back to where she was.
Dr. Nguyen and Methodist Richardson’s cardiac
rehabilitation team have since worked closely with
Mona on her rehabilitation. Along with closely
monitoring and adjusting her prescriptions to help
manage her recovery, they’ve also helped Mona with
her arthritis.
“Dr. Nguyen and his staff have helped me learn
and practice exercises that I’m now able to incorporate
into my day,” Mona says.“I was allergic to common
arthritis medicines, and if it weren’t for Dr. Nguyen
and his staff who helped me find a more natural way
around it, I wouldn’t feel this way.
“I’m back to playing golf one to two times a week,
and my husband and I are looking forward to our next
cruise,” Mona says. “I’m looking even more forward to
a pain-free one!”
Smoo
sailing
A heart attack at sea
brought Mona O’Connell
home to Methodist Richardson
Methodist Richardson Medical Center
•
❁
Spring 2015
11