LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Thanks to FCHC

I, Fredie McKinney, want to thank the staff at Falls Community Hospital & Clinic, especially Katie Cruz, for their quick response in saving my life. 

In mid-August of last year, I experienced chest pain & numbness in the arm while working outside. I went to Falls Community Hospital & Clinic, where I received an EKG & an MRI with dye. I was also advised to make an appointment with a cardiologist.  

A couple of days later around 5 a.m. I experienced another attack and went with my wife back to Falls Community Hospital where they did another EKG. As I was waiting for my wife to bring our car around, I suffered yet another attack. I was picked up with a sheet & placed on a gurney. 

Katie did CPR on me for eight minutes and brought me back. I also had to be shocked. I was put in an ambulance to be taken to Hillcrest Hospital in Waco. The person with me in the back of the ambulance would warn me about any bumps in the streets to prepare me for it. The staff at Falls Community Hospital communicated with my wife as to what was going on and got her over to Hillcrest Hospital as well.

The doctor at Hillcrest Hospital said I had 85 percent blockage in a heart valve that controlled 60 percent of my heart. I had my operation and then spent five hours in the Operating Room because there wasn’t room in the ICU. Then I spent a day in the ICU and a day in a regular room and sent home.

I also want to thank my new doctor at Falls Community Hospital, Dr. Clorinda Zawacki, MD. I also have a hole in my ear, but that’s another story ...

Fredie McKinney

Marlin

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