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BrettCare

Published on February 20, 2020

Last updated 07:28 PM August 21, 2020

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From diagnosis to treatment, Brett received cutting-edge cardiac care that saved his life, all from one health system, mere miles from his home.

After working in construction for over 20 years, Brett Faucett knows all about the right building blocks. Piece by piece, a building comes together, but if one brick falls out of line, the whole system can crumble.

That’s why Brett knew something was wrong when the numbness started in his left arm. It came and went several times before he ended up behind the wheel of his car.

Sitting at an intersection, Brett was at a crossroads. He could turn right, attend his out-of-town business meeting, and ignore the sinking feeling inside. Or he could turn left and drive straight to the emergency department at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.

“It’s really hard when you plan on going to work and you know people are counting on you. It’s hard to make that left turn and listen to your body.”

Brett took a deep breath and turned the wheel toward the hospital, forever changing the course of his life.

All heart attacks can be deadly, but a widowmaker heart attack is particularly dangerous. In Brett’s case, we had to act quickly to restore blood flow and prevent any damage to his heart.

- Dr. Salvatore Mannino

Wellstar Cardiologist

Listen to Brett's Story

In the Nick of Time

Though he didn’t know it, Brett was just minutes away from death when he arrived at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital. After a flurry of tests, Dr. Salvatore Mannino discovered Brett was having a “widowmaker” heart attack with a 99.9% blockage.

“All heart attacks can be deadly, but a widowmaker heart attack is particularly dangerous,” explained Dr. Mannino. A widowmaker heart attack occurs when the left anterior descending (LAD) artery, which supplies blood to the front part of the heart, is blocked. “In Brett’s case, we had to act quickly to restore blood flow and prevent any damage to his heart.”

“When you’re 39 years old, you would never think, ‘Man, I'm going to be dealing with a heart attack,’” Brett said. “When you're in a situation like that, your world is flipped upside down.”

From the technicians to the physicians, the Wellstar Medical Staff was there to offer support and reassurance every step of the way.

“They did an amazing job of just calming me down, letting me know what was going on, letting me know what my future looked like,” Brett remembered.

For this father of two, his treatment at Wellstar made all the difference. Less than 24 hours later, Brett was released from the hospital with no heart damage, and back home with his wife and kids.

“My family has a dad and a husband because of Wellstar,” Brett stressed. “As much as it’s a shock to the person that has the heart attack, it’s an even bigger shock for the family because they’re the ones that could have been left behind.”

Following his release, Brett went to Wellstar Cobb Hospital for cardiac rehabilitation, a medically supervised education, lifestyle and exercise program for patients with cardiac-related illnesses like heart attacks.

After completing the program, Brett was able to move forward without missing a beat.


Listening to Your Body

A few years later, Brett sat on an airplane heading to Atlanta from a business trip. As the tires lifted from the ground, he broke out in a cold sweat and felt a nagging tightness in his chest.

“It felt like I maybe had bronchitis, just a little tightness. It was a completely different feeling than my first heart issue,” Brett recounted.

Even though he was more than 30,000 feet in the air, Brett knew he had to do something. After notifying the flight attendant of the situation, an EMS team was brought on the tarmac at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport. As soon as the plane touched down, Brett was rushed through downtown to Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center.

“When you have a second heart attack, you just don’t even know what to do,” Brett said, describing the intensity of the situation. “You don’t know how to even process that.”

After undergoing tests in the cardiac catheterization (cath) lab, Dr. Paul Douglass discovered a 40% blockage in a vessel that ran across the front of Brett’s heart. The cardiologist cleared the blockage immediately.

“It turns out Mr. Faucett had a new lesion that caused his second heart attack. Luckily, this time his artery didn’t require a stent.” Dr. Douglass recalled, noting that a stent helps prop the artery open, decreasing its chance of narrowing again. “However, to prevent a heart attack in the future, he was placed on a strict diet and aerobic exercise plan.”

After two days in the ICU, Brett was feeling like himself again.

During it all, Brett fondly remembers how Dr. Douglass treated him throughout the process. “He took a lot of time with me explaining everything. He made me feel at ease and helped me understand what was going on.”

To this day, Brett still regularly sees Dr. Douglass for any of his cardiovascular needs.

“Dr. Douglass walks the walk. Literally.” He laughed, remembering how he once called the cardiologist and caught him on the treadmill.

But Dr. Douglass wasn’t the only one helping Brett during his recovery.

“Caring for patients is a team effort with both the physician and the family,” Dr. Douglass said about Brett’s health journey. “His wife and children were instrumental in his recovery. They helped cheer him on through cardiac rehabilitation so he could achieve his health goals.”


Expert Heart Care

From diagnosis to treatment, Brett received cutting-edge cardiac care that saved his life, all from one health system, mere miles from his home. Brett and his entire family continue their wellness journey with Wellstar, whether that’s making sure he stays healthy or scheduling routine check-ups for his two kids at Acworth Health Park.

“Wellstar covers all my family's health needs,” Brett said about the comprehensive care he and his family have received. “The way Wellstar has taken care of us is world-class. We feel like we’re the only patients they have.”

One of the biggest lessons Brett has learned is to listen to his body as he gets older. “When you’re younger you feel like you’re bulletproof, and nothing could ever happen to you. One thing I would advise is making sure that all men of all ages have some kind of health screening at least once a year.”

Brett knows his cardiac episodes are just a couple of chapters in his health story. To keep making progress, he must continue to choose to live a healthy lifestyle and be an active participant in his wellness. But with Wellstar, he doesn’t have to do it alone.

“Everyone has a health story that gets written,” Brett said. “And there is no other place that I would want my story written than at Wellstar.”

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Salvatore F Mannino Paul Lawrence Douglass Kennestone Hospital
Atlanta Medical Center Cobb Hospital BrettCare Heart Care
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Newsroom

Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Wins Best in Real Estate Award
Wellstar Health System announces that Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Emergency Department (ED) has won the Best in Real Estate Award for Healthcare Deal of the Year. The awards honor top commercial real estate deals across Atlanta for the year.
 
The new Wellstar Kennestone Hospital ED in Marietta represents an investment of $126 million and serves the vital healthcare needs of up to 600 patients daily and up to 220,000 patients annually at full capacity.
 
The new ED opened July 2020 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Opening the Southeast's largest and busiest ED would be a feat any typical year; Wellstar Health System accomplished this daunting task while navigating the challenging, emotional, and ever-changing COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Earlier this week, Great Place to Work® and Fortune honored Wellstar Health System as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For®, Wellstar’s fourth time on this prestigious list of the best companies to work for in the nation. Wellstar is the only Georgia-based healthcare company included in the 2021 ranking; only two other companies headquartered in Georgia were included in this year’s list.
Keep reading
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PeopleCare

JohnCare

John Petrick loves the simple things in life. He revels in time spent with family, reeling in a big catch and feeling the crisp wind in his face during a morning bike ride.

However, for a man that enjoys such simple pleasures, John’s heart health is quite complicated. For a long time, his well-being felt like a puzzle that no one could quite figure out.

John’s complex heart issues first began over two decades ago, when he nearly died after his heart suddenly went into an abnormal rhythm.

After the life-threatening heart episode, specialists in California diagnosed him with ventricular tachycardia (VT), a severe heart condition in which abnormal electrical signals cause the heart to beat faster. Then later, he was also diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular and rapid heart rhythm that can cause heart palpitations and shortness of breath.

From defibrillators to heart surgeries, John and his Californian care team worked hard to manage the ups and downs of his heart conditions. But after spending years in the Golden State, John was ready to take on a new adventure: moving over 2,000 miles away to Georgia.

“The decision to move to Georgia was difficult because of my heart conditions,” John shared. “I needed a doctor who would really take the time to sort everything out.”

Luckily, it wasn’t long before John was connected with an entire team of Wellstar heart experts delivering comprehensive care all within the same health system.

Finding the Right Rhythm

Before being referred for specialty care by his Wellstar primary care provider, John briefly received heart care from another health system in Georgia. However, he had some reservations about his treatment.

“Honestly, it wasn’t the level of care – especially in terms of empathy – that I was used to,” he admitted. “And that’s a scary situation when you have a condition like mine.”

That was never a problem at Wellstar. As soon as he met with Wellstar Health System Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology Dr. Narendra Kanuru, John knew the physician was in his corner.

“I could tell Dr. Kanuru really took the time to study my case,” John said, remembering his first visit with the specialist. “He recited my medical history from the last 20 years, without having to look at any papers.”

Since then, they have developed a great healthcare partnership, always keeping an open line of communication.

“I feel so comfortable expressing any fears or apprehensions about my conditions or treatment with Dr. Kanuru. He’s always very receptive,” John shared. “His level of empathy, professional expertise and ability to communicate and understand me is just as valuable as his technical, medical skills.”

Along with Dr. Kanuru’s expertise, Wellstar Cardiologist Dr. David Caras provides an essential complement to John’s cardiovascular care. While a cardiac electrophysiologist hones in on the functional and rhythmic areas of the heart, a cardiologist offers a broad spectrum of heart care.

While each focusing on their areas of expertise, the two heart specialists collaborate to create the best treatment plan for John, and adjust it along the way.

“Dr. Kanuru and Dr. Caras work together as a team,” John said. “It’s truly remarkable and beautiful. Often, I’ll go to see one of the doctors and they’ll mention a conversation they had about me with the other recently.”

Read his story
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PeopleCare

John&JaninCare

If “adventure” were a gene, John Petrick surely passed it on to his daughter, Janin.

The father-daughter duo has always wanted to experience everything life has to offer. Together, the pair has survived an avalanche in the Alaskan wilderness, spent the night stranded on a cliff and even made a cross-country move from California to Georgia.

But one thing they never expected to have in common was a rare heart condition.

Instead of putting their shared adventures on pause, John and Janin teamed up with Wellstar in different ways to manage their heart conditions. With an entire team of heart specialists working seamlessly together, the pair found the expert, specialized cardiac care they needed – and it never skipped a beat.

Discovering the “Janin Genome”

For more than two decades, John managed the ups and downs of atrial fibrillation (Afib) and ventricular tachycardia (VT) with specialists in California. But after moving cross-country to Georgia, he had to start over from scratch.

With such complex heart conditions and a more recent diagnosis of congestive heart failure, John knew he couldn’t trust his care to just anyone. At Wellstar, he soon found an expansive, multidisciplinary team – including cardiologists, electrophysiologists and surgeons.

Similarly, Wellstar would also end up helping John’s daughter, Janin, following her treatment for a severe heart episode – one that was strikingly similar to her father’s. After several spells of faintness, Janin was equipped with a Holter monitor, a wearable device that records heart rhythms.

“After just 18 hours, I got a call from my doctor’s office. My electrophysiologist was gravely concerned about the readings,” Janin recalled. “Apparently, the night before, my heart had completely stopped for five seconds. And, at that very moment, I was in a dangerous arrhythmia.”

Just like her father, Janin was diagnosed with VT and an atrioventricular block, which occurs when the electrical signals traveling from the upper chambers of the heart to the lowers chambers is blocked.

She soon got a defibrillator implanted to help keep her heart in regular rhythm. As Janin started to get back on track after the surgery, her doctor felt more answers could be uncovered. At her electrophysiologist’s suggestion, she participated in genetic testing.

At Wellstar, John underwent the same genetic testing to see if any clues about their heart conditions could be uncovered in their DNA. With just a simple blood draw, the Wellstar Genetics team can get an inside look at the hereditary markers for certain genetic conditions.

After sharing so many adventures and similar personality traits, it was no surprise when the results revealed the same exact abnormality in both of their genes.

However, the genetic discovery – playfully nicknamed the “Janin Genome” by John and his daughter – was a first for the heart specialists. While genetic tests for other heart conditions like cardiac disease may be more commonplace, testing for arrhythmic heart disorders like VT is rare.

“When we got the results, they told us, ‘We've never seen this before – such an identical test result, regarding the same gene and the same anomaly affecting heart rhythm,’” John said. “The doctors concluded there may be a genetic connection to our heart problems, and it was worth paying attention to and exploring further.”

The Petricks are now in the process of getting the genetic testing done for the whole family, so all of their loved ones can take charge of their own wellness.

“After we had our testing, it was a starting point for our family,” Janin said, explaining how the genetic testing had a positive ripple effect for her family members. “We encouraged every single one of our blood relatives to go through genetic testing.”

Read their story
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