Johnny “Bow” Matthews was preparing for bed when he felt a tightness in his chest he just couldn’t shake.
He tried to sleep, but chest pains wouldn’t let him drift off. He attempted to wake his wife, Deidra, but she wouldn’t budge.
The mother of two had been up and about all day, from preparing breakfast early in the morning to putting the kids in bed after dinner.
“I told her, ‘Hey, something’s wrong,’ but she was sleeping too deeply and wasn’t comprehending.”
Bow couldn’t afford to wait. As the pain and discomfort worsened, he dressed and drove to the emergency department at Wellstar Cobb Medical Center.
Article Category: PeopleCare
Wholehearted Healthcare
MatthewsCare
Published On August 11, 2020
Last updated 09:26 AM January 24, 2024
The Matthews family (pictured left to right: Bow, Canon, Chase and Deidra Matthews).
The most influential thing you can do for your health is to improve your lifestyle in terms of diet, exercise and losing weight. Usually, that is more powerful than any medicine that I can give you.
- Dr. Ravi Edupuganti
Wellstar Cardiologist
Listen to Bow's Story
The next morning, Deidra called out to Bow and got no answer.
“I saw his name light up on my phone. I picked it up and said, ‘Where are you?’ He told me he was in the emergency room. Then I became scared out of my mind.”
Overnight, Bow was diagnosed with a type of congestive heart failure called cardiomyopathy, where the muscle in the heart can enlarge, thicken or stiffen, leading to heart failure, irregular heartbeats and other complications.
There might be no symptoms in the early stages of cardiomyopathy. As the condition progresses, symptoms begin to manifest, such as shortness of breath, fatigue, rapid and fluttering heartbeats and chest discomfort—all of which Bow was experiencing.
Empowered decisions
Months after Bow’s diagnosis, Wellstar Cardiologist Dr. Ravi Edupuganti checked Bow’s heart function again. It still hadn’t improved enough.
“Only 50% of cardiomyopathy patients live beyond five years,” Dr. Edupuganti said, relaying the grim statistic. “I recommended that Bow get a defibrillator implanted. This would help him live longer.”
“I asked, ‘What other options are there?” Bow explained. “Thankfully, Dr. Edupuganti gave me another path to consider.”
“The most influential thing you can do for your health is to improve your lifestyle,” Dr. Edupuganti stressed.
Bow reiterated that he and Dr. Edupuganti had an excellent physician-patient relationship, and he really felt heard.
“We had such a great rapport,” Bow emphasized. “He gave me my options, and we talked about how to move forward. Dr. Edupuganti keeps me honest about my new lifestyle changes with diet and exercise. I couldn't imagine going to any other cardiologist. He let me know I was empowered, and it was completely my choice.”
From failure to success
At Dr. Edupuganti’s suggestion, Bow chose to attend the Heart Failure Academy at Wellstar, a free, four-week course at Wellstar for patients and their family members. The Academy is aimed at giving patients and their support system the tools to make the lifestyle changes necessary to manage their condition and keep them out of the hospital.
The Academy was everything Bow needed, and then some.
“I followed all the steps that the Heart Failure Academy provided. I changed my lifestyle, improved my diet and exercise, and I’m proud to say I’ve lost 83 pounds since my diagnosis.”
Then when Dr. Edupuganti checked Bow’s heart again months later, its function had improved so much that a defibrillator was no longer necessary.
“I remember how happy I was telling him and the huge smile that lit up his face. All his hard work had paid off,” said Dr. Edupuganti.
After starting his treatment, Bow even noticed an improvement with other health issues—and one of them made Deidra very thankful.
“I had sleep apnea, but after attending the Academy, I lost weight and felt so much better,” said Bow. “I’m no longer affected by sleep apnea and I don’t snore anymore.”
“It’s so rewarding for me as a physician when my patients have these kinds of outcomes. Impacting their health and also empowering them to take charge of their own healthy lifestyle makes what I do truly satisfying,” said Dr. Edupuganti.
To this day, Bow, Deidra and their children reap the benefits of living healthy lives.
Bow says he is thankful to the cardiology team at Wellstar for helping him make healthier choices for his overall wellness.
“Wellstar is the health system that gave me a second chance at life. A second chance to hold my wife and children. A second chance to fight,” Bow said. “I thought congestive heart failure was a death sentence, but it doesn’t have to be. With help from Dr. Edupuganti and his team, I get to lead a happier and healthier life.”
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PeopleCare
KathyCare
Kathy DeJoseph delights in making and giving away thousands of soft and cheerful hats to Wellstar cancer patients through a nonprofit she founded called Happy Caps. It’s all in the name of bringing a little light and comfort to people during a hard time.
Where did the idea come from? It started with Kathy’s own lung cancer diagnosis.
A commitment to yearly lung cancer screening
A cancer survivor for more than a decade, Kathy said regular lung cancer screenings were the key to her survival. With a long history of smoking and growing up around relatives who smoked, she decided to join an early detection lung cancer study at Wellstar.
Even though she felt fine and had no symptoms, committing to the study meant having an annual low-dose CT scan every year. After several years of clean scans with no signs of lung cancer, Kathy told a nurse that she was going to quit. But the nurse persuaded her to come in for another screening.
“Thank goodness she did,” Kathy said. “I was diagnosed the very next day.”
Quick and efficient treatment at the STAT Clinic
Being a part of the study and getting screened early allowed Kathy to move immediately to Wellstar Lung Cancer STAT Clinic at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center.
STAT stands for Specialty Teams and Treatment, highlighting the collaboration of multiple cancer experts. Together, they come to a consensus on a treatment plan and meet with the patient on the same day. This puts the patients at the center of their care plan, allowing them and their families to get immediate answers to questions, make decisions and start treatment faster.
“The biggest benefit for me with the way the STAT Clinic works is that I didn’t have to worry about whether the doctors had actually talked to each other,” Kathy said. “They’d come in one after another and tell me what they thought from their expertise.”
Immediate communication and mutual agreement among medical experts mean treatment plans are established and started faster, which is proven to improve long-term survival. On average, it takes 60 to 90 days from the time of diagnosis to treatment in the U.S. With the STAT Clinic at Wellstar, patients go from diagnosis to treatment in 14 to 20 days.
Kathy’s treatment started quickly—she had a lung biopsy the day after her STAT Clinic appointment and started chemotherapy a week later.
“I wasn’t as terrified for as long as most people are because I had answers within a short period of time,” Kathy remembered.
She had surgery once she completed chemotherapy. Throughout the process, she had the support of an entire cancer team, including a medical oncologist, a lung cancer surgeon, a pulmonologist and a nurse navigator.
Highlights
Live to the Beat Powered by Wellstar: Celebrating a Year of Impact
What began as a bold idea—bringing cardiovascular health education into the heart of our communities—has now culminated in a joyful, music-filled celebration that honored the success of a powerful one-year pilot program of Live to the Beat at First Baptist Church East Point and Mount Olive Seventh Day Adventist Church. From inception to execution, this journey has been a testament to what can happen when community, clinical partners and courageous participants come together with one mission: to live longer, stronger, healthier lives—one beat at a time.
Final Class Check-In & Celebration
We opened our final sessions with a check-in, inviting participants to reflect on how they’ve been incorporating their support networks into daily life since our “A Family Affair” class. Their stories affirmed the power of connection and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who help you thrive.
After the check-in, we transitioned into a formal celebration that included:
- A brief agenda to thank everyone—from stakeholders and service line leaders to our participants and guest speakers
- A powerful recap of success metrics from each church
- A joyful closing moment that quite literally had everyone “living to the beat” with music, dancing and smiles all around!
Mount Olive: Setting the Bar High
With 18 dedicated members, Mount Olive consistently exceeded expectations:
- 90% average attendance
- 100% 5-star rating in both knowledge gained and overall satisfaction
- 82% reported positive behavior change in daily life
- 61% saw improvements in their average blood pressure readings
- Three participants shared that their clinicians reduced the dosage or number of their medications
- Two reported more regular visits to their doctors since joining the program
From their energy in the classroom to their commitment at home, Mount Olive’s cohort has become a model of what’s possible when knowledge meets action.
First Baptist: Stepping Boldly into Wellness
With 14 committed participants, First Baptist brought steady engagement and deep personal growth:
- 74% average attendance
- 80% reported positive behavior change
- 43% saw improvements in their average blood pressure readings
- Two participants reported a reduction in medication dosage or number
- Three reported more regular visits to their doctors since joining the program
- 4.69 rating in knowledge gained and overall rating of 4.77 out of 5
Their thoughtful conversations, openness to growth and willingness to step outside their comfort zones truly made this cohort shine. And yes—we danced our way into what’s next.
Looking Ahead: The Beat Continues with Art Pharmacy
While the classroom sessions have come to a close, our participants’ journey is far from over. As a next step, all graduates will now enter the next phase of Live to the Beat through our new partnership with Art Pharmacy—a social prescribing organization that connects individuals to arts and culture-based experiences to support long-term health and well-being.
Graduates will receive one “social prescription” per month for the next six months, focusing on connection, creativity and continued wellness. This phase was designed with intention—to ensure the momentum continues beyond the classroom and into real life.
We’ll also be conducting a 6-month follow-up to evaluate how behavior changes have been sustained over time, using lessons learned to inform the next cohort launching in September.
National Impact: CDC Foundation & LTTB Ambassadors
We were honored to have representatives from the CDC Foundation join our final celebrations to share how graduates can become Live to the Beat Ambassadors for the national campaign. Many participants expressed excitement about using their voice to inspire others to begin their heart health journeys too—a beautiful full-circle moment of community-led change.
One Chapter Ends, A Movement Continues
As we officially close out this year-long pilot, we stand in awe of what was accomplished—and energized for what’s ahead. To our participants: thank you for your courage and commitment. To our partners, service line leaders and supporters: thank you for believing in the vision.
Together, we proved that heart health isn’t just clinical—it’s cultural, communal and deeply personal. And as we prepare for the next chapter, one thing is certain: The beat goes on… and it’s only getting stronger.
PeopleCare
BillyCare
William “Billy” Gerace, a retired man in Mableton, found himself progressively restricted by severe emphysema. Dependent on oxygen, it was tough to find the breath and the energy to work in his garage. Then he found out about BLVR, a procedure that would change his lungs—and his life—for the better. Now he spends his days breathing new life into classic cars. Billy’s story highlights the power of expert care and leading-edge treatments at Wellstar, and our commitment to help people get back to doing what they love.
Slowed down by an oxygen tank
For Billy, the simplest of movements became Herculean tasks. The man who loved tinkering in his garage found himself slowed down by an oxygen tank and dependent on his wife, Patty, to help him move it from room to room.
“I couldn’t walk 20 feet without the hose on my nose,” Billy said. “I couldn’t go from the living room to the kitchen without oxygen. That’s how bad it was.”
Billy suffered from emphysema, a severe type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The inability to work in his garage on his collection of vehicles—including a '69 Corvette convertible—was heartbreaking.
“I’d have to do five minutes’ worth of work—then catch my breath,” he remembered. “It took me a very long time to do anything. A project that would normally take an hour took two days. I had to sit dormant most of the time.”
Billy had managed this condition for years with prescription medication and pulmonary rehabilitation, but in the final months leading to his procedure, he had the impression that his life was fading with every gasp of air.