Kyle Lowe, heart attack

Kyle was active. Kyle was physically fit. And yet, Kyle Lowe still had a heart attack. While working down at his barn – nearly a mile away from the house and his wife, Pam – Kyle’s symptoms began and so did his long-distance journey to get the help he needed.

Long hours spent at work in the barn were normal for Kyle, 54. Aside from his construction career, he also owns beef cattle. With these very physically active jobs, he was confident in his health despite having diabetes. Of course, he wasn’t factoring in the three-pack-a-day smoking habit he developed and how much of an impact that had on his health. He also hadn’t given second thought to the chest pains and uneasiness he had experienced just two weeks prior.

On Nov. 29, 2009, while working on his farm in Gibson Station, Va., he started feeling sick with indigestion. He continued working while those symptoms worsened and progressed into sweating, nervousness and, eventually, vomiting. He also developed discomfort in his arm that caused him to take an aspirin and phone his wife for help.

Thankfully, Pam acted fast. “I had a feeling something might someday go wrong,” Pam explains. “I wanted to be prepared for an emergency, so I asked questions and knew ahead of time what I needed to do. I found him on his hands and knees in the barn and knew what was happening. I had to keep my head about me and do the right thing to get the best care for him.” It took just five minutes for the local EMS to pick Kyle up, identify that he was having a heart attack and start an IV. In a nearby field, the EMS then met LIFESTAR, UT Medical Center’s aeromedical transport service, which delivered Kyle to UT Medical Center. “It only took 38 minutes from the time I called EMS to the time he made it to the Emergency Department,” she recalls. “We had no trouble deciding where we needed to go. We have had to come to UT Medical Center before and received excellent care.”

The Emergency Department moved Kyle directly to the Catheterization Lab that was already waiting on his arrival. Dr. Stuart Bresee, a cardiologist at UT Medical Center, determined that he indeed had a heart attack, and he was prepped for surgery. The team then placed a stent – a tiny tube placed into an artery, blood vessel or other duct to hold the structure open – to open the blocked blood vessel that supplies blood to the heart and to prevent the artery from re-closing. (Stents often are used to treat conditions that result when arteries become narrow or blocked such as heart attacks or aneurysms.)

Kyle spent just a couple of days at the medical center mainly due to low blood pressure. He since has had one more stent put in place, a procedure they couldn’t complete until his blood pressure was back to normal.

His advice to others? “Control your diabetes or prevent it,” Kyle says. “And don’t smoke.” Just a few months after the incident and Kyle already has quit smoking, having not had a cigarette since his heart attack. They both exercise regularly and watch their diets – although always eager to learn more about cooking and good nutrition. They work together to develop a healthy lifestyle – one they can pass on to their family, which includes seven grandchildren, Kyle’s son and daughter, Pam’s two sons.

After playful banter with Pam about her driving the tractor once they return home, Kyle says, “UT Medical Center is my place of choice. I need to thank the EMS, cath lab and hospital staff and, of course, the doctors – particularly Dr. Bresee – for the great care they have given me. Also, for getting me back on my feet and returning me home … to my wife. She saved me.”