An Unexpected Diagnoses Leads to a Successful Outcome, a Happy Family Experience and a Glowing Google Review

Samantha Berry is very close to her grandparents, Regina and David. But the bond between her and David is a bit special, she says, “Of all the family members, my grandfather seems to feel something different with me, he listens to my advice and he trusts me to have a good perspective.” Because of this relationship, Samantha stays very close him when he is having health challenges, like earlier this year in June when David was facing heart surgery. It began a journey that provided an interesting experience for Samantha and her family, leading her to praise Catawba Valley Medical Center’s Emergency Department.

On June 1, David had heart surgery at another hospital, which was performed successfully and he was able to go home on June 6. The family was pleased and David seemed to be progressing with his recovery and rehabilitation in a timely manner.

Two days later, June 8, that changed quickly – he was having difficulty breathing, and his energy level was low. The family thought David needed to return to the hospital, and got him to the emergency room in the same hospital where the surgery was done. There, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and released for home with treatment for that illness.

When David’s rehab nurse visited him on June 11, he had not been sleeping and was having continued difficulty with breathing. The nurse called 911 to have him taken to the hospital, but this time, due to volumes in the original hospital’s emergency department, David was taken to Catawba Valley Medical Center’s Emergency Department. The team there immediately began doing work-ups on David’s condition, knowing from the family that he had been diagnosed with pneumonia and recently had heart surgery. By now, David was clammy, his blood pressure and heart rates were both very high, and he was delusional and easily agitated – something Samantha says is rare behavior for her grandfather.

Shortly after their arrival, Dr. Justin Joines came in and introduced himself to the entire family. He listened intently to what they were telling him, asked them many questions, then examined David, noting swelling in his legs and ankles. The doctor then excused himself to review the x-rays which had already been taken, leaving them all in the hands of the three nurses who never left their sides. Joines’ return to the room brought a surprising diagnosis, he had identified congestive heart failure as the problem, rather than pneumonia. The doctor prescribed medication to begin immediately in order to give David some relief from the symptoms, even as Samantha and her family came to grips with the news.

“We were all shocked by the missed diagnosis, asking questions about how that could happen and trying to understand it all,” says Samantha. But even as the family discussed that issue, Dr. Joines was already in action, speaking with the original heart surgeon about David’s condition. Within 45 minutes to an hour, Samantha and the family realized David had already improved greatly – he was coherent and talking, while his heart rate and blood pressure were returning to normal levels. Still, David would need to be monitored for a while before he would be allowed home. Samantha and her family wanted David to be admitted to CVMC, but Dr. Joines encouraged them to move him back to the original hospital where the surgeon could continue to oversee his care and ongoing recovery. Later in the evening, an ambulance would transport him there.

From the time he was brought to CVMC’s Emergency Department, through the testing and diagnosis, and finally being transported back to the original hospital, less than ten hours had passed.

As Samantha sees it, those ten hours with Dr. Joines and the team at CVMC very likely saved her grandfather’s life. She was so pleased with the experience, in fact, that she wrote a glowing review in Google reviews.

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