A heart-stopping emergency serves as a life-saving lesson to community
William "Bill" Rodis and Dr. Pat Villarreal
(Jourdanton, TX) Fever, chills, fatigue, fleeting strength and nausea— common signs of an oncoming virus, right? Wrong. Not just wrong—dead wrong, in the case of Pleasanton local, William (Bill) Rodis, whose symptoms were the onset of major heart attack that robbed him of life on May 30, 2008 for several agonizing minutes.
Thankfully, when Rodis’ heart stopped, he was in the hands of trained medical professionals at South Texas Regional Medical Center’s (STRMC) Emergency Department. The emergency team attending to Rodis was lead by Patricio (Pat) Villarreal, M.D.; Medical Trauma Director whose responsiveness ultimately saved Rodis’ life.
One week prior
Rodis had a growing list of symptoms that had been lingering the week leading up to his heart attack on the 30th. He attributed these symptoms to be nothing more than post-operative side effects from a surgery performed the week before at STRMC. He “assumed” this feeling of being under-the-weather would pass as his body healed.
Starting the week of Monday, the 26th, Rodis resumed his normal work schedule at the Attorney General’s office in Jourdanton. Although he was back to work, Rodis experienced a constant feeling of nausea coupled by episodes of hindered balance and fleeting strength on both Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the 28th, Rodis kept a medical appointment to remove the kidney stent placed in him during his surgical procedure the week prior. The removal of the kidney stent did not curtail his symptoms of nausea; instead he felt an incremental increase of poor health. Rodis took medical leave from his employer on Thursday and Friday.
Friday, May 30th
It was 10:30 p.m. and Rodis had made it through a tiresome Friday. He and his spouse, Becky, a local school teacher with Pleasanton Independent School District, chose to retire to bed in an attempt at getting a solid night’s sleep. But Rodis couldn’t get comfortable. His nausea was increasing as was the feeling of a heavy pressure on his chest. His body began to sweat profusely and then stopped. The feeling of cold chills overtook him.
By 11:00 p.m. Rodis could feel a tingling sensation at his finger tips which he described as “having sparkler fireworks at the ends of each finger.” He ate a slice of bread to help curb his nauseous stomach, but it didn’t work.
Becky began to question the origin of her husband’s symptoms. Her gut intuitions lead her on an Internet search to find the possible cause of his pains. She typed in “nausea, fever, chills, tingling limbs, chest pressure, fatigue, weakened strength,” and there it was on the computer screen—signs of a heart attack!
“But my number one symptom is nausea, not chest pain?” thought Rodis. Becky frantically continued to read and learned that her husband’s symptoms were the “lesser known” signs of a heart attack for men. They were however, the top women’s symptoms of a heart attack.
Time to think fast and act even faster
As her husband’s life hung in the balance, Becky recalled a conversation from years ago with a STRMC nurse that once told her, “If ever having a cardiac emergency, come first to South Texas Regional’s Emergency Room to get stabilized. STR’s ED admission time is fast, and time is critical.”
The Bill and Becky Rodis headed to the hospital a quarter till midnight. Lucky for them, it was only a five minute drive to STR’s Emergency Department. Rodis was greeted by prepared STR staff and a wheel chair to quickly transport him into the department. Within seconds, he was hooked up to an electrocardiogram or EKG machine, to record his heart’s electrical activity. Dr. Pat Villarreal began his consultation when Rodis’ heart stopped. He had died before Dr. Villarreal’s eyes no more than ten minutes after arriving at STR.
Amazingly, Rodis was in the right place at the right time. Responsively, Dr. Villarreal initiated use of a defibrillator to restart his heart. The medical technology and professionals which surrounded him at the time of his death became his saviors which resurrected him back to life.
“The impression of STRMC was that the people are so good at what they do, it is a reflexive and amazing quality of care that they provide to each patient,” declared Rodis. “This is the second time that I come to the ER and each time was a positive experience.”
The dawn of a new day and life
By 12:10 a.m. on May 31st, Rodis had been revived, stabilized and was on his way via AirLife Support to another hospital in San Antonio. STR’s nursing staff coordinated the hospital transfer to allow Rodis a seamless continuum of care upon arrival in San Antonio.
“The unit clerks at South Texas Regional even provided me with driving directions so that I could quickly get in route to meet my husband in San Antonio,” said Becky Rodis. “This meant so much to me. STR has the nicest, most dedicated people that I’ve ever met working at any healthcare facility.”
“One week after my life was saved by STR, my wife and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. Shortly after, I was also able to celebrate Father’s Day—none of which would have been possible without STR’s ER,” stated Rodis.
Rodis has returned to STR for care as a patient at STR’s Cardiac Rehabilitation, where he receives rehab three times a week from April Smith, RN/ 2008 Patient Choice Award Winner.
Life lesson learned and shared
The life lesson that the Rodis Family wishes to convey to the local community is that of educational awareness. Heart attacks and their symptoms can disguise themselves in many forms. It is important to familiarize one’s self with the multiple warning signs of heart attack. Most importantly, minutes count in an emergency. Time can either save or take a life.
When you are faced with a medical emergency, get to South Texas Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department at once. Diagnosis of the patient’s symptoms, stabilization and emergency responsiveness will be available to you at STRMC. Keep STRMC’s telephone number in your cellular phone and near your home telephone in case of emergencies, 830-769-3515.