Patient Testimonials

“I was on the softball field doing some work with a shovel,” said Billy Allgood, 81. “I got down and couldn’t breathe very well. I went to the gym to lie down and told the young guy who was with me not to tell anyone.”

It was the week before Christmas. And all was not calm in the Malone home in Ball. Minutes earlier, 3-year-old Curtis Malone had been bitten by a poisonous snake.

David Voda’s symptoms started on a Friday. But it wasn’t until the following Monday that the Alexandria business owner decided to get to the Emergency Room at Rapides Regional Medical Center.

Diane Ryland of Effie remembers the date. It was April 15, 2010. She had gone to bed at 10 p.m., but woke up with a strange feeling in her chest. “I couldn’t go back to sleep,” Ryland said. “One hour later, I started feeling more pressure in my chest.”

Donna Laird had fallen 10 feet. Though she never lost consciousness, Laird couldn’t move. “I was by myself and had no phone,” Laird said. “All I could do was scream.” Finally, her dogs heard her pleas and began barking. After about 20 minutes on the ground, her husband found her.

Fred Jordan’s “Calcium Score” was high – a higher score than his cardiologist had seen before. A heart cath two days later showed five blockages. “From there, they took me straight to surgery,” Jordan said. “I had a double bypass and was home by the next Monday.”

Jeremy Durand spent around a minute face down in the water before the boat could circle back and he could be pulled into it. He was not breathing. His dad started CPR, while someone else called 911.

John Johnson, who had no family history of heart disease, had gone to work as a contract electrician at the Pollock prison, but didn’t feel well.

Josh Mercer was an all-district linebacker for Alexandria Senior High preparing for his senior season. Another strong season and Mercer would likely be accepting an offer to play in college. Everything changed during spring drills.

Linda White knew something was wrong. White, 68, loves to be doing something. Anything, whether keeping her grandsons, or playing ball.

Looking back, Pam Broadwell realizes that she’d had symptoms for two weeks before ever deciding to visit the Emergency Room.

Paul Burke is not a smoker. Nor does he have a family history of heart disease. Yet, in 2009, he kept passing out. Once. Twice.

Dr. Forester noted Paul Price’s family history of heart disease and the fact his cholesterol was a little high. Forester recommended Price have a calcium scoring test at Rapides Regional Medical Center.

Sheila Batey was at work when the pain started. It began in her right shoulder and became pro-gressively worse as the day went on.

As an auto technician for Porsche for 25 years, Tom Blair spent years working on some of the finest precision machines known to man. Yet, when his own precision instrument – his heart -- began sending signals something was wrong, Blair proved to be a typical man.

Velma Fletcher knew heart surgery was in her future. But the 75-year-old Montgomery native - who had been diagnosed by her cardiologist, Naseem Jaffrani, MD, as having aortic valve stenosis several years earlier – was content to wait.