Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120081
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TONYA WOODS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"I feel fine," said Edith Tuning, who had a heart attack in January 1994 and open heart surgery a few weeks later. "I did everything I wanted to do before and after the surgery."
Tuning and other members of Roanoke Valley Mended Hearts Chapter No.144 are in the middle of putting the finishing touches on plans for the Mid-Atlantic Mended Hearts Workshop that will be held in Roanoke Friday and Saturday.
This marks the first time the Roanoke Valley Mended Hearts Chapter has sponsored the workshop for the region that includes the District of Columbia, Delaware, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia. The two-day event at the Airport Marriott Hotel and will include seminars on healthy diets, a panel presentation by heart transplant recipients and roundtable discussions on visitations before and after surgery.
As members of the Roanoke chapter sat in a conference room at the McKesson Drug Co., sipping Ocean Spray juice or Diet Pepsi, they talked about their experiences of open heart surgery.
For Tuning, the symptoms of her heart attack began one morning. She rode around all day not really knowing what was wrong. It wasn't until she went home and looked in a medical book that she realized her symptoms were those of a heart attack.
"I remember telling my girlfriend to give me a ginger ale because I thought I just had real bad gas," she said. "I had this pain under my rib cage. But I never had any chest pains."
Other members have similar stories. Frank Peters, a retired Roanoke policeman, was on duty when he began to feel a tightness in his chest one Wednesday night in 1988. By Thursday morning, the tightness had gotten worse, so he went to see a doctor. By Sunday night, Peters had suffered a heart attack and was in the intensive care unit. He had double bypass surgery.
In joining Mended Hearts, members have found help in keeping to new diet and exercise regimens.
"You don't really miss anything," said Bill Gearhard, who had bypass surgery in February 1985. "When you see a big plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, all you can see is a big plate of fat."
In 1950, two men and two women recovering from heart surgery in a hospital in Boston began the foundation for the first Mended Hearts organization. As they talked about their experiences and some of their fears, they found each others' words encouraging.
Thus, in 1955, Mended Hearts, a support group to help patients through the ordeal of heart surgery, was incorporated. It's a national organization that has 250 chapters with nearly 24,000 members - all of whom have had heart surgery.
Mended Hearts members, who have contact with hospitals, visit heart patients before and after surgery, offering support and encouragement.
Mended Hearts members are trained by hospital staff before visiting other patients. They also must have a doctor's approval and undergo a psychiatric examination to see if they are mentally capable of dealing with other heart surgery patients.
The Roanoke Valley Mended Hearts Chapter was formed in 1983, a year after Dr. Paul Frantz performed the first open heart surgery in the Roanoke area.
Today, the Roanoke chapter has 145 members and 55 qualified visitors. The members consist of retired city employees, executives, postal workers and ministers. Mended Hearts members visit patients in the Lewis Gale Medical Center and Roanoke Memorial Hospital. So far this year, chapter members have visited 805 patients and made 1,269 follow-up visits.
"I've gone to see some people who tell me it's just good to see somebody still alive," said Virgil Strong, who had four bypass surgeries in 1988.
|By TONYA WOODS| |STAFF WRITER|
The members of the Roanoke Valley Mended Hearts chapter will tell you life begins and improves with heart surgery.
"I feel fine," said Edith Tuning, who had a heart attack in January 1994 and open heart surgery a few weeks later. "I did everything I wanted to do before and after the surgery."
Tuning and other members of Roanoke Valley Mended Hearts Chapter No.144 are in the middle of putting the finishing touches on plans for the Mid-Atlantic Mended Hearts Workshop that will be held in Roanoke Friday and Saturday.
This marks the first time the Roanoke Valley Mended Hearts Chapter has sponsored the workshop for the region that includes the District of Columbia, Delaware, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia. The two-day event at the Airport Marriott Hotel and will include seminars on healthy diets, a panel presentation by heart transplant recipients and roundtable discussions on visitations before and after surgery.
As members of the Roanoke chapter sat in a conference room at the McKesson Drug Co., sipping Ocean Spray juice or Diet Pepsi, they talked about their experiences of open heart surgery.
For Tuning, the symptoms of her heart attack began one morning. She rode around all day not really knowing what was wrong. It wasn't until she went home and looked in a medical book that she realized her symptoms were those of a heart attack.
"I remember telling my girlfriend to give me a ginger ale because I thought I just had real bad gas," she said. "I had this pain under my rib cage. But I never had any chest pains."
Other members have similar stories. Frank Peters, a retired Roanoke policeman, was on duty when he began to feel a tightness in his chest one Wednesday night in 1988. By Thursday morning, the tightness had gotten worse, so he went to see a doctor. By Sunday night, Peters had suffered a heart attack and was in the intensive care unit. He had double bypass surgery.
In joining Mended Hearts, members have found help in keeping to new diet and exercise regimens.
"You don't really miss anything," said Bill Gearhard, who had bypass surgery in February 1985. "When you see a big plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, all you can see is a big plate of fat."
In 1950, two men and two women recovering from heart surgery in a hospital in Boston began the foundation for the first Mended Hearts organization. As they talked about their experiences and some of their fears, they found each others' words encouraging.
Thus, in 1955, Mended Hearts, a support group to help patients through the ordeal of heart surgery, was incorporated. It's a national organization that has 250 chapters with nearly 24,000 members - all of whom have had heart surgery.
Mended Hearts members, who have contact with hospitals, visit heart patients before and after surgery, offering support and encouragement.
Mended Hearts members are trained by hospital staff before visiting other patients. They also must have a doctor's approval and undergo a psychiatric examination to see if they are mentally capable of dealing with other heart surgery patients.
The Roanoke Valley Mended Hearts Chapter was formed in 1983, a year after Dr. Paul Frantz performed the first open heart surgery in the Roanoke area.
Today, the Roanoke chapter has 145 members and 55 qualified visitors. The members consist of retired city employees, executives, postal workers and ministers. Mended Hearts members visit patients in the Lewis Gale Medical Center and Roanoke Memorial Hospital. So far this year, chapter members have visited 805 patients and made 1,269 follow-up visits.
"I've gone to see some people who tell me it's just good to see somebody still alive," said Virgil Strong, who had four bypass surgeries in 1988.
Memo: also ran in Current on October 14, 1995.