I Knew We Were in Good Hands

Last winter, Jim Reif was taking an evening ride on his exercise bike when he began to feel woozy. He sat on the couch and took a short nap, deciding to go to bed afterward. However, when he awoke in the early morning hours, he knew something wasn’t right.

“I looked at my wife and said, ‘You’re going to have to take me to the hospital, because something is really wrong,” said Jim.

Jim and his wife, Kim, debated which hospital to drive to from their home in Hemingford. Kim made the decision to go to Regional West, and Jim received a CT scan upon arrival at the Emergency Department. He was diagnosed with a saddle pulmonary embolism, a large, life-threatening blood clot that stretched across both lungs. 

“His heart rate kept going up, and his oxygen kept going down,” Kim said.

After Jim’s diagnosis, Regional West’s Interventional Radiology team took the lead. Interventional radiologist Thomas Sullivan, MD, gave Jim three options: he could get a thrombectomy, a procedure that uses a catheter to locate and suction out blood clots; start on blood thinners only; or do nothing. He chose the thrombectomy, and within less than two hours most of the clot was removed. After a three-day stint in the Intensive Care Unit for monitoring and medications, Jim was ready to return home.

The Reifs are grateful they chose Regional West, and for having specialty services close to home.

“If I would have gone someplace else, they probably would not have been able to do the thrombectomy, and they would have had to fly me out. We saved a lot of time, and that was important,” Jim said.

“It was a little scary, but I knew we were in good hands. People ask Jim about his experience, and he says, ‘They saved my life,” added Kim. “We are so fortunate to have this care in our area.”