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Greg Noakes suffered a heart attack in October last year. Here he shares his journey from the emergency room through JHAH’s state-of-the-art cardiac rehabilitation program.
Greg Noakes was enjoying dinner at a restaurant when he felt a strange sensation that was “like having an iron bar across my shoulder blades”. At first, he thought it was back pain caused by sitting awkwardly in his chair.
By the time he got home, he was sweating, nauseous, and feeling sharp pains in his chest. “I was like, ‘yeah, this isn’t good, this isn’t back pain,” he recalls. “So I popped some aspirin and asked my wife to take me to the emergency room. That scared her because she knows I’ll do anything to avoid seeing a doctor.”
Shortly after arriving at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare Dhahran (JHAH), a cardiologist informed Mr. Noakes that he was having a heart attack. “Rather than fear, I felt an odd sense of calmness,” he remembers. “For one, the cardiologist praised me for taking aspirin, which gave me a boost.”
He continues: “I converted to Islam in my early twenties and learned to submit to the will of God. I knew He had put me in the hands of these talented people at the hospital. In retrospect, I’m proud of the way I handled myself in the moment. I didn’t panic — nor did my wife.”
Within minutes, Mr. Noakes was in the catheterization laboratory, or cath lab, undergoing keyhole heart surgery. An interventional cardiologist discovered and removed a blockage, then inserted two stents — tiny mesh tubes that hold open narrowed blood vessels. Mr. Noakes was in the cath lab for about two hours, under regional anesthetic, chatting to his doctors throughout.
Mr. Noakes, 57, who is from Fort Worth, Texas, USA, has been with Aramco for nearly 30 years. “I hadn’t stayed overnight in a hospital since the day I was born,” he says. “But this was the kick I needed to improve my health.”
Heart disease is a major health concern globally, and in Saudi Arabia, diagnoses among men in their twenties and thirties are rising. The Kingdom has identified addressing the rise in heart disease cases as key to increasing life expectancy from 75 to 80 years.
Upon discharge, Mr. Noakes was placed into JHAH’s cardiac rehabilitation program, the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia and one of only a few such programs available in the Kingdom today. The program, which enrolls about 225 patients per year, has dramatically reduced readmissions for patients who experienced heart failure, while supporting those who live with chronic heart disease.
The JHAH program helps heart disease patients to recover safely; stabilize, slow, or reverse the progression of their disease; and minimize the risk of a second cardiac event. Exercise training, education about the disease, and recommendations for behavioral modifications are the foundations of the comprehensive, patient-centric program. Patients receive counseling on nutrition; advice on diabetes, lipid, and blood pressure management; and psychosocial assessments. They can be referred to other healthcare services, such as smoking cessation and mental health services, as required.
Reem Ekhwan, cardiac rehabilitation program leader at JHAH, says she feels “immense joy” seeing her patients getting stronger and living life in a healthier, more sustainable way.
“Our highly personalized, highly-skilled care has been shown to improve patients’ adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors while decreasing their cardiac risk factors,” she says, adding: “This a true team effort.”
Exercise and an emphasis on well-being and general health are integral parts of JHAH’s cardiac rehabilitation program. The program’s gym features state-of-the-art exercise equipment for the exclusive use of patients in the program. Upon entering the gym, patients are hooked up to real-time monitoring devices that allow clinicians to track their heart rate, rhythm, and blood pressure. Patients are then put through a series of tailored exercises of varying length and intensity. Over time, the length and intensity of these exercises increases as a patient’s recovery progresses. Patients undertake two to three supervised gym sessions per week for three to four months.
“The program is very structured in terms of what exercises you do,” Mr. Noakes says. “It’s definitely not like hitting the gym for 30 minutes or so and doing whatever you want. You’re put through your paces and given a push when you need it — or if you’re trying to go too fast, they’ll slow you down.
“What’s great is that you get to see the same faces — not just the staff, but other patients who are going through the same thing. There’s a real community of people to share your journey with.”
After patients “graduate” from the program, they are guided on how to continue their improved habits.
“My health today is significantly better than before I went into hospital,” Mr. Noakes says. “I have more stamina, my balance is better, and my weight is lower.”
The cardiac rehab team is superb. I can’t say enough good things about them as people and as professionals.
Given the prevalence of heart disease in the Kingdom, Ms. Ekhwan says that the need for education and treatment is greater than ever. She advises: “We encourage you to know your heart health data, get a primary check-up — even the younger among us — and to take seriously anything that could be a risk factor, such as a history of heart disease in your family or hypertension.”
Click here for more information about JHAH’s cardiology services