Katrina Rose-Hopson, LPN

I had crushing chest pain while I was at work and I was taken to WellStar Douglas Hospital to the Emergency Department where I was admitted. I had a thallium stress test, an echocardiogram and a chest x-ray, I was told that all my results were within normal limits. I was discharged home. I continued to have right sided chest pain and right arm pain, I talked with my PCP and she reviewed my hospital test results and made the medical decision to treat me for acid reflux. I was given medication for this and took it as prescribed, but after 6 days of taking the medication I went back to my PCP and advised her that the medication wasn’t working. She suggested that I have a CT scan of the chest to make sure that I didn’t have a lung embolism. I had the CT scan but I was still experiencing right sided chest pain and right arm pain. I had already made an appointment to be seen by Cardiology. Katrina Rose-Hopson called CVM to see if I could be seen earlier than September 7th. Katrina called me at home to advise me that a doctor could see me the next day. I went to the appointment and was told that my thallium stress test wasn’t normal and that I had a blockage to my main artery of the heart. I was told to go to the Emergency Department at Douglas Hospital to be admitted and to have a heart catheterization. I arrived at the hospital and was prepped to go to the Cath lab. After the procedure, I was told that when I arrived at the Emergency Department that I was in an active heart attack and that my main artery was 99% blocked and that I had a widow maker blockage. Had Katrina Rose-Hopson not tried “one more time” to try to get me in with the cardiologist the results could have been fatal. I feel as if Katrina Rose-Hopson saved my life.