The first thought I had that morning: I am so glad I was born in the 20th century where there are treatments when my heart decides to be a bit funky. There was the regular boring beat, ka-thump, ka-thump and then there was the heart deciding to run away at 200 beats a minutes or do the Samba. The procedure which has been available for several decades is an ablation where two wires are threaded up into the heart and the part of the heart that wants to Samba is fixed so it does not.
While doing paperwork, I admired how easily John the concierge at the front desk got people to the correct place as they completed paperwork and made them feel at ease. I had an odd thought: I am used to people being quite scared in my radio studio, knowing they are being heard all over New Mexico when I have no anxiety whatsoever. I caught up with the anxiety index even though I had confidence in the doctor and hospital.
Both my local heart doctor and my sister, who used to work in a Lubbock Heart Clinic, urged me to do this procedure in a place that only did heart procedures. My sister said, “Go some place where there is a Conga Line of patients, three before you, three after, all with the same need.” I am glad I did.
 |
| The Arizona Heart Hospital |
In the couple days I was at this heart hospital I did not find one thing they did that was not just excellent. I am quite picky and expected to record that they were 92% good, which would have been great. I keep watching and never found anything. From the first nurse, Cindi to the anesthesiologist Jacob, I kept waiting for that first moment when I would say to myself, that could have been better. Never came.
The aftercare nurse when I woke up, Jella, seem to have done all of this before (obviously many times) and was ahead of me in everything I was thinking. The surgeon Dr. Swarup and the Physician’s Assistant Carla were by before and after the procedure and seemed to look right at me, to listen carefully to what I said. I was impressed.
Somewhere in the last few hours I said that I was quite impressed that this organization was really top notch. One of the team said the core of their care, “Michael, there are three other hospitals like us within thirty miles so we have to be excellent.” Bingo. Competition leads to better healthcare.
In the free market of Phoenix with four choices, this hospital had to be excellent or go out of business. Nothing against communities where there really is not any competition, but over the years I have been around non-competing hospitals and know the difference. I understood as I left the facility why my local heart doctor recommended doing the procedure there. Again, perhaps I could have done it closer to home, but the care was oh so excellent.
The question I have been asked most often is how I feel. Much better, thank you. This is something I had needed to do for quite a while and when the pharmacology could no longer tame my dancing heart, this was exactly what the doctor ordered.
I thought about the future when the government gets more involved in our healthcare. I wonder if an unfeeling bureaucrat in Washington D. C., someone working for the Internal Revenue Service, would have let me go to Phoenix for this heart treatment. Perhaps not since there were hospitals closer. What will we give up in quality of service when the government gets involved?
I guess only time will tell. The one thing I know for sure: any time you walk out of a hospital, it is a good day. Amen.
Dr. Michael Swickard is co-host of radio talk show News New Mexico 6 to 9 a.m. Monday - Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. Email: michael@swickard.com
