*This article was re-printed from WakeMed Heart to Heart Magazine. Subscribe Today! An avid gardener, Johnny Johnson is a retired power lineman who is no stranger to heart disease. He’s been fighting it for more than 20 years – with several stents and a stroke already behind him. Earlier this year, his symptoms were just subtle enough […]
Tag: patient stories

Why I Choose WakeMed: Keisha Fitzpatrick
Going to the doctor should feel good. That’s why WakeMed patient Keisha Fitzpatrick chooses WakeMed OB-GYN Brier Creek. “As soon as you walk in the door, someone will greet you with a smile,” Fitzpatrick says. “The environment is welcoming, almost like home. Everything is organized, clean, and quiet. It’s a pleasant experience.” Fitzpatrick and her […]

A Surprising Delivery
In September 2017, Shirley Polk was a healthy, avid endurance cyclist who rode an average of 50 miles per week – and also happened to be nine months pregnant with her second child. Fast forward less than three years later, thanks to WakeMed’s experienced Labor & Delivery and Heart & Vascular teams – Shirley is […]

Patient Profile: Christopher Perrott
ERAS Cardiac aims to improve recovery and prevent surgical complications by standardizing the care of heart surgery patients – before, during and after surgery. Comprised of more than 20 individual steps that may have minimal impact on their own, once combined have proven significant improvements in the recovery process for surgery patients. Working 12-hour days […]

My WakeMed Experience – Donald Johnson
On Sunday March 19th, 2017, I had an automobile accident. A car ran through a stop sign and I hit them. I had a cracked sternum and three cracked ribs. I had both legs from the knees down to my feet injured during the crash. Being diabetic, my wife and I were concerned due to […]

To the Superhero Nurses & Staff Who Cared for Mindy Moore
At WakeMed, our patients are so much more than what we see in a hospital bed. In December of 2016, Mindy Moore was admitted to WakeMed’s Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit (STICU) after suffering a pulmonary embolism – a condition in which one or more arteries in the lungs become blocked by a blood clot. Her […]

WakeMed North Admits First Male Patient
I was watching the Super Bowl when I passed out. No, it wasn’t because my Patriots had fallen behind (I’m a Boston native)—it was due to a few weeks of bronchitis that I couldn’t shake and unbeknownst to me, had turned into the flu. A Trip to the Emergency Department A visit to the emergency […]