Working full-time in tech support and weekends at the Midlothian restaurant he co-owns caught up with Edgardo “Eddie” Conde – in the form of a “widow maker” heart attack.
“As an owner, when you see a need you fill it, and I would do everything possible,” Eddie says. “If I go into the restaurant now, I’m delegating a lot and not lifting heavy things.”
The 47-year-old was not delegating one Saturday in June. While moving patio furniture at ALE’s Kitchen, Eddie felt a pressure “like a ton of bricks” in his chest. That’s when his business partner rushed him to Methodist Midlothian Medical Center.
Once he was safely at the hospital, Eddie’s heart stopped. He was quickly resuscitated and would later have a stent implanted to open his left anterior descending (LAD) artery, which was completely blocked.
“From the doctors and nurses to the people in the ICU, they did a phenomenal job caring for me,” Eddie says. “I’m grateful to God to be here.”
Eddie works weekends at the Midlothian restaurant he co-owns, pitching in wherever he’s needed.
SHOCKED BACK TO LIFE
Before his cardiac arrest, Eddie and his wife were in the ER at Methodist Midlothian when the pain suddenly spiked again.
His heart muscle began to quiver, a dangerous arrhythmia known as ventricular fibrillation, or V-fib, and then stopped completely, spurring a flurry of activity and a lifesaving shock from the defibrillator.
“We shocked him, and he came right back,” says Mike Turchiaro, DO, an emergency medicine specialist on the medical staff at Methodist Midlothian.
For Eddie, the experience was surprisingly serene: “I felt a calm sensation.”
“When I came to, the doctor was hovering over me,” Eddie recalls. “He said, ‘Are you okay? We lost you. You were gone for like 20 seconds.’”
From prevention to advanced procedures, trust your heart to the innovative, personalized care that Methodist provides. Visit MethodistHealthSystem.org
‘THE WORST’ HEART ATTACK
An EKG determined Eddie had suffered an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This type of heart attack, so deadly it’s called a widow maker, involves a complete blockage of a coronary artery.
“His was the worst type of heart attack you can get,” says Binna Chokshi, MD, interventional cardiologist on the medical staff at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. “He was lucky.”
Eddie was taken on a gurney to the helipad on Methodist Midlothian’s roof for the five-minute flight to Methodist Mansfield, where Dr. Chokshi and her staff were waiting to jump into action.
There, Dr. Chokshi explained the emergency procedure, and nurses immediately wheeled him into the cardiac catheterization lab. An angiogram revealed that Eddie had a severe blockage in the largest cardiac artery.
Through an opening in Eddie’s wrist, Dr. Chokshi expertly threaded a catheter through an artery to clear the blockage.
She then widened the vessel by inflating a tiny balloon at the end of the catheter and placed a cobalt-chromium stent coated with a slow-release drug to keep the artery open.
Eddie was then taken to the intensive care unit for monitoring and recovery.
Eddie, shown outside ALE’s Kitchen, is taking better care of himself after his heart attack.
RECOGNIZE THE SYMPTOMS
Eddie survived that day last summer because he got to Methodist Midlothian as fast as possible — because emergencies can’t wait.
“The key thing is that he recognized the symptoms and came to the hospital,” Dr. Chokshi says.
Before his heart attack, Eddie says that fatigue was the only indication his health was failing. He had been treated for 15 years for high blood pressure, which runs in his family.
To avoid heart disease, Dr. Chokshi urges people to go for regular checkups for blood pressure and cholesterol and to maintain a healthy diet and regular exercise.
“The prevention strategies are very, very important,” Dr. Chokshi says.
Thanks to a 12-week cardiac rehabilitation program of exercise and dietary education, Eddie is well on his way to recovery and thankful to everyone who played a part in his brush with a widow maker.
“I had no clue anything was wrong when I went to work that morning,” he says. I’m truly lucky to be alive.”
Connect With Methodist