Four amazing hours
Phillip and Liz Smith thought they knew exactly how a heart attack would feel — until June 2, 2005. At noon, at their lake home near Park Rapids, Minn., Phillip joined Liz for lunch, mentioning pain in his neck. "It felt like whiplash, but all I'd been doing was working at the computer in my home office," says the independent manufacturer's representative for sporting-goods companies. That evening, a new symptom emerged.
"We were relaxing on our deck when all of a sudden Phillip said his right shoulder and arm really hurt," says Liz, a former nurse educator. "Right away we thought 'heart attack' because Phillip has a family history of heart disease, but he didn't seem to have the typical symptoms — no rushing pain in the chest, no left arm pain, no jaw pain, no back pain, no indigestion, no sweating, no nausea and he had a regular pulse. We figured he slipped a cervical disk, so I put an icepack on his arm. But after 15 minutes, the pain was still there. That's when we headed to the emergency room in Park Rapids."
Read more about the Smiths
Grand opening draws thousands
More than 8,000 people from throughout the region got a first look at MeritCare's new entrance and the new MeritCare Heart Center during the "Heart of Healing" Grand Opening. Public tours, free health screenings, a car seat safety check, musical entertainment and refreshments highlighted the four-day celebration held the fourth week of August. A comment heard often on the tours: "Wow, I can't believe this is in Fargo."
Retired Bemidji teacher chooses MeritCare Heart Center
When it's your heart, it gets your attention. "It's scary," says patient Howard Schultz, Bemidji, Minn. "Basically your heart is your engine, and you realize that if it stops, you're done."
A mother's anguish relieved with gastric pacemaker
For 40-year-old LaNelle Carlson of Fargo, every day brought more of the same: "Every single morning for the last couple years, I woke up to extreme pressure in my stomach and unforgiving nausea. Sometimes it would be after the noon hour before I felt halfway decent. It was then that I would look at the clock and realize it was time to eat...."
Tiny camera takes "inside" pictures with ease
Pauline Klinger knew something was wrong in late 2004. "Dale and I have been married for 62 years, and he was the first one to notice how much I slept during the day and how tired I was," she says. "That wasn't at all like me. Usually I have to be reminded to sit down and rest because I'm always on the go."
Fargo family lives the "Fitness Challenge"
At age 5, Emily Stenhjem of Fargo is a running, swimming, Hula-Hooping, biking, Rollerblading example of what it takes to stay fit. "You just have to make it fun," says the youngest of the family of five, including parents Carrie and Todd, 11-year-old brother Joshua and 14-year-old sister Danielle.
Five-time cancer survivor shares important life lessons
You listen in disbelief as Susie Herbst of Fargo, who has been diagnosed with cancer five times, describes herself as…lucky. "Look at me. I'm the luckiest girl in the world," says the 53-year-old Wahpeton, N.D., native, exuding the enthusiasm of a 5-year-old. "Who would have imagined that 33 years after being diagnosed with cancer, I'd still be here — happy, healthy and so very pleased to be alive."
Save a life: Become a bone marrow donor
Without a successful bone marrow transplant 15 years ago, Lisa Clark would not be alive today. "I'm living proof of what a difference a transplant can make," says the 43-year-old from Fargo. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia in 1989, she underwent the procedure at the University of Minnesota in 1990.