"Just Superb"

A triple-bypass patient walks the promising road ahead

Last spring, Tina McKinnie was looking forward to a pretty big milestone: Her first grandchild was due in a few months, and she was counting down the days.

“I just couldn’t wait,” she said. “I was dying to see my grandbaby and just love on him.”

After surviving a heart attack in 2021, McKinnie was grateful to be alive and well for this new chapter. She had recently lost 70 pounds and was taking good care of herself.

“I was walking a mile and a half every day,” she said. “Going to the gym four days a week. I was doing really, really well.”

So when she began to experience a familiar chest discomfort, she initially wrote it off as no big deal.

“I was going through a stressful time,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between a little anxiety and an actual heart problem, and I thought my heart must be fine because I was feeling so much better than I did back then.”

McKinnie wisely went to her cardiologist just to be sure. When a stress test indicated a slight blockage, she was scheduled for a cardiac catheterization in a few days. She was advised to go to the Emergency Department if the discomfort worsened in the meantime.

“Now I may be starting over, but I’m not stopping. I live by the words ‘You are here for a reason.’” – Tina McKinnie

“It did, that Sunday morning,” she said. “So I called 911, and they took me to the hospital. I was having another heart attack.”

She was wheeled off for a heart catheterization to place some stents in the affected arteries, but the imaging there led to a new plan. She would instead need surgery: a triple-bypass coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) to create new pathways for blood flow in three narrowed arteries.

Fearful at first, McKinnie said she was soon calmed by learning from her surgeon, Adam Celio, MD, exactly what would happen and how it would help. She’s also grateful to a memorable nursing team for keeping her calm throughout her stay with helpful information—and humor.

“When I get nervous, I make jokes,” McKinnie said. “Jeanne, Abigayle and Matt were so sweet and so kind, and we kept each other laughing.”

After the surgery, she experienced some discouraging complications related to her blood pressure. But she said the staff kept her informed and encouraged with every setback.

“They always explained everything they were going to do, step by step,” she said. “They were just superb.”

At home, McKinnie’s recovery hit another speed bump when she began to accumulate too much fluid in her chest. She had to return to the hospital for a weekend, but was delighted to see the same team awaiting her.

“I had the best staff and nurses,” she said. “Truly, if it wasn’t for them and God, I would not be here.”

In the following weeks, McKinnie said, she was motivated through her recovery by the excitement of soon meeting her new grandchild. And on August 28, there he was.

“He was born weighing less than five pounds," she said. "His little head would sit in the palm of your hand. So he had a little struggle for a while there, but he’s doing great now.”

McKinnie said there were times when she felt discouraged during her recovery, when she lacked the energy to do the things she wanted to do, but it helped to keep moving in any way she could.

“Even on days when you feel like you can’t get up,” she said, “you can sit in that chair and move your legs, move your arms. Do anything that moves your body and wakes it up.”

McKinnie said the healthy habits she adopted continue to play an important role in her recovery. She believes those changes helped her move forward and enjoy time with her family, including meeting her grandson.

“Now I may be starting over,” she said. “But I’m not stopping. I live by the words ‘You are here for a reason.’”