CT Scan Helps with Emergency Room Diagnosis [Betty Behrens]

My name is Betty Behrens, and I've been in Brookings this time since 1985. I was born in Brookings at the old Brookings hospital years ago, and I left and lived in various parts of the country, went to school and returned with my husband and family in 1985 and have worked here and enjoyed, you know, the Brookings community.

Why did you come to the hospital?

I took a trip to the West Coast and returned 3,800 miles in four days. It caused my body to start doing some things that were not good for it. I was coughing. I was not able to catch my breath. Your breathing should be automatic, but boy, it's not. And that was what I had.

Why did Dr. Vossler order a CT scan?

I have had a pulmonary emboli in my previous history, and that was one of the first concerns I had. It's a blood blockage within your chest that's preventing your body from doing the work that it's supposed to be doing naturally, you know, to deliver the nutrients, everything to keep your body functioning normally. And it just takes that one blockage. If it's not caught, it eventually will kill you. So that was the main goal or the main purpose, but then the labs were to help coordinate why I was having the breathing, all the other problems.

What was your diagnosis?

I was told I was in CHF, congestive heart failure. As Dr. Vossler explained it to me, my heart is there and there's fluid all around it suffocating my heart. And if I didn't do something to it, eventually that heart would stop working.

How did Dr. Vossler explain your diagnosis?

He came in and grabbed a chair and sat down just like he was, you know, the friendly neighbor and said, "We need to talk." It was a very startling moment for me. I always think I'm invincible. You know, you always think you're gonna go on forever and ever. And some of what he said and the way he said it brought me and shocked me, but yet he presented it well and gave me hope in that I could overcome all this and go on, and made sure that everything that he was telling us, that we understood it, and not only myself, but my husband. I have to commend him and the hospital.

What was your treatment for congestive heart failure?

I take breathing treatments, four different types of breathing meds and supplement other medicines. And so that's the basic of it, but there's also different lifestyle changes. My immune system has been compromised through everything and so I have to be extremely careful when I'm going out and about.

How did Dr. Vossler work with your primary care provider?

He actually mentioned that he had talked to my Dr. Cecil in person...or not in person, on the phone, and then he was gonna chart everything that we had talked about, him and Dr. Cecil had talked about, and it was on the chart so I was able to reverify. If I had any questions, I could check the chart.

Why did you choose care in Brookings?

First and foremost, this is South Dakota. Sioux Falls is 60 miles south of here. In the dead of winter, you don't want to have to send a loved one on the interstate, in an ice storm. The conveniences of having everything here in the Brookings area, the resources, the physicians, the ancillary staff, everything is just coming together so that this community is better protected from all aspects. I firmly believe that this is a good point, a selling point for Brookings.

Why would you recommend Brookings Health System to others in the community?

The services that I have received have been vast and I think that they were the best that can be provided to me. And that's what I want for everybody is for them to get the best care and the best help that they can. And I think that this is the place to be.

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