“I enjoyed working with these nurses so much, that after I graduated Phase II, I elected to rejoin Cardiac Rehab, Phase III or Maintenance Program,” explains Tom. “I increased my stamina and heart rate levels and enjoy a great workout, three times per week, under medical supervision.”
Tom Corbutt of Lakewood visited with his cardiologist, Dr. Avinash Gupta, proactively when he had issues keeping his blood pressure at a normal rate. Dr. Gupta has a practice in Lakewood and is the Chief of Cardiology at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus (MMCSC) and is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Nuclear Cardiology and Clinical Lipidology.
Because Tom is a former smoker and previously had an abnormal nuclear stress test, Dr. Gupta, scheduled a Coronary Calcium Score test at MMCSC. Coronary Calcium Scoring is a simple, fast and safe imaging exam that uses computerized tomography (CT) to produce pictures of your coronary arteries and may help to predict heart disease before you experience symptoms. The calcium score images determine if your coronary arteries, which supply your heart with oxygen-rich blood, contain calcium deposits or plaques, which may indicate the presence of atherosclerosis, also called coronary artery disease (CAD).
“The results of Tom’s Coronary Calcium Score test indicated a score of almost 800, which could indicate the narrowing of the artery walls,” explains Dr. Gupta. For a deeper look into Tom’s heart, he sent Tom to MMCSC’s sister RWJBarnabas Health hospital Newark Beth Israel (NBI) Medical Center for a cardiac catheterization, which was performed by Marc Cohen, MD, NBI’s Division of Cardiology, and determined Tom had a 80 percent blockage.
“The team at Dr. Gupta’s office could not have been kinder,” says Tom. “They handled all my insurance approvals and even arranged my transportation to and from Newark Beth Israel. They treated me like family.”
After Tom recuperated from the cardiac catheterization, Dr. Gupta recommended Cardiac Rehabilitation, which he began last summer at MMCSC. “It is a great program, where the staff constantly monitored my progress,” Tom said. “The other participants were nearly my own age, so it created a nice healing atmosphere, versus a cold crowded gym environment.”
Tom completed 36 sessions of Phase II Cardiac Rehab at MMCSC, where he participated in a comprehensive exercise and rehabilitation program to condition his heart. He had an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses and dieticians in the program and worked three times a week with certified nurses Diane Carpino, RN, BSN and Hazelle Dongui-is, RN, BSN.
“I enjoyed working with these nurses so much, that after I graduated Phase II, I elected to rejoin Cardiac Rehab, Phase III or Maintenance Program,” explains Tom. “I increased my stamina and heart rate levels and enjoy a great workout, three times per week, under medical supervision.”