Heart Failure Academy: Your Partner for Life Nurse practitioners Dana Gill, left, and Sherry Ramirez explain the intricacies of heart health, as part of NorthBay’s Heart Failure Academy, to Ernest Maligaya. No one plans to have a heart attack, but if you have one in Solano County, you’re in close proximity to a comprehensive, high-tech,…
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Entries Tagged as Heart & Vascular
Jolted Back to Life
LifeVest Saves Patient Dr. Laybon Jones listens to Dale Bordelon’s heart. Dale Bordelon has defied death. Twice. On two separate occasions last summer, the Vallejo resident suffered Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). Each life-threatening event came without warning, he says. “It turned me off like a switch.” But Dale is alive today because each time his…
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A Talent for Complex Cases
Team Helps Heart Failure Patients Stay Out of the Hospital Amy Bragg, R.N., left, and Allison Short, R.N., keep track of high-risk patients, making sure they get the services they need to remain healthy enough to stay out of the hospital. It was 1996 and Amy Bragg’s toddler Timothy was gravely ill, battling a parasite…
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Not Your Average Joe
Vacaville Restaurateur Has a Team to Thank for His Life… Kathy and Joe Murdaca The way Joe Murdaca figures it, he was clinically dead for about 48 seconds. It was Oct. 10, 2013, and he was driving back from his restaurant, Pietro’s No. 1, in downtown Vacaville. He was just back from a vacation and…
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Team Lucia Puts Patient Back on Track
Lucia Contreras is the center of attention for her NorthBay team, which includes, from left to right, Medical Assistant Shon Jones, Primary Healthcare Coordinator Tiffany Montoya, R.N.; Certified Diabetes Educator Susan Rosten, N.P.; and Dr. Kulbir Bajwa. For nearly 10 years, Lucia Contreras and her trusty pacemaker ticked along like clockwork, keeping the Vaca-ville woman…
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Grateful: From the Bottom of His Mended Heart
Tim Woodson of Fairfield was Christmas shopping at the mall on Dec. 22, 2012, when he began to feel nauseous and his upper body started to cramp. He put away his wallet and went home, thinking he just needed to stretch out because of his rigorous session at the gym that morning. His pulse was…
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Surgical Team Moves in Tandem at the Speed of Life
Something wasn’t right. Morry Wasserman, 91, knew it the minute he woke up Aug. 22, 2012, and noticed his wife Betty had slipped out of bed to use the bathroom. She called through the door that she was fine, but moments later she stumbled into their bedroom, a sight he’ll never forget. “She looked 15…
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Under Pressure Overcoming Obstacles–Again
Martin Santos is no stranger to the medical malady. At 19, a strep-throat infection led to a disease that caused his kidneys to begin shutting down. At 36, he needed a new kidney, a gift of life that came from his wife, Esther. At 55, despite unrelenting adherence to a strict diet and plenty of…
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Stroke is an Immediate Emergency
Every minute matters when it comes to treating a stroke. Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the United States. It is an immediate emergency. Stroke is also known as a “brain attack.” It usually happens without warning, when an artery in the brain becomes blocked…
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Patient Says Thanks … One Year Later
One year after a dramatic rescue from cardiac failure, 19-year-old Nichelle “Nickie” Fisher came back to NorthBay VacaValley Hospital—to say thank you. Accompanied by her mother, Dottie Mulligan-Fisher and a small army of family friends, Nickie set about sharing her gratitude—with certificates of appreciation, a spread of refreshments and lots of heart-felt hugs in the…
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