“I just passed out”: One patient’s journey with difficult blood pressure issues

02/23/24 • 16 min

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TriHealth patient Drew Abbott felt his blood pressure rising when he was closing a high-stress business deal. When he put on the blood pressure cuff at home that evening, he knew he had a serious issue: his blood pressure measured over 200.

“My PCP made some changes to my medication, but this did not seem to fix the problem,” Abbott says in the latest episode of Getting Health Care Right podcast. Abbott continued to experience blood pressure fluctuations and undesirable side effects from the medication, including syncope (fainting). “I could tell it was coming, but I couldn’t prevent it, and I just passed out,” Abbott says.

An eventual referral to Dr. Stephen Lewis, a TriHealth interventional cardiologist and specialist in difficult blood pressure issues, helped Abbott finally get his hypertension numbers under control.

“I became concerned about hypertension pretty early in my career, as I witnessed a lot of patients suffering from very difficult-to-control hypertension,” says Lewis. “This resulted in further interest in finding out more root causes.”

Listen to this special Heart Month episode of Getting Health Care right to hear more about:

Abbott’s biggest challenges when it came to treating his high blood pressure.
A dramatic incident in the Good Samaritan Hospital dining room.
Incidence of high blood pressure in U.S. adults — and its potential consequences.
TriHealth’s new hypertension clinic.
Dr. Lewis’ advice for people concerned about their heart health.

TriHealth’s Heart and Vascular Institute focuses on personalized care. Learn more.

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

An eventual referral to Dr. Stephen Lewis, a TriHealth interventional cardiologist and specialist in difficult blood pressure issues, helped Abbott finally get his hypertension numbers under control.

Listen to this special Heart Month episode of Getting Health Care right to hear more about:

Abbott’s biggest challenges when it came to treating his high blood pressure.
A dramatic incident in the Good Samaritan Hospital dining room.
Incidence of high blood pressure in U.S. adults — and its potential consequences.
TriHealth’s new hypertension clinic.
Dr. Lewis’ advice for people concerned about their heart health.

TriHealth’s Heart and Vascular Institute focuses on personalized care. Learn more.

Previous Episode

Artificial intelligence technologies expanding possibilities in health care

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Pulmonary embolism kills more patients than HIV, breast cancer and motor vehicle accidents combined, according TriHealth’s Dr. Chris Hayner, a specialist in critical care and pulmonology, in the latest episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast.

“It’s a fairly prominent problem, and for probably 40 years, we really only had two forms of treatment — either to give patients blood thinners or to occasionally use clot busters,” Hayner says. “But within the last 10 years, there’s been a real development of alternative methods and treatment options.”

Hayner talks with host Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier, and Dr. Douglas Adams, cardiothoracic surgeon with TriHealth, about major advancements in medical treatments and approaches for pulmonary emboli, lung cancer and other conditions.

Listen to the episode to hear more about:

· Results seen by patients who work with TriHealth’s pulmonary embolism response team.

· Using low-dose CT scans to detect early-stage lung cancer.

· What Hayner and Adams see as the benefits of folding AI technology into their health care practice.

· Managing health care AI to maximize patient benefit and minimize misuse.

· Lessons learned from the implementation of electronic medical records in health care practice.

· Integrating AI in TriHealth’s population health model.

A healthy life begins with truly human care. Learn more at TriHealth.com.

Next Episode

TriHealth physician, nonprofit exec discuss Cincinnati’s behavioral health needs and available services

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Improving behavioral health in the Cincinnati community is not a task to be undertaken lightly, according to Jill Miller, president and CEO of Bethesda Inc. and bi3, in the latest episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast.

“This is not an issue we can solve in a year or three years. This is going to take decades-long commitment and work,” says Miller.

Miller discusses barriers to and access of behavioral health care with Dr. Dallas Auvil, TriHealth’s chief of behavioral health services, and Jamie Smith, president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier. Listen to learn more about:

Concerns around lack of funding and reimbursement for behavioral health services. (3:45
Whether Auvil sees improvement from pandemic-related mental health stressors. (5:50)
Strategies for helping children with behavioral and mental health issues. (6:55)
TriHealth’s programs to help patients find the services they need. (12:06)

Learn more about TriHealth’s behavioral health services.