Recognizing signs of coronary artery disease likely saved Corsicana man's life
DALLAS - A medical assistant who is also an amputee found himself at the center of a health crisis after being diagnosed with coronary artery disease.
He had successful triple bypass surgery and is now sharing his survival story.
Coronary Artery Disease
The backstory:
Bobby Watkins is a 50-year-old Corsicana resident who works as a medical assistant at Texas Health Surgical Specialists, which is part of the Texas Health Physicians Group.
And during the summer of last year, he had to rely on some of his colleagues to get him through his darkest days.
His latest health scare started one day while he was working out at the gym.
"It started getting this massive pain in the side of my neck, and I started getting really short of breath," Watkins said.
Thinking the symptoms could be cardiovascular-related, he contacted his former supervisor and friend, Dr. Tulika Jain, who is now a cardiologist on the medical staff at Texas Health Dallas.
"So when we did the stress tests, we can see a distribution of where what parts of the heart are having trouble with blood flow," Dr. Jain said.
Imaging confirmed Watkins was suffering from coronary artery disease, which affects more than 20 million adults in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Watkins had successful triple bypass surgery at Texas Health Dallas, the first hospital in the state to earn a certification as a comprehensive heart attack center.
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Why you should care:
Dr. Jain said it’s great that Watkins recognized the symptoms.
"That’s our fear in medicine that we can’t help people that don’t come to seek medical attention," she said.
Watkins may have been more aware of that urgency than most because of his job and medical history.
He’s hoping sharing his story will be a warning for others. He believes it’s important for people to listen to their body.
"With everything I’ve been through, it was probably the scariest thing I heard because it’s the heart. It’s the workhorse of the body," he said.
What's next:
Two months after the surgery, Watkins was back at the gym and feeling more energized than ever.
He’s now channeling that new-found energy into painting.
"Getting through it made me realize life is way shorter than I thought it was going to be," he said. "I need to accept that I cannot change the things I cannot control and I need to live my life."
Additionally, Watkins is studying to become a nurse. He actually completed one of his final exams last year in his hospital bed.
He should graduate with his BSN in 2027.
The Source: The information in this story comes from interviews with Bobby Watkins and Dr. Tulika Jain at Texas Health Dallas.