The power of prayer ... and clinical expertise

Chuck Lipscomb lives a full and active life. He enjoys working in the yard, even in the heat of an East Texas summer. He and his wife Allison attend church regularly, visit with their kids and grandkids.

They attribute Chuck’s stamina to two things – the expertise of his St. Luke’s Health cardiologists in The Woodlands and the Texas Medical Center.
 
And the power of prayer and faith. 

Chuck’s 2020 heart attack came as a surprise in the middle of the night. Healthy, active, and fit, he woke up around 2:30 a.m. feeling “something wasn’t right.” He shook awake Allison, who called 911 and a neighbor. While the EMTs thought he might just be dehydrated, Allison and his neighbor, a nurse at a cardiac hospital near their home in Coldspring, TX both insisted he should go the hospital. His choice – St. Luke’s Health – The Woodlands Hospital. On the way, the team did another EKG “and I guess that’s when they saw something concerning,” Chuck says. “They were driving quite a bit faster.”

At the hospital, Chuck was rushed to the cath lab where they found a 100 percent blockage in his left anterior descending artery, 
Chuck’s memory of that time is clouded, but he does remember that his care team, thinking he might not make it, allowed Allison to sit with him despite the COVID restrictions in place at the time. It was a compassionate act of kindness that continues to resonate with both of them.

“When they let me come into the ICU, I remember just being really shocked,” Allison recalls. “His heart rate was just really high. I was just standing there and the alarms were going off constantly, constantly going off. And I know this is probably going to sound weird, but I swear it happened. I heard in my heart God say, ‘Can I not heal him?’” Allison says she “knew God could and believes he has.”

While confidence in their cardiologist was high, as people of strong faith, they also called on their church community for support and prayer.

“Allison called and they just started praying,” Chuck remembers. “And I'm convinced that that's the reason I'm here.”

At first, Chuck seemed to be on the road to recovery. He had a stent implanted, which eased his symptoms, and he began his cardiac rehab. But his heart was still not functioning as it should be. An incident during his final rehab session led to another trip via ambulance to the hospital, where Chuck’s doctors determined he needed an implantable cardioverter defibrillator – an internal medical device that monitors abnormal heart rhythms and can shock the heart back into a normal rhythm if needed. The implantation of his ICD was followed by a bout of pericarditis and a referral to Dr. Andrew Civitello, who has been guiding Chuck’s care ever since.  

A carefully designed cocktail of medications keeps Chuck going strong, as have additional lifestyle changes. “After the heart attack, we did make major changes in our diet, and a lot of that continues to this day,” Chuck says. “I haven't had a chicken fried steak in almost four years!” 

Chuck and Allison also note that the skilled care Chuck receives from Dr. Civitello at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center is bolstered by the excellence of other team members in his practice, in particular Nurse Practitioner Sandra Stahl.

“God can heal in a lot of ways and he has done some miraculous things,” Allison says. “But he also has used the medication, he's used Dr. Civitello’s wisdom and experience. He works through our doctors and nurses. They are outstanding.”