Lance Johnson Using Heart Attack Experience to Help Others

8/18/2020

Lance Johnson founded Lance Johnson Building Company along with other family members in 1992. In addition to running a successful business, he’s been active in the community, winning election to the Washington County Quorum Court in 2018, representing District 1.

And, thanks to prompt recognition of his heart attack symptoms – and fast action – it looks like he’s going to be around a lot longer for his family and community. Now he’s sharing that experience to help educate others. His wife Nancy explains how it happened.

“It was a Thursday evening, following a Quorum Court meeting on Zoom. Lance went to bed about 9:00 pm and woke up about 10:30 pm with pain in his left shoulder,” Nancy explained. “He rolled over and determined he also had pain in his right shoulder. He then tried to sleep in a reclining chair, but after about a minute and a half said he’d feel better if we had it checked out.”

Lance and Nancy live in Springdale, about three miles from Northwest Medical Center-Springdale. They drove to the Emergency Department there.

Tests confirmed Lance was experiencing a heart attack. In addition to signs such as chest – or upper body – pain, a heart attack is diagnosed mainly through two ways. A blood test is used to see if there are elevated levels of certain markers of heart damage such as cardiac troponin. Physicians also study the patient’s EKG which records electrical signals as they travel through the heart. An injured heart muscle doesn't conduct electrical impulses normally so the EKG may show that a heart attack has occurred or is in progress.

The good news was that Lance was NOT experiencing what’s known as a STEMI, an ST-elevated myocardial infarction. That’s a very serious type of heart attack during which one of the heart’s major arteries (one of the arteries that supplies oxygen to the heart muscle) is blocked. It is a life-threatening medical emergency, requiring immediate intervention. One of the quality measures for STEMI care is the “door-to-balloon” (D2B) time or the amount of time it takes to successfully re-open the occluded artery. The clock starts when the patient arrives at the hospital and stops when the blocked vessel is re-opened in the cardiac cath lab, generally with a balloon or stent.

Cardiologist Dr. Ashu Dhanjal, who treated Lance in the Emergency Department, said “When diagnosing whether the patient is having a STEMI or non-STEMI heart attack, we look at the EKG or electrocardiogram. Time is of the essence as in a STEMI attack, there is a complete blockage of the heart artery and we need to open the artery as soon as possible whereas in non-STEMI, we start the medical treatment first with blood thinners like aspirin and heparin, nitrates, and beta blockers. Blood tests like creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB), troponin I, and troponin T are also done as they can show evidence of possible damage to the heart cells which is typically mild in a non-STEMI compared with a STEMI. Once the evidence suggests a non-STEMI event, cardiologists help determine the risk and most appropriate treatment strategy."

Symptoms of a heart attack can include:

• shortness of breath
• pressure, tightness, or discomfort in your chest
• pain or discomfort in your jaw, neck, back or stomach
• dizziness
• lightheadedness
• nausea
• sweating

“They told us we did the right thing by coming to the hospital so quickly. And, they said that anytime someone is experiencing any upper body pain – not just chest pain – that they should take fast action,” Nancy said.

When it comes to chest pain and the other symptoms, it’s always better to err on the safe side and get help. If the symptoms are indeed those of a heart attack, every minute that passes without help can further increase damage to the heart. Take these symptoms seriously if you experience them, and call 911 immediately.

“Lance had his heart attack on Thursday evening, had a stent put in on Friday and was home on Saturday morning. He went back to work on Wednesday and now is riding his bike for two hours every other day. He’s in excellent health now. It’s like nothing ever happened.”

Lance is running for re-election to the Washington County Quorum Court as Justice of the Peace for District 1 in November. “Thanks to his expert care, he’ll be actively campaigning soon,” Nancy added.

This photo was taken in celebration of Nancy and Lance Johnson's 50th wedding anniversary.

Back