LETTER TO THE EDITOR: God is good, so are the folks at McLeod

I want to take the opportunity to let the city of Florence know what a spectacular medical facility and doctors that we have the privilege of having in our town. To my disbelief, on Dec. 16, I found myself among the people with heart disease. I was feeling great, but little did know that I had a silent killer waiting to claim my life. On a routine doctor visit in June 2010, my doctor found a heart murmur that had never been detected before. ...

All summer long I was uneasy about it. I prayed and asked God to help me know what to do. After all, plenty of people have murmurs and I felt fine.

As I was praying one day God gave me my answer. I had put it off because I was scared. I told God that my fear was consuming my life. I heard this little voice in my head say, "Do not fear because I am the Lord your God." God knew that I had no insurance and how in the world would we handle this if something was really wrong? His words were: "Be still and know that I am God." I did get some insurance and on Dec. 16 I saw Dr. Nicolette Naso. After working at Pee Dee Cardiology for many years, I knew her reputation was good, as all the doctors there are, but I had prayed that God would help me choose the one He wanted me to have. I had not had my previous echo at Pee Dee Cardiology so she wanted another one in her office. When she had read it and consulted another doctor in the office the news was not what I had expected. I needed to have surgery soon. I was devastated and scared. The compassion Dr. Naso and her nurse, Lynn, showed me that day was priceless. There were a lot of tears and prayers to say the least. ...

I consulted Dr. Jamie Holland and the next day, Dec. 28, had my surgery. Dr. Holland and his staff are remarkable, and I was treated like a person, not a number. The care I received in the cardio intensive car unit for four days was, under the circumstances, second to none. I am a very anxious person and I know the nurses got tired of my paranoia, but they were always there with a smile and a "do you need anything" or "what can I do for you?” One of my nurses, Drew Bingham, got the worst of my emotions and paranoia. His patience and knowledge of cardiac patient care is what kept me going. I trusted him. ... Trey and Tiffany were also key to my recovery. ...

People, we are blessed in this town to have such a health facility as McLeod and the people they employ. Several people had told me to go to Charleston or Duke to have my surgery. I never considered it knowing that we had such a wonderful heart institute right here in Florence. I want to publicly thank everyone for the great care.

God is good all the time!

Kathy Harrell

Florence