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Cardiac ablations get patient back on the road again

Cindy Hilliard, 64, doesn’t exactly remember when the irregular heartbeats started.

“It’s been about 5-6 years now, but I probably ignored them for quite some time before,” she said.

A truck driver who crisscrossed the U.S. for 18 years, Cindy enjoyed driving, especially on her favorite route. She would start at her home in Winnsboro, travel to Dallas, Los Angeles and Reading, Pennsylvania, before returning to Dallas and then back home – a journey over 5,800 miles that lasted 5 days.

“I never got to see many popular sites because of time constraints and because I...

Curtis Cason was sitting in bed talking to his wife when, at age 43, his heart unexpectedly stopped beating. Through the efforts of the UT Health EMS dispatcher who coached his wife through CPR, the ambulance crew that arrived on scene and the cardiac team that cared for him at UT Health Tyler, Cason was able to walk out of the hospital just over two weeks later.

“My heart just stopped,” Cason recalled of that December night. “The last thing I remember is me and my wife at home discussing Scriptures out of the Bible, and she later told me I slumped over and couldn’t breathe.”...

Jacksonville, Texas (January 10, 2023) — The UT Health East Texas HOPE Breast Care Center added a new 3D mammography unit in Jacksonville, providing technology that significantly increases the detection of breast cancers. This technology allows images to be divided up in multiple layers, allowing the radiologist to review one layer at a time, reducing the tissue overlap effect. This helps the radiologist find smaller cancers that may be harder to find at an earlier stage.

“The advantage to a 3D mammogram is that it allows us to see through the tissue better than a regular 2D...

After completing her Bachelor of Science in healthcare management, Rachel Villanueva, pediatric clinic manager for UT Health East Texas Physicians on Fifth Street, was planning on finally relaxing after earning her degree, several years in the making.

“I thought I was done with school,” Villanueva recalled with a chuckle just days after applying for a master’s of health administration program at The University of Texas at Tyler. “I was like, ‘When this bachelor’s degree comes through, I am done!’”

But Villanueva changed her mind after benefitting from UT Health East Texas’...

Pictured: (L to R) UT Health East Texas Physicians CEO Todd Hill, Dr. Beverly Waddleton, UT Health Quitman CEO Jared Smith

Quitman, Texas — After more than 40 years practicing medicine in Quitman, Dr. Beverly Waddleton will start the new year in a new way — retired.

Waddleton officially retires Jan. 1 after four decades treating patients in her hometown of Quitman.

“It has been a very rewarding 40 years,” she said. “I look back now and some of the things I did seem almost surreal now.”

Waddleton said the desire to become a physician struck her the summer after she graduated high school.

“I think it was just kind of a spiritual calling. I grew up with my family...

Hospital volunteer becomes a patient after heart surgery

Chuck Winston finds joy in helping others.

The 85-year-old widow and resident of Ben Wheeler spends a couple of days each week volunteering his time in the pain management department at UT Health Tyler.

“I clean the beds, make the beds and roll people out to the main entrance when discharged,” said Chuck. He also stays active by walking his 5-acre property, filled with lots of oak and elm trees.

“After storms roll in and the wind blows, I always find fallen limbs scattered on the ground, which I collect and burn,” he said. “I stay pretty active and have never felt...

Lexi Sullivan, from left, delivers care packages to the UT Health Tyler NICU team including Dr. Armando Castillo, NICU medical director, Laura Ryan, RNC, Christina Martin, NNP, and Celia Wilson-Patino, a premed student at Georgia Tech.

Having a newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit can be stressful any time of year, but having a baby in the NICU during the holidays can be even more trying for a family. A Tyler woman and her nonprofit organization is hoping to ease the burden by delivering care packages to the UT Health Tyler NICU.

Lexi Sullivan on Monday delivered the care packages on behalf of Eve’s Victory, an organization with the mission of bringing hope to families struggling with premature birth, miscarriage, stillbirth, having a disabled and/or ill baby or the loss of a child.

“It’s isolating...

Athens, Texas (December 7, 2022) — Babies born at UT Health Athens this month are going home with a special gift during the holiday season. UT Health East Texas is presenting all new mothers with hand-sewn stockings embroidered with the UT Health East Texas logo.

Skhi Lyrik Bowman, who was born to Jessica Bowman, received a stocking after her arrival at 6:19 a.m. Dec. 5. She weighed...

Jacksonville, Texas (December 7, 2022) — Babies born at UT Health Jacksonville this month are going home with a special gift this holiday season. UT Health East Texas is presenting all new mothers with hand-sewn stockings embroidered with the UT Health East Texas logo.

Blakelee Axell Tabb, who was born to Cindy Scott and father Dalton Tabb, received a stocking after arriving at 8:01...

Henderson, Texas (December 7, 2022) — Babies born at UT Health Henderson this month are going home with a special gift this holiday season. UT Health East Texas is presenting all new mothers with hand-sewn stockings embroidered with the UT Health East Texas logo.

Journi Dre’Ann Falk, who was born to Ashley Falk, received a stocking after her arrival on Dec. 3. Journi weighed in at 5...

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