News
Rob Monroe

Rob Monroe was diagnosed with the flu. Despite antibiotics, he kept getting weaker and shorter of breath. "I couldn't lie down," he says. "I couldn't breathe."
So Monroe saw a second doctor. This one ran an EKG. And Monroe couldn't believe the results. "She said I'd been having heart attacks in my sleep!" The doctor called Vail cardiologist Jerry Greenberg, co-director of VVMC's Cardiac Catheterization Lab, for a second opinion.
Dr. Greenberg urged Monroe to get to the cath lab immediately. "They put me on a treadmill for a stress test. Within three minutes, I was almost falling off," he recalls. "I couldn't finish the test."
Dr. Greenberg did an angiogram to get a better picture of the problem. He injected fluorescent dye through a thin catheter threaded into the coronary artery. The dye virtually stopped flowing. "My main coronary artery was 100% blocked," Monroe says, "and the next biggest one was 80% blocked." A third artery was 40% obstructed. It was a wonder Monroe was alive.
Dr. Greenberg expanded the worst two arteries using balloon catheters. He inserted stents to hold them open. He prescribed medication to reduce the third blockage. Three days later, Monroe was hauling hay and feed for his horses. These tasks had been nearly impossible before his visit to the cath lab. "Now I can lift two 40-pound feed sacks with no trouble," he says."
Monroe and his wife moved from New Jersey to Colorado eight years ago. One key factor in their move was the quality of care at VVMC. "It's probably the best in the world," he says.
These words, it's clear, come straight from the heart.
More News
-
New!
More
Cass Barham and Sarah Crabtree Honored As Recipients of Vail Health Elevate Award
Cass Barham and Sarah Crabtree, both lab techs at Vail Health Hospital, have been named recipients of the Vail Health Elevate Award. Vail Health created the Elevate Award in June 2022 to give patients and their families an opportunity to nominate and thank employees who have touched their lives in some way.
-
New!
More
What Are the Benefits of Forest Bathing?
The smell of the pine trees. The sounds of birds chirping far off in the distance. The feeling of a cool breeze across skin. The sight of water cascading over a rock. Fully tuning into your senses in nature ignites a deeper awareness and an otherworldly sense of belonging, eliciting a feeling of being connected to something bigger than yourself.
-
New!
More
Myth Busters: Allergy Edition
As a board certified allergist/immunologist practicing for nearly 13 years, I often hear the same questions and concerns from patients. Allergies affect so many of us, whether we’re sniffling and sneezing or worrying about a child's food reaction. But there's a lot of misinformation out there that can make managing allergies confusing and even scary.