Feel Better with Firelands - Spring 2018

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A PATIENT
S T O R Y
Bryan has
always been
an active guy,
but after white
water rafting,
and a gondola
ride to the top
of a mountain,
he started
having trouble
breathing.
In July 2017, Bryan Kasper, the owner of Kasper
Auto Group in Sandusky, attended a car dealer
meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Bryan
decided to take part in some of the local activities
to take in all Jackson Hole had to offer. On the first
day he went white water raing on the Snake River.
“at night I started to have flu-like symptoms,”
Bryan said.
e next day he shook it off and decided to take
a gondola ride to the top of a mountain. But, that’s
when things took a turn for Bryan.
His flu-like symptoms intensified and he was having
trouble breathing. He headed down the mountain and
went to an urgent care where they did some tests but
ultimately sent him to the nearest hospital for a CT scan.
“at’s when they learned I had a massive pulmonary
embolism,” said Bryan. “ey started me on blood
thinners to keep it from getting worse, but that doesn’t
do anything for the problem.”
e team at the hospital began looking into facilities
in Salt Lake City, Utah and Billings, Montana because
they were no longer able to provide Bryan with the
level of care he needed. It was going to be a couple of
days before either hospital could take him. And in his
condition, a couple of days could have been detrimental
to Bryan’s health.
Fortunately, Bryan is friends with local vascular
surgeon Dowzell Swayngim, MD, and cardiologist
Patrick McGuinn, MD, both of whom are on the
medical staff at Firelands Regional Medical Center.