Like many married couples, Scott and Gloria Fee have a lot of the same interests and hobbies.

Unfortunately, they have something else in common – heart disease. Over the course of the past year, they both found themselves at the Adena Medical Center undergoing life-saving cardiac care.

It all started on April 11, 2010. While attending a sporting event at Rio Grande University, Gloria felt a severe pain in her chest. Later that night, she felt a similar discomfort. A heart catheterization revealed severe blockage in three arteries around the heart, and it was clear that Gloria was going to need surgery.

“My doctor, Dr. Baker, was so good to me,” Gloria remembers. “He put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘I’m going to take care of you.’”

He certainly lived up to his promise.

That day, Gloria underwent a triple Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG). Using CABG surgical techniques, cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Jack Baker and his team were able to create new routes around Gloria’s narrowed arteries, allowing sufficient blood to the heart muscle.

Gloria spent the next few months in cardiac rehab, where she began the process of strengthening her heart. Gloria’s regime consisted of exercises on the elliptical machine, stationary bike, arm machine and treadmill.

“I started off walking two and a half minutes. By the time I left, I was up to three miles,” Gloria remembers proudly.

With Gloria well on the road to recovery, life at the Fee house seemed to be getting back to normal. But on January 2, 2011, Scott began experiencing angina symptoms as well.

“It’s hard to tell with a diabetic, like Scott,” Gloria explains. “When you have that condition, you don’t always have the same kind of pain.”

To be safe, Scott went to Adena, and within days he was undergoing the same CABG surgery Gloria had a few months earlier. With four bulging discs in his back, Scott’s rehab was a bit slower.

Now, fully recovered, Scott is back to his favorite hobby -- tending the family’s horses. He credits Adena’s cardiac team with enabling him to have “a brand new start,” and he is living proof of Adena’s advanced cardiac care.

“Everyone at Adena has been so great,” his wife says. “They’re like family. And we owe them our lives.”