Cardiac Services

Tammie Finley didn’t think she’d ever walk comfortably again, the result of leg pain she’d lived with for nearly a decade that had become unbearable.

Thanks, however, to a passing remark made to Adena Heart and Vascular Institute vascular surgeon Rahul Kar, MD, the 62-year-old Washington Court House resident now is making a pain-free return to life.

“Dr. Kar was like a miracle worker to me,” she said.

Tammie knows firsthand there is nothing worse for an active person than to be told those days are likely over. That appeared to be her fate, though, as her pain grew steadily worse and her mobility became more and more limited until she essentially became wheelchair bound.

As her leg condition worsened, Tammie’s hope for a return to an active lifestyle was fading away as well.

“I was hurting so much because I was watching my family and friends going out and I couldn’t even take 50 steps,” said Tammie, who had accepted the notion that nothing could be done for her leg. “I was depressed and stressed out. I knew my life was over if I couldn’t walk as I’m not one to sit still.”

That’s when Dr. Kar changed her life.

Tammie chose Adena Health and Dr. Kar in September 2024 for a carotid endarterectomy procedure to clear a nearly 100% blockage in her carotid artery. It was her post-operative follow up visit with Dr. Kar, though, that would eventually get her back on her feet.

“I told him as he was leaving the room that the next time I come in, I wanted to discuss what we could do about my leg,” Tammie recalled. “Instead of leaving, he immediately came back into the room, sat down and listened to me and then explained what he could do to help me. I decided I would give it one more try to fix the problem, and I’m really glad I did.

“Dr. Kar addressed the issue right then and there. He didn’t put me off or tell me to come back in for another appointment, he took care of getting things in motion to get the problem solved right away.”

Just a month after performing the carotid procedure, Dr. Kar conducted a lower extremity angiogram to locate the source of Tammie’s pain. Then, he corrected the problem by performing an atherectomy and angioplasty, a pair of minimally invasive procedures that open blocked or narrowed arteries and remove plaque from those arteries to improve blood flow. Within about a week of the procedure, Tammie said she started walking again and that nothing is going to stop her now.

She and her friends and family have noticed the improvement in other ways. She’s making a return mentally and emotionally to the person she was before, shedding the depression and once again feeling happy and joking with everyone around her.

“Everybody around me says they can’t believe the change and wonders what happened,” Tammie said. “I told them I got a hold of a good doctor.”

Tammie has several things she’s looking forward to now. While she is already walking more and getting back into gardening and baking, she can’t wait for a return to spring and the opportunity to go fishing again for the first time in years. Her ultimate goal is to return to vacations hiking in the woods around Gatlinburg, Tennessee – something that used to be an annual part of her routine.

She also knows she’ll be seeing Dr. Kar again.

“As long as he’s around, Dr. Kar is going to be my doctor,” Tammie said. “I don’t want another one.

“He came along and my whole life changed – everything changed.”