One morning last March, Jasie Landeros was in Wilmington for a work trip when her cell phone rang. It was her father, Cliff Lovick, whose first words when she picked up were, “Don’t panic.”
He went on to say that Landeros’ mother, Kay, had been experiencing some persistent dizziness that morning. She had been taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in an ambulance.
“But he didn’t want me to panic,” Landeros said. “He said, ‘Don't worry about rushing back home. We'll keep you updated on everything.’”
By the time she was able to get to Fayetteville, Landeros learned that tests showed Kay’s dizziness was caused by a heart attack. She would need a cardiac catheterization, a procedure in which a long, narrow tube is used to access the heart. This allows doctors to find the blocked arteries, and, in most cases, open them back up with the placement of stents.
After Kay was taken back for the procedure, Landeros and her sister, Rita, waited with their dad for an update. But after 30 minutes, they learned there had been a change of plans.
“It turned out she was about 90 percent blocked in three arteries,” said Landeros. “The right side of her heart was not functioning at all.”
Kay would need triple-bypass surgery. For her family, this was a lot to absorb.
“She held our hands, and she said, ‘Girls, I'm going to be okay,’” Landeros said. “‘Everything happens for a reason.’ That's what she's always told us: everything happens for a reason.”
Even while reassuring her daughters, Kay was still adjusting to the news herself.
“I could still hardly believe I’d had a heart attack,” said Kay. “And then to find out I need open-heart surgery?”
The next morning, Kay was wheeled off to surgery. Robert E. Maughan, MD, spent hours repairing the blocked arteries to restore blood flow to her heart. Landeros, Rita and Cliff passed the time with other family members in the waiting room, watching the clock and waiting for good news.
“Then Dr. Maughan walked in,” said Landeros. “He said she did great. And we just had tears of joy.”
Kay spent 15 days recovering in the hospital, a setting that had become quite familiar to her family. Both of her girls were born there, and in 2021, Kay spent two weeks being treated there for a severe case of COVID.
“They took fantastic care of her with the COVID,” Landeros said, “But because of the pandemic restrictions, we couldn’t all be with her. This was so much better, that we were all able to be there and see her and hold her hand.”
Being there was especially important to Cliff. He and Kay had just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
“They were high school sweethearts,” said Landeros. “They’re inseparable, those two.”
After her discharge from the hospital, Kay continued to recover but was careful to take it easy.
“I made a little trail through the house,” she said. “I kept telling myself, ‘Small steps and deep breaths.’”
She’s taking longer walks now, up and down her long driveway in Wade. It’s a community she deeply loves and credits with a great deal of her recovery.
“You just can't imagine the kindness that they have shown, and all the prayers,” she said. “It is unbelievable.”
Kay is keeping an eye on her heart health with regular visits to her cardiologist, Thor E. Klang, MD.
And she’s made it her mission to share with friends and family that a heart attack doesn’t always look like you think it will.
“I never had any chest pain,” she said. “I never had any trouble breathing. I just felt dizzy, that was it. I thought it might be vertigo, or even a stroke. But I never thought ‘heart attack.’”
From the emergency department to surgery and beyond, Landeros is grateful for the care her mother received. But she’s also grateful for how her father was cared for during the ordeal.
“Dad stayed there every single night at the hospital,” she said. “They brought him extra blankets, fresh pillows, something to drink. They checked on him when they were checking on her, and that just meant the world to me as their daughter.”
That care was more than just a kindness, according to Landeros. It kept the whole Lovick family energized and prepared to help Kay through her healing.
“The doctors and nurses took their time explaining to us what we needed to do,” she said. “We were just really grateful for the care that they gave her, and for the care that they gave to all of us.”

(Photo courtesy of Cape Fear Valley Health)