'They Saved His Life'

Linda Orton of Starkville is forever grateful for Dr. Emily Landrum, whom she credits with saving her husband, John.

The Ortons have always been active, walking on a treadmill daily, working in their yard, being involved in church and more. According to Linda, they have both been very energetic and healthy up until February 17.

“We got up to go to church and his back had gone out,” Linda says. “He could hardly walk. We went to the chiropractor and saw no improvement, so we called Dr. Emily.”

Dr. Landrum prescribed a steroid and did some imaging and lab work, which didn’t show anything of concern. However, in April, John was still in terrible pain and deteriorating quickly. He was having trouble eating and walking.

“We called the clinic again and told her something was still bad wrong,” Linda says. “John never complains or feels bad, so I knew we had to do something. Dr. Emily was so attentive. She decided to put him in the hospital in Starkville and got an MRI right away.”

The scans showed bacterial endocarditis, a rare infection of the heart, that had also spread to the discs in his spine. Dr. Landrum quickly had him transferred by ambulance to NMMC-Tupelo, where he would have access to specialists in neurology, cardiology, neurosurgery and infectious disease.

“They saved his life,” Linda says. “They did test after test all night long.”

John had surgery the next day to replace his heart valves and insert a pacemaker.

He spent nine weeks in the hospital for strong IV antibiotics and came home with Home Health services. Soon after, he had a reaction to his antibiotics and had to go back to the hospital, where he stayed until June 6.

“Thank God for that patient portal,” Linda says. I was able to stay in touch with Dr. Emily. She was so good about keeping tabs on us and knowing what was going on with him.”

Now that they are home, John is slowly improving and getting stronger. John can follow up with his cardiologist in Starkville, saving him a drive to Tupelo for his checkups.

“Praise the Lord for letting me bring him home,” Linda says. “I am so grateful to Dr. Emily and everyone at NMMC who were so wonderful to us.”

John's primary care provider helped uncover a dangerous infection and connected him to the services he needed to get better