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“Hi! I’m Jim Rohde. I live in the Twin Cities with my wife Kristin, two dogs, Alton (sp.) and Brighton, and I’m an employee of Ingenix Corp.
“My garden is my passion. You know, I come from work at night, and it’s like straight to the garden take a look do a walk, the dog and I will do a walk around the garden take a look and see what happens, and it really helps decompress from the day.
“Between a lot of running, jogging and that sort of thing, the yard work, I would consider myself very active. We’ve got bikes. When the weather permits in the fall, the bikes come out as the gardening disappears for a little bit.
“I really took my health for granted. I can’t remember the last time I went to a doctor. Every time I went to a doctor, I immediately needed a tetanus shot because it had been at least 10 years.
“UnitedHealthcare had a know-your-numbers program with biometric screening and it was easy just show up at 8 o’clock in the morning and get some tests done. And I thought I better do this.
“I went to the screening and immediately found out I had some issues with a few numbers so I better see my personal physician. That was really the tip-off. I was a little startled by that. I kind of had been in denial that I could possibly have a health issue. And all of a sudden here I was having a health issue.
“And we started the battery of tests. It wasn’t conclusive one way or the other. I wasn’t out of the woods, but by the same token I wasn’t necessarily showing them a great deal of concern.
“Because I had been running the heart rate still was only in the low 40s. So it was like, we don’t have a problem, but we ended up doing an angiogram. And the doctor was very confident because of my activity level and my good shape the doc pretty much said 30 minutes, we’ll be out of here. Maybe if things get really get rough there’ll be a stent put it in. And you’ll be fine. You’ll be back on your feet tomorrow and everything will be great.
“They came out and literally said we’re going to have you in and do a triple bypass here that you’re beyond stents.
“The surgeon informed us, my wife, that I was 2 to 3 months away from dropping dead next to the lawn mower. And it’s like, ‘Oh, my goodness.’
“Four or 5 days later I had the triple bypass. The Wellness Program was pretty all-encompassing. It’s been very accessible if you have any kind of issues or concerns they’ve got the background to support you. They’ve initiated all this. They’ve recommended the programs.
“I’m very grateful the insurance company, UnitedHealthcare, can put this together and make this as easy for me as it was. It really was – all I had to do was show up and stay awake.
“How I feel today versus how I felt a year ago at this time, there’s really no comparison. With the 7 percent weight loss, with the healthier lifestyle, it’s just a million times better.
“One of the goals I set for myself was to go skiing again – to go up in the chairlift again. That was pretty exciting. I was out doing double black diamonds again! I couldn’t have done black diamonds a year ago.
“To be able to come back to where I was from a health standpoint and to be able to go skiing again, that was unbelievable. You get that kind of a feedback, and it’s okay, let’s do this some more. And I don’t think I’ll ever take it for granted again.
“I’m Jim Rohde, and this is my health care success story.”
Storytellers
Jim Rohde's Story
UnitedHealthcare Wellness Programs
Jim took his health for granted until a routine biometric screening showed results that were slightly off. Fortunately, he followed up with his physician and received treatment in time to avert a serious medical problem. Now, with lifestyle changes, he is back to healthy, active living.
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