No parent wants to get a phone call like the one Jo-Ann Amaral received last winter. The nurse’s office at New Bedford’s Keith Middle School was calling to tell her that her 14-year-old son, Amaree, was having chest pains. 

Amaree and his older brother Christopher had been shoveling snow following a storm the day before and had told his mother afterward that his chest was “really sore.” But it hurt worse the next day, and when Jo-Ann got the call from the school nurse, she quickly left her job at a private behavioral residential school in Middleboro for children with learning and emotional challenges. 

Jo-Ann called Amaree’s pediatrician, who advised her to bring him to urgent care. She took him right over to Southcoast Health Urgent Care in Dartmouth, where he was seen right away by Nurse Practitioner Alysa Lopes. While there Alysa performed an EKG, or electrocardiogram, to determine if there were any problems with his heart. 

Based on the results, which showed abnormal heart rhythm, Alysa coordinated Amaree’s transfer to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, where he underwent more tests. There, tests revealed an elevated troponin level which is indicative of stress and damage to the cardiac muscle. 

“The numbers were awful,” Jo-Ann said.  

Given the possibility that Amaree had a viral infection affecting his heart, a resident St. Luke’s Emergency Department physician arranged to have him transferred to Boston Children’s Hospital.  

There he underwent two days of tests and was diagnosed with myocarditis, a swelling of the heart muscle, usually as the result of a viral infection. Complications may include heart failure or cardiac arrest, but Amaree recovered quickly and was in the hospital for only two days. 

Jo-Ann said the prompt and comprehensive care her son received at both Southcoast Health Urgent Care in Dartmouth and St. Luke’s Hospital ensured that her son would receive the best treatment right away. 

“The staff at St. Luke’s and Southcoast Health Urgent Care answered every question, and the wait times were brief,” she said. “They ran every test under the sun, so they didn’t miss anything.” 

And now Amaree is looking forward to enjoying his freshman year at Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School, where he hopes to run track. 

“We feel very fortunate,” Amaral said. “I can’t say enough about the quality of the care my son received.” 

To learn more about Southcoast Health Emergency Services, visit Emergency Services MA & RI | Southcoast Health. If you are unsure where to go for medical care, visit Know Where to Go for Your Medical Care | Southcoast Health.