by Bobby Anderson, RN, Staff Writer

Just 22 years old and Teisha Gallegly’s first medical job started out as a medication assistant at an Oklahoma City assisted living.
“I had decided I wanted to change my major from psychology to nursing so I took a job as a medication aid to give this role a shot to see if I really liked it and I did,” Gallegly said. “I fell in love with the elderly people I helped there and the rest is kind of history. Time has really flown by. That was 15 years ago.”
Gallegly is now an advanced practice registered nurse at Naadi Healthcare Vascular and Interventional Center.
After that first MA experience the degrees kept coming. She earned her LPN then went to Rose State for her RN.
She put her husband through law school working as an RN for Life Share of Oklahoma. The semester he graduated she went back to finish her bachelor’s through the University of Central Oklahoma.
Her advanced practice degree came through the University of South Alabama. She’s dual certified in family and adult gero acute care.
“I have always felt like nursing was my calling. I prayed for direction and I ended up in a career filled with empathy and compassion,” she said. “I get to form unique bonds with patients and their families, and I get to empower people to take control of their health and lead healthier lives. It’s a challenge every day but it is so rewarding.”
After she graduated with her NP, a friend working at Naadi reached out and told her she would be a good fit working with Dr. C.V. Ramana.
One year later she loves what she does.
The majority of Naadi patients present with peripheral artery disease. Along with that comes a slew of comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.
“All of those things lend to peripheral artery disease and they can cause things like immobility, critical limb ischemia and sometimes amputation,” she said. “It’s really rewarding to be able to restore people’s mobility and help them to get active again and back to a better standard of health.”
Gallegly treats patients who have been dealing with wounds from a few months to a few years. Treating the wound from the inside out by restoring blood flow is the key component.
“Our clinic is one of a kind in the state of Oklahoma,” she said. “They’re popular in other states but in Oklahoma it’s new and innovative and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
Naadi specializes in peripheral vascular disease and venous insufficiency.
From pain in the calf while walking to non-healing wounds, Naadi works on getting people back to their former selves.
“Ultimately, the end goal is if somebody has a really bad wound we don’t want them to lose their limb. We want to save their limb, save their life. People who have amputations have a very high mortality rate,” said Shelby Dudley, a radiology technologist at Naadi.
Naadi Vascular and Interventional Center is the first outpatient center in Oklahoma City dedicated to vascular and interventional radiology.
Interventional radiology (also known as IR) is the minimally invasive, image-guided treatment of medical conditions that once required open surgery.
Breakthroughs in technology and imaging have created new treatment choices for patients. In this new era of medicine, there is no longer one “right way” to handle your condition.
Personalized medicine means doing the right thing for each individual patient. More than ever, it’s imperative for you to know and understand all of the available options to treat your condition or disease. In many cases, there is a minimally invasive approach that could dramatically reduce your pain, risk and recovery time.
“That’s something I hope we can make a change in the culture,” Ramana said. “People see all of that as a normal part of growing old and kind of accept that and don’t think there is anything they can do to impact that.”
“One of the nice things about being in a facility like this is you get to see those patients over and over and you get to see how you’ve impacted their lives,” Ramana said. “It’s very rewarding.”
Gallegly one day hopes to work towards independent practice.
But she’s more than happy where she’s at right now.
NAADI HEALTH is located at 1 NW 64th Street in Oklahoma City. Call (405)-608-8884 or visit www.naadihealthcare.com. Find us on Facebook.

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