IN THIS ISSUE

From the Fall 2005 Issue

Patients Talk

Feeling Better, Living Better With a CRT Device

LifeBeat Online talked with two Californians who returned to more active lifestyles after having cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices implanted. Linda Forrest lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband, Francis. Brainard Walker lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Melissa, and their daughters Brianna, Braya, and Brenae, ages 7, 3, and 1.

Both Linda and Brainard had severe symptoms of heart failure. With heart failure, the heart's pumping becomes weakened over time. The CRT device — which delivers tiny pulses of electrical energy to the heart to coordinate the pumping on both sides — can't cure heart failure. But Linda and Brainard share how their devices made dramatic differences in their daily lives. (To learn more about heart failure and CRT devices, see Newest Treatment for Heart Failure: CRT Device.)

Video

Brainard Walker

"Immediately after the procedure I felt like my old self. When I got home, it was like, OK, Daddy's back."

Play Video
(4 minutes)

Linda Forrest

"When I was really sick, I couldn't stay up past 6:30. Now I stay up until 11:00 or 12:00 like a normal person."

Play Video
(1.5 minutes)

What heart failure symptoms did you have?

LINDA: Mine began in the late 1990s. I was short of breath and I slept all the time — though propped on pillows in order to breathe. No kidding: someone reshingled our roof while I slept upstairs. Francis had to go everywhere with me to help me walk. I couldn't go up stairs without resting at each step.

Important Safety
Information

Along with benefits, there are risks associated with a CRT device. Learn more.

I had indigestion and couldn't eat anything. And yet I was gaining weight from the fluid building up in my system. Plus I had two bizarre symptoms: I lost my voice and my ability to taste. I later found that my heart was so enlarged that it pressed on a nerve. One branch of the nerve led to my tongue and affected my taste. The other branch led to my vocal chords, which were permanently damaged. Now with treatment I can talk again, but my voice is very different.

BRAINERD: I started feeling so tired that I had to stop playing softball, playing golf, and running. Until then I'd run about 12 miles a week.

How was your heart condition diagnosed?

LINDA: My original internist, who didn't link my symptoms to my heart, eventually gave up on me. She told me I should see a psychiatrist. So I started going to another internist. Soon after, Francis came home and found me passed out on the floor. In the hospital the doctors finally diagnosed heart failure.

They also discovered that I had had many "silent" heart attacks. Fatigue and indigestion are common heart symptoms for women. When doctors implanted my device they found so much scar tissue from the attacks that it was hard to locate healthy heart tissue for implanting the leads.

They also found that the arteries in my heart were too narrowed for stents. But my heart was too enlarged for bypass surgery.

BRAINERD: My symptoms got worse until I went to the emergency room in late 2001 and they discovered the heart failure.

How did heart failure medications help your symptoms?

LINDA: In the hospital they started me on many medications, including strong diuretics [water pills]. I lost 19 pounds the first night from fluid I had been retaining. The next day they drained 1.5 liters of fluid from around my lungs. But I still didn't feel very good.

BRAINERD: The medications relieved symptoms for a year or so. I went back to golfing again, for instance.

How did you decide on the CRT device?

LINDA: It was easy. My doctor said that the device could make me feel better by helping my heart beat more regularly and efficiently.

BRAINERD: Two years after I started on the medications, I was slipping downhill again. My doctor had confidence in the drugs. He said maybe I was short of breath because I had asthma. I knew that wasn't it — I felt the same way I had 2 years earlier. He kept having me come for appointments and blood tests. I said, "Check out my heart," but he didn't listen.

I was fired because they said I didn't have the energy to do my job, and I didn't. We have a small house. Yet eventually — even holding onto furniture — I could hardly get to the door when someone would visit. My legs and ankles were swollen. I was so discouraged that I would snap at people, and I'm usually a pretty positive person.

When I finally started coughing up blood, I demanded to be hospitalized. That's when they found that my heart failure had gotten much worse.

In the hospital a nurse suggested the device implant. But a doctor from my HMO was very discouraging. He said the device wouldn't be any better than the drugs I was on. He didn't give me any hope. But I'd read about CRT and thought, "This is what I need."

How did you feel after your CRT device was implanted?

LINDA: I was in a clinical [research] study of the device 6 years ago. As part of the testing [to compare patients' symptoms with and without CRT], the pacing part of my device wasn't turned "on" right away. The defibrillator was available to me if necessary. When they turned the pacing on, you could see on the monitor that both my ventricles were beating more strongly and in sync.

BRAINERD: When I started to wake up after my implant, I could hear my doctor's voice. Before I even opened my eyes I said, "Doc, I feel awesome!" He said, "Whoa, take it easy, Brainard." But I insisted, "Doc, you don't understand. I can breathe again. I can breathe again!"

How are you feeling now?

LINDA: I'm still feeling better. Three years ago I felt chest pain, and my doctor found that my heart's arteries were more blocked than before. But it was amazing — after 2 years of CRT, my heart had gotten smaller and strong enough to do the bypass that I had needed for years.

BRAINERD: I'm ecstatic — I feel pretty much like my old self. If one of my daughters darts away from me, I can run after her full-speed for at least a block. I hadn't been able to do that in years.

Overall, how has CRT affected your life?

LINDA: When my heart failure was diagnosed, my new internist held my hand and said, "It doesn't look good." I've lived long enough to see my son, Scott, and my daughter, Amy, get married and to get to know my granddaughter, Meghan (2 years old), and my grandson, Alex (10 months old). I'm lucky that medical science is where it is today. If this had happened 10 years earlier, I wouldn't be here. Plus it has changed my attitude — I don't sweat the small stuff anymore. It's dreary and raining today? Great! I'm here!

BRAINERD: This has been the answer to my prayers. I went to a wedding last year and saw family I hadn't seen in a while. My sister-in-law was astounded at how good I looked and said, "I thought you had heart failure." I explained that I still do, but I'm doing much better. She said, "Isn't God good?" And my response was, "God and Guidant."

I'm determined to live life to the fullest. I can go to the amusement park and ride the rollercoaster with my girls again. That's what it's all about — getting a second chance, and being able to see your kids grow up.

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