IN THIS ISSUE

From the Spring 2006 Issue

Patients Talk

Patient Gets Defibrillator
After Surviving Five Cardiac Arrests

Meet Matt Noble. Born with a serious heart condition, he'd had three open-heart surgeries by age 5. When he received his first implantable cardioverter defibrillator at age 17, he'd already survived five sudden cardiac arrests.

Matt is a "survivor" in the truest sense of the word — especially since only about 5% of people survive an out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest.1 And he has an incredibly positive attitude about life. Friends often told him to write a book about his experiences. Now at age 30 he's done just that.

LifeBeat Online recently talked with Matt about his experiences. Matt, who works for Guidant (now a Boston Scientific company) as a sales representative, lives in Michigan.

How did you first learn about your heart problem?

During a routine check-up soon after I was born, my doctor heard a heart murmur. Tests showed a small hole in my heart, which caused the murmur. The doctors told my parents that my heart was very abnormal and that they had never seen a heart like mine. I needed surgery, but the doctors wanted to delay it as long as possible. They thought it would increase my chance of surviving the surgery.

Tell us about your three heart surgeries.

Because I was only 5, I don't really remember the surgeries. But twice the doctors told my parents: "It didn't go well. If he makes it through the night, we hope there is minimal brain damage." My high-school algebra teacher may disagree, but I maintain that I came through fine, with no brain damage.

After two tries, they finally made the needed repair to my heart during the last surgery. But because of scar tissue from the surgeries, my heart was likely to develop rapid heart rhythms, which can cause a sudden cardiac arrest.

What was it like to be so young and to have a heart condition?

It's all I've ever really known. I've been taking heart medications since I was 4 months old. Most of the time, growing up, I didn't think about it because I felt fine. It's just that every so often I'd have open-heart surgery or nearly die from sudden cardiac arrest. Since kids don't usually worry about their health, it was much more my parents' struggle than mine.

Matt, age 7, a few years after his heart surgeries
and his first two sudden cardiac arrests.

Did your heart condition limit or restrict you in any way?

It did limit my involvement in certain sports — like football. When I was young I could play baseball because it wasn't very physically competitive. But football was absolutely huge in my hometown of Montrose, Michigan. It was tough for me not to play.

How did you deal with that disappointment?

In middle school I worked with the high school football team, first as water boy. Then I eventually helped tape ankles and treat minor injuries. To learn those skills, I went to sports medicine camp as a kid. But I really wanted to be at football camp.

When you're a 6th-grader and working with 12th-grade football players, it's cool. So I worked with the team until 10th grade. At that point, since the team members were my peers, it wasn't so cool anymore.

You've survived five sudden cardiac arrests and each time someone was there to give you CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Can you describe your cardiac arrests?

My first was when I was 5. I walked into my mom's beauty shop, which was right next to the house. The next thing she knew I was on the floor, turning blue. They didn't yet have 911 in my hometown so the lady under the hair dryer immediately ran out and drove uptown to get the doctor and ambulance. Another lady, who was having her hair cut, just happened to be a nurse so she started CPR.

My second sudden cardiac arrest was the same year, when I was in the hospital after surgery. I don't remember anything about that. The hospital staff had to open my chest again and massage my heart to get it beating again.

The third cardiac arrest was when I was 12. People often ask me if I think an angel saved me that time. [Read more about how Matt survived his third cardiac arrest in an excerpt from Matt's book, One Beat at a Time.]

The fourth cardiac arrest happened in our backyard pool when I was 14. My friend Joe and I were fooling around by doing flips off the diving board and dunking a basketball into an inner tube. Once when I got out of the pool, I hit my head on the side of the pool, fell in, and started sinking.

My mom looked out the beauty shop window to see Joe pulling me out of the pool, yelling for help. That time the gym teacher was getting a haircut. Since she had just finished CPR training, she started CPR while the lady under the dryer phoned the ambulance.

And my fifth cardiac arrest happened when I was 17 — just as I finished watching a basketball game. A team member's mother and sister — both nurses — performed CPR that time. While I was in the hospital after that episode, my doctor recommended the implantable cardioverter defibrillator [also called an ICD or defibrillator].

What thoughts did you have when your doctor suggested that you get a defibrillator?

Before the implant my doctor explained that the ICD was rather small and was 99% effective at stopping arrhythmias.2 But after five sudden cardiac arrests he could have told me that the defibrillator was the size of an elephant and worked maybe 50% of the time. I still would have said, "I'll take it!"

What was your first ICD implant like?

In early 1993 defibrillators were larger than they are today. So the doctors put the defibrillator in my abdomen instead of near my shoulder, where they put ICDs now. And although the doctors tried to put the leads in through my blood vessels, it didn't work. Instead the doctors sewed patches directly onto my heart during open-heart surgery. In the early days of ICDs, the device sent energy to your heart through patches instead of through the leads used today.

Video

Matt Noble

"Ever since I've gotten my defibrillator, life has been quite a bit easier."

Play Video
(5 minutes)

How did you feel about having an ICD?

Before the doctor implanted my first device, he told me it was about the size of a deck of cards. After the surgery, I looked at the size of the device, which I could see bulging in my abdomen. My first thought was, "What kind of huge cards do these people play with?"

A bigger issue for me was sometimes having an arrhythmia and getting a high-energy defibrillator shock. It's easy to feel sorry for yourself when you have heart problems. But I knew it was important to keep things in perspective.

How do your past experiences affect your perspective on life?

Unlike some people who get a defibrillator today, I know what it's like to have a sudden cardiac arrest. I know the feeling that I might die right then.

I look at my life with gratitude for the hand I've been dealt. The device is doing its job. And it's the reason I'm here today to talk about it.

Note: You can get a copy of Matt's book, One Beat at a Time, from any bookstore or by visiting the publisher's website.

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Learn More

American Heart Association: Sudden Cardiac Death — Describes sudden cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death. Also outlines the American Heart Association's "chain of survival" in the event that someone has a sudden cardiac arrest.

Defibrillators and Sudden Cardiac Death — Explains sudden cardiac death and offers video links showing the difference between a heart attack and sudden cardiac death.

Heart Rhythm Society: Sudden Cardiac Death — Describes sudden cardiac death and outlines who is at risk.

Success Stories — Recounts stories from some people whose rapid arrhythmias have been treated with Guidant defibrillators.

Note: Individual symptoms, situations, and circumstances may vary. Please consult your physician or qualified health provider regarding your condition and appropriate medical treatment. The information provided is not intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment or as a substitute for professional medical advice.

1. American Heart Association. Cardiac Arrest. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4481. Accessed November 7, 2006.
2. Heart Rhythm Society. Treatments. Available at: http://www.hrspatients.org/patients/treatments/default.asp. Accessed November 7, 2006. Note: Individual results may vary.