 Beating heart failure: St. Mary's helps Morgan County couple overcome debilitating heart condition Bill Schlutheis of Madison had been an active man, operating heavy equipment during the week and enjoying water skiing and dancing with his wife, Linda, on the weekends. But after four heart attacks, he simply had no energy left, “The highlight of my day used to be waking up and going to the living room to sleep,” he says. Then Linda, too, began having trouble. “I had no problems until two years ago, and then I couldn’t walk and breathe at the same time,” she says. “I had to put chairs along the route to the mailbox so that I could rest along the way.” Their journey to a better life began when Linda underwent a diagnostic cardiac catheterization procedure at St. Mary’s. Using St. Mary’s powerful cardiac cath imaging system, Linda’s cardiologist found that her heart was barely pumping blood. She was experiencing severe heart failure. Matters of the heart “To many laypeople, the term ‘heart failure’ is confusing,” explains Moe H. Bishara, MD, FACC, medical director of the Athens Cardiac Arrhythmia Center at St. Mary’s. “It sounds as if the heart just stops. In truth, the heart in heart failure patients is working but is too weak to meet the body’s needs.” A healthy heart will pump out 50 percent or more of the blood it contains with each contraction, Dr. Bishara says. This is known as the heart’s ejection fraction, or EF. If the heart is damaged, the EF may fall below 40 percent, the threshold for being diagnosed with heart failure. Linda’s EF was only 10 percent. Typically, a person with heart failure tires very easily, may experience fluid build-up that can cause painful swelling and difficulty breathing, and eventually could experience damage to organs such as the lungs, eyes or kidneys. Many heart failure patients experience irregular heartbeats and the sensation that their hearts are pounding or skipping beats. Heart failure often is scary and debilitating and in severe cases can be life-threatening, according to Dr. Bishara. Fortunately, advances in technology have made it possible for many people not only to survive but to thrive. One of them is Linda Schultheis. On May 22, 2006, Linda received an ICD, an implantable cardiac defibrillator and pacemaker, at St. Mary’s. A device about the size of a credit card that is surgically implanted near the collarbone, the ICD helps her heart maintain a strong, steady rhythm. It also can send a powerful shock to re-start her heart if it begins fibrillating, an extremely dangerous condition in which the cardiac muscle tissue twitches randomly. Linda says the improvement has been dramatic. “I feel 100 percent better than I did before I got it,” Linda says. “Now, I have no problems walking. Occasionally I get tired and they tweak my numbers, then I’m back to normal again.” Good for the goose, good for the gander? While the cause of Linda’s heart failure remains a mystery, doctors know exactly what caused Bill’s: multiple heart attacks. The heart is a muscle for pumping blood. When a heart attack damages part of the muscle tissue, the heart weakens. “I was really concerned about him,” Linda says.
“He would go outside for a few minutes, come back
in flushed, then sleep half the day.” “It’s like putting up a dam,” Dr. Bishara says. “As soon as the clot forms, no blood can travel downstream. Within minutes, the tissues that depend on that blood vessel for oxygen, nutrients and waste removal begin to die.” Fast treatment with clot-busting drugs at an emergency room such as St. Mary’s Emergency Department can often dissolve the clot and save heart muscle, Dr. Bishara says. “That’s why it’s vitally important that people who are experiencing symptoms of a heart attack call 911 immediately. Time is muscle!” But even with prompt care, a heart attack damages some muscle tissue and can cause heart failure, as Bill experienced. Cardiologists implanted five stents in Bill’s coronary arteries to help prevent more heart attacks, but the stents could not undo the damage that had already been done. As Linda enjoyed her new-found energy, she wondered if an ICD could help Bill, too. At first he was skeptical, but soon she convinced him to look into the possibility. He consulted with Dr. Bishara, who showed him that an ICD could improve the efficiency of his heart and help protect him against fibrillation. Also, St. Mary’s earlier in 2007 had created a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology laboratory, and had been certified by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations as one of the first 25 heart failure treatment centers in the United States. The hospital’s advanced technologies, experienced staff and scientifically proven procedures had already helped Linda, and would all be working in Bill’s favor, too. He agreed. “When they put mine in on August 2ne, I couldn’t
believe the energy I had on August 3rd,” Bill says.
“I felt like the Energizer Bunny!” Now both are active again, enjoying the outdoors, taking their grandson water skiing, and doting on their new puppy. They also are founding members of St. Mary’s ICD Support Group, which gives them a chance to share stories with others and learn ways to make living with an ICD even better. “St. Mary’s gave us our lives back,”
Linda says. What is Heart Failure? Heart failure is a major health problem affecting nearly 5 million Americans. Formerly known as Congestive Heart Failure, the condition progressively reduces the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively. Heart failure is caused by many factors – including heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and genetic factors – and can be life-threatening. Symptoms, which often are mild at first but gradually get worse, include:
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