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Johanna Feher, 74, enjoys strolling around her Hellertown neighborhood, attending her grandson’s football games and going on day trips. She’s living life with a full heart – one that won’t let her down, thanks to her left ventricular assist device (LVAD), a permanent mechanical heart pump that she received at Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute. Feher was the first person in the Lehigh Valley to get the newest version of this device, the HeartMate 3TM, in November 2017.
In the months leading up to her surgery, she struggled with congestive heart failure caused by chemotherapy she’d received years earlier. “My lungs would fill with fluid, and I would end up in the emergency room,” she recalls. “I was told I had about six months to live.”
But there was hope. “Johanna was an excellent LVAD candidate since she was in overall good health with the exception of her heart,” says cardiothoracic surgeon Timothy Misselbeck, MD, with LVPG Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery and LVAD team leader at Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute.
How it works
An LVAD takes over the function of the heart’s left ventricle by pumping blood into the aorta, the artery that routes blood throughout the body. A tube from the LVAD passes through the skin and is connected to a system controller, which in turn is connected to a power source, such as a wearable battery pack or a wall outlet.
Johanna Feher isn’t limited by congestive heart failure thanks to a left ventricular assist device that helps her heart pump blood.
“HeartMate 3 represents the most current LVAD technology and is de- signed to work for a long time with less chance of side effects, such as developing blood clots,” Misselbeck says.
“I felt great about getting the newest version of the HeartMate,” Feher says. “I had a lot of trust in Dr. Misselbeck and this team of doctors.”
A bright future
About a month after surgery, Feher returned home and quickly adjusted to the realities of living with an LVAD, including charging batteries in the morning and taking extras when she goes out.
“I’m totally used to it now,” she says. “I’m very grateful for the year I just had, and I’m looking forward to many more.”
