Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Rescues Cancer Survivor from Heart Failure
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Rescues Cancer Survivor from Heart Failure
Vicki Dennis was eight years out from being treated for breast cancer and feeling well. Little did she know, chemotherapy side effects had damaged her heart and, suddenly, over three months, she unexpectedly went into heart failure. Doctors asked her to participate in a research study using cardiac resynchronization therapy — the first such trial for cancer survivors — and now she’s back to living, working, exercising, and enjoying her family.
Content
0.036 -> >> I was hooked up to so
many machines that night
3.346 -> that everything beeped and I
just had nothing to do but think
6.986 -> about am I going to get
through this and wake
9.056 -> up in the morning, you know.
10.616 -> It was congestive heart
failure due to the chemo
13.066 -> that I had received in 2008.
15.836 -> I went through six months
of very intense chemo.
19.936 -> I recovered from all that
and was living normally.
23.336 -> It was a relief to be done
with everything I went through
25.596 -> and know that I could
get back to normal.
27.456 -> And had another grandchild,
so I had more of them
30.576 -> to play with and [laughs].
32.236 -> >> Patients that
have been exposed
33.526 -> to chemotherapy can manifest
signs of heart disease as late
38.966 -> as 15 and 20 years
after their exposure.
43.016 -> It causes the heart
muscle to overdose
46.696 -> on calcium what causes
the heart muscle
49.316 -> to potentially break
down and burst.
51.886 -> >> The first thought that went
53.646 -> through my head is,
"I got to beat this.
55.586 -> I beat cancer.
56.436 -> I'm going to beat this."
58.336 -> >> After about six months,
59.796 -> we found that her heart function
had not dramatically improved
64.926 -> and her heart remained
very large.
67.876 -> I started to talk to her
about this really new
71.506 -> and exciting clinical trial.
73.446 -> >> So this clinical
trial focused on patients
77.216 -> who survived cancer, and
following the cancer treatment,
82.226 -> they developed heart
failure symptoms.
85.656 -> We wanted to look at the effects
and the benefits of a new device
91.776 -> that is called Cardiac
Resynchronization Therapy.
95.306 -> So when you look
at the heart here,
97.126 -> it's not pumping
at the same time.
99.666 -> It's very inefficient.
101.196 -> It creates heart failure.
103.626 -> >> We tried to have both sides
106.316 -> of the heart working
better together.
109.336 -> >> I went the next day,
and they implanted it,
112.406 -> kept me all night
and let me come home.
114.926 -> >> Six months later, the heart
is pumping much more effectively
120.116 -> and in a much more
synchronized way.
123.176 -> >> Her heart size had
returned back to normal.
126.386 -> >> I feel great.
127.686 -> I can do my stairs.
128.896 -> I work out at the gym
three days a week.
131.066 -> >> And this gives hope for them.
134.126 -> It gives encouragement for
them to reengage with life
137.716 -> and live it to the fullest.
139.516 -> [ Music ]
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F6v1xAzcT0