Better Health - February 2021

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| SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2021

Heart failure affects

over 3 million women in the United States, and the sad fact is that

heart

disease

leading cause of death for women

is the

in the nation.

Keith O’Connor

She remained stable for a while until a few years later Heart failure affects over 3 when a medication she was million women in the United taking made her heart condiStates, and the sad fact is that tion worse. heart disease is the leading Nay was referred to Baycause of death for women in state Medical Center’s Heart the nation. Failure Program, where after Jaime Nay and her sister further treatment, the care Christie Muscaro-Asselin team discussed the possibility both survivors - only know too of an LVAD (left ventricular well about heart failure. assist device). It wasn’t until Nay’s daughAn LVAD is a mechaniter was born in 2010 that her cal pump that is surgically health problems began. implanted inside a patient’s She had a beautiful daughchest to help their heart do its ter, Kailey, and celebrated her job. birth. However, for Nay, her LVADs are used for what pregnancy triggered sympis termed as “destination toms of cardiomyopathy, a therapy” – used as long-term disease of the heart muscle, treatment for heart failure. Or, which can be hereditary as as in Nay’s case as a “bridgein her case or acquired. The to-transplant therapy,” during condition makes it hard for which patients are placed the heart to deliver blood to temporarily on the LVAD the body and can lead to heart until a heart for transplant failure. becomes available. Baystate Two years after her daughMedical Center has the only ter’s birth, Nay’s symptoms LVAD program in western worsened. “My whole body felt extremely weak. I was tired and I could tell that my heart didn’t feel normal, it felt as if it were flipping and fluttering a lot,” Nay, 39, said. After an echocardiogram and a visit with her primary care doctor, the West Springfield woman learned the unfortunate news. “My primary said to me, ‘Are you sitting down? I’m sorry to tell you that your heart is functioning at only 20 percent,’” she said. As a result, Nay was given medicine to address her symptoms, which for heart failure often includes breathlessness, swollen legs and feet, and a bloated belly. Special to The Republican

Massachusetts and it was approved in 2016 by The Joint Commission. “When doctors told me about the LVAD, I was totally against it. I was willing to let myself die and live out my life the way I was….without the hassle of surgery and putting my family through all that stress,” Nay said. “It was my family who finally convinced me to have the surgery. I got really sick a couple of times and was hospitalized. Finally, my doctors told me that I would be dead in a couple months without the LVAD,” she added, noting that in addition to Kailey, she has a significant other, Jonathan, and a son, Christopher. And, she listened to them, eventually consenting to the surgery which was performed at Baystate Medical Center by cardiac surgeon Dr. David Deaton. “One of the things I told

Jaime was that it wasn’t just about herself…..but about her family and to think about what she would be doing to them if she wasn’t here for them,” said Muscaro-Asselin, 48, of West Springfield. Nay has a history of cardiomyopathy in her family. Her sister and mom both have the disease as well. But she never thought that her sister would soon be facing the very same decision. “Jaime and her sister have a familial mutation in the TTN gene which put them at risk of heart failure,” said Dr. Mara Slawsky, medical director of the Heart Failure Program at Baystate. She noted the mutation weakens the heart muscle so that it can’t pump blood properly around the body. “Heart failure is a common disease in the Western world which is sometimes familial and other times the result of other factors such as a heart

attack or coronary artery disease. Only in the past several years have we become more aware that there is a significant genetic component to the disease,” she added. Dr. Slawsky noted that both women were placed on milrinone, an intravenous drug that is a short-term treatment for life-threatening heart failure. It works by relaxing the muscles in the blood vessels to help them dilate, which lowers blood pressure and allows blood to flow more easily through your veins and arteries. “Milrinone gave my sister almost another year before needing the LVAD, however, it didn’t work as well for me and within two months I was scheduled for the surgery,” Muscaro-Asselin said, who is married with two children, Matthew and Ann-Marie, and who also provides a home for her son’s friend, Tim. Now both sisters are enjoying life as well as the additional time they have been given with their families. And they would recommend the procedure to anyone asking. “I’m still here and doing things with my family and that keeps me going. It’s all been worth it,” Muscaro-Assellin added, noting she is working hard at losing weight so that she can be placed on the heart transplant list. And, for Nay, her life got even better when last year on June 9, as the coronavirus raged on, she received a call from her doctor.

“He asked me what I was doing and then blurted out, ‘How would you like to get a new heart today?’” Nay said, before immediately heading to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where she received the transplant later that day. “What I’m really looking forward to is to be able to go swimming now that I don’t have the LVAD attached to me anymore. But, I’ll be waiting for the warmer weather, there will be no polar plunges for me,” she laughed, noting she “misses her Baystate family” now that her care as a transplant patient continues in Boston. Risk factors for heart disease in both women and men include high blood pressure, high LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, stress, and smoking. Several other medical conditions and lifestyle choices can also put people at a higher risk for heart disease, including diabetes, being overweight or obese, eating an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and drinking too much alcohol. “Good heart health begins at a young age. Work with your primary care provider, who can help you with lifestyle changes to mitigate your risk factors,” said Dr. Slawsky. For more information on Baystate Health’s lifesaving cardiac capabilities, visit baystatehealth.org/heart.

Jaime Nay, right, and her sister Christie Muscaro-Asselin, both heart failure patients, enjoyed a pre-pandemic day of shopping at Holyoke Mall last January. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BAYSTATE HEALTH)

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