Healing Gifts Spring 2014 - Change of Heart | Page 2

can be overwhelming,” explains Christina Hanson,
clinical nurse specialist in the Heart Failure Clinic. “We
are available to help patients like Joe navigate through
it all—to support them by teaching ways to monitor
for symptoms of heart failure and to learn about their
medications.”
Joe also started cardiac rehab three times per week.
Although he was doing well during his sessions, later he
would randomly experience shortness of breath that had
to be controlled with multiple medication adjustments
under the close watch of his doctor. In January, Joe
underwent another surgery to have three stents placed—
opening two arteries that were 70 percent blocked and a
third that was “cemented shut.”
“I was told it would take six to nine months to recover,
and don’t get discouraged by bad days,” remembers
Joe. “That is a lot easier said than done. It’s such a
humbling and difficult experience having to watch my
wife outside clearing the snow; I have felt so helpless and
frustrated that I can’t do anything.”
Despite the physical and emotional challenges, there
have been blessings throughout his journey as well.
There was the nurse during his first hospital stay who
found a recliner so Joe could sleep sitting up, since he
experienced too much pain when he would lie down.
There are the neighbors who shoveled his driveway and

told him to “worry about getting healthy and we’ll worry
about the snow.” There are hi s family members who
continue to visit and call with words of encouragement
when he needs it the most. And there is “his angel,”
his wife, Maria, who keeps up with the medication and
appointments—and is the core of his support system.

A new reality
Joe’s recovery requires ongoing efforts. He continues
rehab and now attends five times per week. After
learning that drastic changes could signify fluid retention,
he carefully monitors his blood pressure and weight
daily for fluctuations. The medication he takes to help
his heart heal has yielded progress so he was able to
stop wearing the external defibrillator in February. He
hopes to continue to make steady progress to ultimately
receive confirmation by this summer that he won’t need
an implant.
“I feel blessed that my care team has brought me this
far, but I’m impatient and I want to be fully recovered
tomorrow,” says Joe. “I just have to keep working hard to
get back to where I want to be—100 percent for my wife,
my family, my grandson and my granddaughter who will
be born this spring. I need to be here for them.” ■
Spring 2014 – healing gifts – 5