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Exercise program 'give us all a sense of camaraderie'

Story and Photo by Colin Zak

You¡¯d never guess Paul Parsons is waiting for a heart transplant.

Twice a week, the 56-year-old ¨C along with several patients like him ¨C runs on the treadmill and lifts weights at the Foothills Medical Centre rehabilitation gym.

¡°When I first came here, I couldn¡¯t walk up a set of stairs without a break,¡± says Parsons, who suffered heart failure in August when his heart swelled to three times its normal size.

¡°Now I can go on a 30-minute walk without a problem.¡±

The patients at the gym have had a variety of heart problems but they all have one thing in common: they all rely on ventricular assist devices (VAD) to keep them alive while they are waiting for heart transplants. The device is a mechanical circulatory unit attached to the heart that helps a failing ventricle pump blood through the body. The VAD is attached to an external battery unit which patients wear around their waist 24/7.

¡°If I didn¡¯t have a VAD, I¡¯d be six feet under,¡± Parsons says. ¡°These classes keep me healthy and give us all a sense of camaraderie with other guys in the same situation.¡±

The VAD gym program, operated by Â鶹ӳ»­, has been working with patients like Parsons since 2006, when teams at Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Â鶹ӳ»­ first began implanting the devices in patients.

¡°Without VADs, these patients would deteriorate,¡± says nurse clinician Bonnie Baptie, who cares for many of the patients who use the VAD rehabilitation program. ¡°The VAD gym we operated gets patients healthy and strong so that when they do get called for a transplant, they¡¯ll be able to bounce back.¡±

However, Baptie says the benefits aren¡¯t only physical.

¡°It¡¯s a great support group for these patients, as well as their families who often come along,¡± she says.

Dr. Debra Isaac, Director of the Cardiac Transplant Clinic at Foothills, says VADs have dramatically increased survival rates for patients with a variety of cardiac conditions.

¡°Many of these patients were on the edge of survival before they received a VAD,¡± Isaac says.

¡°The device allows them to be at home rather than hospital, extending both their quantity and quality of life.¡±

Parsons agrees.

¡°I¡¯m doing things I would have never thought possible. I feel great,¡± he says.