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A Tell-Tale Heart
David Splan’s heart was asking for help — but no one really listened. Until he came to Loyola.
For a full year after David Splan had a stent put in his heart at a local community hospital, he knew something was wrong. He could not even go for a walk with his three kids without feeling sick.
David had suffered a heart attack without even knowing it.
Imagine meeting this very active father and high school teacher a year earlier.
It is fair to say that David was the picture of good health. Years of Marine life and college gymnastics had taught him the important benefits of exercise, so he
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hiked regularly,
went to the health club six times a week and coached gymnastics. He even taught health class.
Living In Denial
David noticed a change when he and his son started martial arts training. “I realized something was not quite right,” he said. “My body was not responding the way it had in the past.” From there, it only got worse. While
running one day, David only got as far as 50 feet before he felt nauseous and started having chest pains.
“I knew what the symptoms were, but I was afraid and didn’t do anything,” David admits. He was fearful of the possible prognosis.
“We don’t want to admit a silent killer is against us,” said Fred Leya, MD, professor, cardiology, and director, cardiac catheterization laboratory at Loyola University Health System. “We like to think it’s something like our stomach because that doesn’t seem threatening. It’s better to assume it is your heart and be wrong than to assume it is your stomach and be wrong.”
David finally went to see his family physician, and she advised him against going on a scheduled trip to Machu Picchu, Peru. Instead, she strongly recommended that he get a stress test. Giving in to his fear, David went on the trip.
Heart On Fire
David took in the sights and had a wonderful time in Peru, but he still felt weak when he returned. When he finally went to get the stress test his doctor had recommended, he was immediately admitted into the hospital.
It was at the community hospital that he learned he had already had a heart attack. There, surgeons performed an angioplasty in an artery that was 100% blocked but failed to open the artery, so they placed a stent in another artery. After the surgery, his surgeon explained that he would have to grow another blood system around the blocked artery in the heart. Ultimately, the doctor didn’t follow through, and David lived another year with his artery fully blocked.
After several upsetting incidents at the community hospital and the urging of many, including his family physician, David decided to go to Loyola.
Back On Track
“No man in my family has lived past 56. I remember my father having his first heart attack at 47,” David recalls. “I was doing everything right, and it wasn’t enough.”
At Loyola, David’s cardiovascular team — led by John Moran, MD, professor, medicine, cardiology, and Dr. Leya — helped him recognize his risk factors and developed a personal treatment plan. They also found three blockages. He was scheduled for surgery the following day.
Three heart stents later, David awoke from surgery feeling better than he could remember. “I hadn’t felt that well in two years. I had so much energy, I couldn’t sit still.”
The first thing David was challenged to do was to lower his cholesterol. “When Dr. Leya told me that I had to get a handle on this, I knew I had to listen.”
“Four stents speak to a lot of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries),” said Dr. Leya. “This kind of patient needs to know his risk factors, his cholesterol level and sugar levels. And then everything needs to be normalized to perfect compliance.”
David is down to a healthier cholesterol level of 138. He’s eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and staying away from fatty foods — doctor’s orders. And he’s having no trouble staying active. “I started doing more and more every day and taking walks with my kids,” David said. “I’m 48 years old and I have four stents in me. I want to live for my kids.”
“We like to involve the patient as a partner in the treatment,” said Dr. Leya. “The patient, physicians and family of the patient need to team up. We need to stress prevention, prevention, prevention. After that, it’s about risk factor normalization.”
For David, normal is an incredible place to be. “I’m very grateful. I feel like I’ve gotten a second chance to live. My kids are 12, 14 and 16. They’re just very happy to see me healthy after seeing me sick for so many years.”
What’s Your Heart Telling You?
To make an appointment with the Loyola Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, call (888) LUHS-888 and ask for extension 6-4059. Visit www.LoyolaMedicine.org/heart to learn more.
Related Article
Heart & Vascular Services Coming Soon to Park Ridge
In early 2008, heart and vascular outpatient treatments and diagnostic testing, including echocardiography, stress tests and nuclear cardiology, will be available at our new state-of-the-art Park Ridge location. Services will include:
• General Cardiology
• Interventional Cardiology
• Heart Failure Treatments and Transplant Consultations
• Electrophysiology
• Peripheral Vascular Surgery
• General Internal Medicine
The Loyola Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine at Park Ridge will be located on Higgins Road, just west of Cumberland. For more information on the new location, call (888) LUHS-888.
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