Heart failure patient gets ‘second chance’ after CCM treatment
ELYRIA, Ohio (WJW) — Seventy-one-year-old Lela Glass loves to work in her yard, planting flowers and making her home more welcoming.
“You can just settle down and hands in the dirt,” Glass said. “It’s like it clears my mind.”
The mother and grandmother of seven also loves shopping, traveling and spending time with her family. But Glass went through a difficult period in her late 60s where she had no energy at all — a problem related to her heart.
Kelly Clarkson makes weight loss confession
“For about five years it was a real rough go,” she said. “Every three to six months I had a hospital stay.”
Glass underwent open heart surgery to replace a valve, but her heart problems continued with palpitations and arrhythmias, causing her to black out at times. Heart issues run in her family history, as her mother Rosa Glass died from congestive heart failure at 78.
After seeing cardiologists at University Hospitals, she was diagnosed with stage 2 heart failure.
“We both got tears in our eyes, because the first thing that popped in my mind was my mom,” she said.
Heart failure impacts more than 6 million people in the United States, and killed more than 370,000 people in 2018, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention.
UH cardiologists suggested a relatively new, non-medicinal treatment called cardiac contractility modulation, or CCM.
“It helps enhance the contraction of the heart. It does not take over the electroactivity of the heart, but it helps increase the efficiency of the heart,” said Dr. Michael Zacharias, cardiologist with UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute.
UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute was the first hospital in Northeast Ohio and among the first hospitals in the U.S. to use CCM therapy to treat patients suffering from heart failure.
CCM is an implanted device that’s placed into the patient’s chest wall through a minimally invasive procedure.
“It is a continuous therapy,” he explained. “The device itself, being self-implanted. The patients will charge the device approximately once a week over their chest wall. But this is a lifelong form of therapy. Once it’s in, will remain in place for the rest of their life.”
Ohio bill would prohibit ‘deepfakes’ without consent
Glass said shortly after surgery her energy returned, allowing her to resume shopping, gardening and spending time with her loved ones.
“It gives me a second chance and it gives me a chance to give my experience to someone else, just in case it might say somebody else’s life,” Glass said.
Glass encourages everyone to listen to their bodies. If something feels wrong, have it looked at by a physician.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
