JoAnn Forster

It was June 2005, and 53-year-old JoAnn Forster of Eau Claire, Wis., wasn't feeling well, but didn't know exactly what was wrong.

"Then we found out there was something wrong with our air conditioning," says JoAnn. "The fresh air intake wasn't open all the way, so it was cooling the house, but we weren't getting any fresh air."

Thinking that the lack of fresh air had probably made her feel sick, JoAnn headed out of town for the weekend with husband Chuck and some friends to their cottage on Chain Lake.

"When we got there, it was hot and humid, and right away I felt like I wanted to be in air conditioning, which is unusual for me," says JoAnn.

They unpacked their bags and got settled in, looking forward to spending time at the cottage — their first visit since it had been recently renovated.

"We were all sitting around the table, and suddenly I started perspiring and couldn't breathe," says JoAnn. "Finally, we decided to come home, and by that night I was in the hospital. They ran tests and said that I had had a heart attack."

JoAnn remembers little of the weeks that followed. She spent the next month and a half hospitalized, suffering three more cardiac arrests.

New Device Offers Hope

Soon after JoAnn was admitted to her hometown hospital, her doctors determined she needed an additional level of care, and she was transferred to Mayo Clinic. At Mayo, Kenton J. Zehr, M.D., a cardiac surgeon, was JoAnn's physician.

"She came to us in shock," says Dr. Zehr. "Her heart function was very poor, and she presented quite late after her heart attack. I felt the damage to a large portion of her heart was permanent."

According to Dr. Zehr, the left half of JoAnn's heart was no longer functional, and none of the traditional options, including a pacemaker, stent or bypass, was suitable for her. However, a relatively new device called the HeartMate I Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS), was available, and Dr. Zehr decided it would be the best option for JoAnn.

The ventricular assist system provides additional strength to the heart's own pumping action, and is implanted in the abdomen, then attached to both the left ventricle and the aorta (the main blood vessel carrying blood from the heart to the body). After blood from the heart flows into the device, the ventricular assist system pumps it through the aorta to the rest of the body. A flexible tube passes through the patient's skin and connects the implanted pump to a small computer that is worn outside the body. Generally, as in JoAnn's case, it is used temporarily until a patient can receive a heart transplant.

"The HeartMate is exciting because it is new technology that allows a patient to benefit from the 'older' technology of a transplant," says Dr. Zehr. Mayo Clinic is known as one of the best medical institutions in the country for performing this LVAS procedure and follow-up care.

After JoAnn left Mayo Clinic, she returned about three times a week for checkups. Over the months, the intervals became longer, and now she visits only once a month.

"I've pretty much stabilized," says JoAnn. "Now I'm just waiting my turn for a transplant, but I know it will take time. I'm an 'O' [blood type] heart, and O's can only receive transplants from other O's, and there is kind of a shortage of this type of heart."

Remaining Optimistic

Nevertheless, JoAnn is upbeat and credits the supportive environment at Mayo as an important factor in helping her cope and remain optimistic.

"Everybody at Mayo has been very kind to me, and I get along great with my doctors," says JoAnn. "And I've also met other patients at Mayo who are there because they've had transplants and are having checkups or are waiting for a transplant. So, we talk and support each other, too. Everyone at Mayo has compassion and concern."

JoAnn also says the experience has had a profound impact on her life in a way that she would have never expected.

"A couple of people asked me, 'Did you have a near-death experience?' Well, the answer is no," says JoAnn. "But something has changed me. Emotionally, you're changed after having something like this happen to you. You think differently about people and experiences. I'm more understanding and compassionate — not that I wasn't before — but I'm even more so now. So that is something very positive that came out of all of this."

Today, as JoAnn waits at home for her transplant, she can do many tasks she used to do, although they often take longer. She says her schedule is only interrupted slightly when she needs to change the batteries on her device every 6-8 hours. Also, she cannot vacuum and must stay away from computer screens and TV monitors because an electric shock could interfere with the HeartMate technology.

"I get up in the morning, just like I used to, and get my daughter off to school," says JoAnn. "One of the only major changes now is that I don't have a car, but that is because we let my college-age daughter take it to school. However, I do have friends who visit on a regular basis and take me on errands, and of course when my husband comes home from work, he helps."

Messages to Consider

What does JoAnn want others to know about cardiac arrest and how to cope if it happens to you?

"If you have a heart attack, don't get down and depressed," says JoAnn. "There is always someone worse off than you and you will turn the corner and you will feel better. It is not as doom and gloom as you think. I don't get depressed, although I definitely get frustrated because I can't do everything as fast as I used to. But I'm coming to terms with the fact that it just takes me twice as long to do things."

JoAnn has one more important message she wants to share.

"More people should be organ donors," says JoAnn. "Sign the back of your driver's license and tell your family that you want to be a donor. There are people like me who are waiting and there is a shortage of organs. Please consider being a donor if you haven't already done so."