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ON ON1 SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015 TORONTO STAR⎮M11
PETER MUNK CARDIAC CENTRE
> BEATING THE ODDS
Mechanical heart helps battle rare disorder
Potentially fatal condition TIM FRASER FOR THE TORONTO STAR “When she arrived, I was worried
interferes with heart’s ability After being diagnosed with myocarditis in 2005, Sally Fung, right, spent six weeks at the Peter Munk Cardiac she wouldn’t make it to the
Centre. She has since recovered and now has three children, a daughter and twin boys, with husband, Tim.
to pump blood to the body operating room in time.”
to perform a CT scan and doctors rived at the PMCC. Fung had myocarditis, inflamma-
JASMINE MILLER compiled all her records and test re- Switching Fung from the ambu- tion of the heart caused by autoim- DR. VIVEK RAO
sults. Fung would travel an hour by mune disorders, environmental tox- CHIEF OF CARDIAC SURGERY AND
SPECIAL TO THE STAR ambulance the next day from Mark- lance equipment to the hospital ins or, as in her case, a viral infection. DIRECTOR OF TRANSPLANT AND
ham Stouffville Hospital to the Peter equipment caused her breathing to It’s a potentially fatal condition that MECHANICAL SUPPORT AT
In April 2005, Sally Fung had just Munk Cardiac Centre in Toronto become laboured again. interferes with the heart’s ability to PETER MUNK CARDIAC CENTRE
finished her final exams — she was where her records had been sent. pump blood through the body.
tired and stressed. Like many under- She remembers asking attendants, performs three or four every month,
graduate students, late nights and a Ask her if she feels that decision “Please put the other oxygen mask Myocarditis is rare — fewer than 10 according to Rao, who created the
quick-energy quick-crash diet were also saved her life and she says: “It’s back,” and then, “I saw a bright light cases per 100,000 people — and usu- BiVAD program14 years ago.
catching up with the 23-year-old. not that I feel like they (the PMCC) and three angels coming to get me.” ally causes one heart ventricle to
She had all the signs of a bad cold, saved my life. I know they saved my shut down. In Fung’s case, both ven- After a few days, Fung showed signs
maybe even the flu, since the back life.” Fung was put in a medically indu- tricles had stopped working; the Bi- of recovery. Less than two weeks af-
pain was excruciating. ced coma and taken to surgery. VAD was doing all the work. ter being attached, the BiVAD was
Waiting at Markham Stouffville for removed and her own heart took
Shortly after crawling into bed on transport to Toronto that spring “When she arrived, I was worried The hope was that the device would over.
May 1, she told her boyfriend (now night, Fung had12 drugs in her IV, so she wouldn’t make it to the operating take over for Fung’s heart long
husband) she couldn’t breathe. He there was no more pain and she was room in time,” says Fung’s surgeon, enough for the organ to recover and Fung stayed at the PMCC for nearly
insisted they go immediately to the calm. “I didn’t know that I should be Vivek Rao, chief of cardiac surgery then work on its own. six weeks. More than half that time
local hospital’s emergency depart- scared,” she says. and director of transplant and me- was spent relearning things most
ment. That decision may have saved chanical support at PMCC. The odds were not in her favour. people take for granted.
Fung’s life. Her mother and boyfriend, howev- “I had only a 20 per cent chance of
er, were fully aware and terrified. When she woke up two weeks later, keeping my own heart,” she says. “I had breathing tubes. I lost ability
It was 1 a.m. when the couple ar- Fung was covered by a sheet, under That’s why her name was also put on to eat — the reflex of swallowing, you
rived at the hospital and, other than Doctors were concerned Fung’s which her chest was still open, her the transplant list. In 2005, the lose that after laying down for14 or15
unusually low blood pressure, Fung heart would stop during the ambu- damaged heart hooked up to tubes PMCC performed four or five of days,” she explains. “I had to learn
looked fine. lance ride to Toronto. leading to a two-pound Biventricular these procedures per year; today it how to talk because there was a (tra-
Assist Device (BiVAD) that sat at her cheotomy) hole in my throat.”
“There were hardly any doctors That didn’t happen until she ar- bedside.
working, so they didn’t want to admit After her recovery, Fung and her
me,” she remembers. husband earned their MBAs togeth-
er at McMaster University and got
Her future husband was persistent, married after graduation. She defied
telling medical staff, “She doesn’t the odds again, when she became
look right, you need to examine her.” pregnant with her first child four
years ago.
When her blood pressure took an-
other plunge, to 60 over 40 (normal Because of her history, Fung’s was a
is 120 over 80), Fung was admitted high-risk pregnancy. That meant
and given an electrocardiogram. monthly ultrasounds, not only to
monitor the baby, but on her heart as
Her blood pressure was still drop- well. Today, her 3-year-old daughter
ping, but she wasn’t bleeding. She felt is happy and healthy and, a little over
nauseous, but had only a small din- a year ago, was joined by twin broth-
ner hours earlier. ers.
“They couldn’t put the pieces to- Her annual followup visits with
gether,” says Fung. doctors at PMCC “are mostly just
chit-chat now,” Fung says. Gone are
There was, however, enough evi- the stress tests and regular ultra-
dence to warrant admitting her to sounds.
intensive care, where she was given
an ultrasound on her stomach. No She won’t ever forget what hap-
damage, no explanation, nothing. pened to her, but the only visual
marker, a scar from her collarbone to
The doctor told her, “Since we’re below her breast, is fading.
here, I’ll ultrasound your heart, too.”
That spur-of-the-moment decision “It doesn’t hurt anymore, either,”
may also have been life-saving. she says. It’s an indication the experi-
ence is well behind her, part of her
Fung’s heart was swollen. history.
“I’ve never, ever seen such a big
heart,” is what she remembers being “Life is normal now.”
told.
After that, things moved fast.
At 3 a.m., technicians were called in
