From the Winter 2013 StayHealthy publication
Did your father have a heart attack? Did your mother have heart disease? What about your grandparents? Do you know their heart health history?
The above may seem like random questions, but they’re very important when it comes to understanding your risk for cardiovascular disease. Knowing your family’s health history can help you avoid both heart disease and may even save your life.
According to the American Heart Association, both the risk of heart disease and risk factors for heart disease are linked to family history. at’s why they strongly recommend everyone share their family history with their healthcare provider as soon as possible because, even though you can’t counteract genetics, you can lower your risk by changing behaviors.
Having a family history of heart disease can motivate you to take even better care of yourself and your loved ones. Just ask John Cochran, a patient of Porter Regional Hospital’s Center for Cardiovascular Medicine. Read on to learn how his family’s hereditary heart disease changed his life… in a heartbeat.
October 14 started out like an ordinary Sunday for John Cochran of Valparaiso. He and his son, Jason, spent the day working on John’s car, something father and son had done many times before. They were nearly finished when John began feeling uncomfortable. “My heartburn was acting up,” he said. “He was getting frustrated with the project really easily. It wasn’t like John,” said wife Stacy.
Then John became nauseous and sweaty. “I was worried and asked if I should call 911. John assured me he was alright and that he just needed to cool down in the shower,” said Stacy. Moments later John collapsed in front of Stacy. “He just went down and his eyes rolled back. It was terrifying,” she said.
Stacy quickly called 911 as son Jason ran into the house to assist. e ambulance arrived within minutes and began life support. John arrived at the Porter Regional Hospital Emergency Department in full cardiac arrest. His heart was not beating.
“They led me to his room and I learned the prognosis wasn’t good.” said Stacy. Due to the severity of John’s condition, he wasn’t expected to wake up. How could this be? John was just 47 years old. He had recently had a physical and appeared fine. He had performed well on a cardiac stress test. Here was a guy who had just made healthy changes to his diet, dropping 20 pounds. He had chopped firewood this fall, mowed the lawn at church all summer, raced dirt bikes with his friends. John’s only true risk factor was family history: His father died at age 53 of a second heart attack. His mother has a pacemaker. His younger brother had double bypass surgery.
New Hope: Hypothermia Therapy at Porter Regional Hospital
In the Emergency Department, doctors explained to Stacy that they had one more possibility for John: Hypothermia therapy. The therapy, available at Porter since last year, is a highly controlled process that involves cooling a patient’s temperature to 33°C, preserving the body’s metabolic rate and allowing the body to reestablish the blood supply. “I signed the papers and then there was nothing left for me to do,” said Stacy.
Using hypothermia, the body remains at 33°C for 24 hours, followed by a 12-hour period to slowly re-warm the body. While undergoing the therapy, the patient is made comfortable, given necessary medications through an IV and closely monitored by a multidisciplinary team of specialists including cardiologists, neurologists, pharmacists and intensive care doctors.
“The next 36 hours were the longest ever,” said Stacy. The Cochran’s church family opened the sanctuary to pray. The staff at Porter monitored. Stacy waited. As the warming process began, John was able to open his eyes and follow commands. “I called his name and he opened his eyes and smiled!” said Stacy. “It was a miracle that he even survived this.”
Yet John’s journey wasn’t over. Though he was now conscious, specialists at Porter’s Center for Cardiovascular Medicine found that his heart had five vessel diseases and would require open-heart surgery within days.
Happy Endings
John’s surgery was a success and after a short recovery period, he was home – two dramatic and emotional Sundays after his ordeal began. John’s story is remarkable in many ways, as he touched so many clinical avenues at Porter – EMS, Emergency Department, ICU, Cath Lab, Surgery, and Intermediate Care. Today, John is stronger and also wiser about heart health. “Your body will give you signs. Don’t ignore them,” he said. John’s heart attack didn’t begin with the stereotypical symptoms. No gripping chest pain. Instead, he had unrelenting heartburn, a ushed feeling and nausea. “I just couldn’t get myself comfortable,” he said.
His experience has given John a new appreciation for medicine and for life. “These days I don’t take anything for granted. I’m grateful to be here,” he said. John is looking forward to spending many more years with Stacy, and sons Jason, Allen and Josh and welcoming the birth of his first two grandchildren in the coming months. “I want to thank all the nurses and all the doctors and everyone who did all they did for me. I so appreciate it,” said John.