Thoughts from the President

HEARTY TIME

May-june 2017

Central Virginia Chapter 28 - Celebrating 41 Years

The Mended Hearts, Inc. Editor, PatBrown-Glover

Our mission: “Inspiring hope and improving the quality of life for heart patients and their families through ongoing peer-to-peer support

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

By Tommy Broughton

It is hard to believe, but we are almost through the first quarter of this year. It has started to warm up and things are getting nice and green. The only problem is the pollen and the problems it causes for a lot of people. Thank goodness in a few weeks it will be over.

Our March and April meetings have been good ones with great speakers. Our speaker at the March meeting was Dr. Jayanthi N. Koneru. He spoke on "Pacing and Afib". He talked about a new pacemaker "Micra" that is now being used for some patients. It is the smallest pacemaker in the world and is about the size of a capsule and weighs about the same as a penny. It is implanted in the heart, not outside, so there is no cutting of the chest and no bump or scarring. Also, there are no wires or "leads". An electrode on the tip of the device sends electrical impulses to pace the heart. Once implanted tissue will grow over it and it will stay there. This device is placed into the heart via a catheter through the femoral artery. Dr. Koneru also spoke about a device called "Watchman" that is placed into the heart via a catheter. It opens similar to a parachute andtissue grows over it. After a period of time patients are able to come off of blood thinners such as Warfarin.

At our April meeting our speaker was Dr. Chiwon Hahn who spoke on Aortic Valve Disease and TAVR - the latest treatment option. TAVR is an artificial valve which was developed by Edwards Lifesciences. Again this valve is placed into the heart via a catheter into the femoral artery. There is no open heart surgery and it is placed right inside the defective heart valve and begins working right away. Also present for this meeting was Carla Asta from Edwards Lifesciences in California along with Barry and Tom who are local representatives for Edwards. I'm sorry but I didn't get their last names. There was also a patient, Joyce, present who has had the TAVR valve installed

And she said "it has given me my life back". This was a great testimony for this new device.

To me, the information presented at these two meetings is simply amazing. The progress that is being made in heart health and treatment along with this latest technology is something we should all be so happy to see. These new devices are not for everyone but these are giant steps. Heart disease is still the number one killer but with the strides and advances being made maybe one day this will change. Let’s all hope and pray for that day.

In closing, I would like to recognize the winner of our $1,000.00 pharmacy scholarship for this year. The winner is Ms Arzo Hamidi who joined us at our March meeting. She is a very nice young lady who is a senior in the VCU School of Pharmacy and is very deserving of this honor. We congratulate her and wish her the very best in the future. You will see her photo elsewhere in this newsletter.

Enjoy the spring,

Tommy

MEETING AND EVENT SCHEDULE

Chapter 28 meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm, alternating between Chippenham Hospital (Krause Auditorium, 2nd floor), and Henrico Doctor’s Hospital at Forest & Skipwith. We look forward to seeing everyone at our meetings! Come out and enjoy our excellent speakers.

We try to feature a speaker at each meeting. Please see schedule below.

Mended Hearts Chapter 28 welcomes all heart patients, their families, and any individuals interested in our program. Please contact Joe Shocket for further information.

Email: Phone: 804-873-7889

Upcoming Meetings

May 2017-Dr. Sanford

June 2017-Ms. Michelle Gossip, BSN, RN

Dr. Koneru at the March 2017 Meeting…Dr. Koneru talked about “Pacing and Afib”.

Dr. Hahn at the April 2017 Meeting…Dr. Hahn presented information on the TAVR!

The year. It has been a year we can all be proud of. We have had some wonderful

Speakers. We have recruited new members, some of which have become accredited

Visitors. We are now visiting at Southside Regional Hospital. The visitation program at

McGuire Veterans Hospital is doing great and it looks like we will soon be visiting again

At Memorial Regional Hospital. Visits continue to go well at St. Mary's, Henrico Doctors

And Chippenham Hospitals. The thing that means the most to me by belonging to

Mended Hearts is visiting with these heart patients. When you are able to go into a room

And that patient is not feeling good, down in the dumps so to speak, you can cheer them

Up and show them they will be alright. They get a smile on their face and you feel better

So it is a win, win situation. We help them and they in turn help us.

I was not able to attend the September meeting and John Hagadorn filled in for me. I got

Several great comments on the job he did and I thank him. Our speaker, Dr. Koneru

Could not be there that night. He had an emergency surgery come up and he apologized.

He will speak to us early next year. In October Dr. Ellenbogen spoke to us about a

Healthy heart and a healthy brain. I have tried to maintain a healthy heart and never given

Any thought to the idea that by doing so we are also maintaining a healthy brain along

with all of our other organs. Lets all take our meds, exercise, eat healthy and control our

Weight. We were given a second chance so let’s take advantage of it.

As you know we give a $1,000.00 scholarship to a pharmacy student and a nursing

Student each year. The two students selected this year are ones we can be very proud to

have helped. The pharmacy student was with us several months ago and the nursing

student was at our meeting in October. You will find her letter of thanks elsewhere in this

newsletter. Be proud that we are able to do this and help these people who are going into

the medical field. I want to thank Estelle Grossman for the work she does in this

endeavor.

We took part in the Heart Walk again this year. Jerry Grossman has participated in this

and raised a tremendous amount of money over the years. For some reason six years ago

when I started walking in it he wanted me to carry a flag up front with him. This has

been quite an honor for me. This year Jerry and I were joined by Brooks McCormick up

front and Joe and Mae were not far behind us. More about this is in this issue as well.

Please come out and join us for November meeting at Chippenham Hospital, November

1st. We must vote on the officers for the new year. Our current slate of officers have all

agreed to stay on for another year. Also join us for our Holiday Celebration, December

6th, 6pm at Maggiano's Italian Restaurant in Short Pump. Let Carolyn Payne know if

you plan to attend. Her phone number is 804-739-1745. I hope you have a wonderful

Holiday and that the New Year will be a good one.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

By Tommy Broughton

It is really hard to believe that the year is almost over. This will be the last newsletter of

the year. It has been a year we can all be proud of. We have had some wonderful

speakers. We have recruited new members, some of which have become accredited

visitors. We are now visiting at Southside Regional Hospital. The visitation program at

McGuire Veterans Hospital is doing great and it looks like we will soon be visiting again

at Memorial Regional Hospital. Visits continue to go well at St. Mary's, Henrico Doctors

and Chippenham Hospitals. The thing that means the most to me by belonging to

Mended Hearts is visiting with these heart patients. When you are able to go into a room

and that patient is not feeling good, down in the dumps so to speak, you can cheer them

up and show them they will be alright. They get a smile on their face and you feel better

so it is a win, win situation. We help them and they in turn help us.

I was not able to attend the September meeting and John Hagadorn filled in for me. I got

several great comments on the job he did and I thank him. Our speaker, Dr. Koneru

could not be there that night. He had an emergency surgery come up and he apologized.

He will speak to us early next year. In October Dr. Ellenbogen spoke to us about a

healthy heart and a healthy brain. I have tried to maintain a healthy heart and never given

any thought to the idea that by doing so we are also maintaining a healthy brain along

with all of our other organs. Lets all take our meds, exercise, eat healthy and control our

weight. We were given a second chance so lets take advantage of it.

As you know we give a $1,000.00 scholarship to a pharmacy student and a nursing

student each year. The two students selected this year are ones we can be very proud to

have helped. The pharmacy student was with us several months ago and the nursing

student was at our meeting in October. You will find her letter of thanks elsewhere in this

newsletter. Be proud that we are able to do this and help these people who are going into

The medical field. I want to thank Estelle Grossman for the work she does in this