She Survived Breast Cancer and an Irregular Heartbeat

Life-saving technology helps Elizabeth Funk’s heart beat steady

Elizabeth Funk survived breast cancer twice—but it took a toll on her heart. She developed cardiomyopathy, a condition that weakens the heart muscle’s ability to pump blood.

For 10 years, medication allowed Funk, 72, of Perkasie, to lead a normal life. But one day, everything changed. “I started sweating, couldn’t breathe right and became disoriented,” she says.

Her family doctor told her to go to a nearby hospital, which quickly arranged for her transport to Lehigh Valley Hospital—Cedar Crest. As she came off the ambulance, she met cardiologist Norman Marcus, M.D. He performed an advanced heart test called an electrophysiology study and determined she needed to have a pacemaker implanted to regulate her heartbeat.

“I had confidence in Dr. Marcus because he consulted with other doctors in the hospital before recommending the surgery,” Funk says. “He made sure the pacemaker was the right thing for me at the time.” Cardiologist Vadim Levin, M.D., performed the surgery—that was in October 2002.

Last year, Funk started feeling less energetic and had difficulty breathing. So she returned to LVHHN and met with Levin. He replaced her pacemaker with the latest innovation, an implantable defibrillator. “This technology does two things,” Levin says. “If Elizabeth’s heart beats too fast, it will send a life-saving electric shock within 10 seconds to return her heart’s rhythm to normal. It also alleviates her shortness of breath by helping her heart beat more efficiently.”

LVHHN remains on the leading edge of such technologies through its Cardiovascular Research Institute. Researchers are currently studying the newest types of implantable defibrillators that someday might help more people the way they’ve helped Funk.

“There’s nothing else in this world I want other than to feel good,” Funk says. “And now I do.”

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