Living With Heart Failure

With care and attention, you can have a full life

Independent—Despite her heart failure, Evelyn Eisberg, 90, of Allentown lives on her own with help from Lehigh Valley Home Care nurse Darla Stephens, R.N. It’s a special tie: Eisberg, a retired home health nurse, was once Stephens’ supervisor.

Managing Heart Failure

• Take your medications as prescribed.
• Avoid salt, especially hidden sodium in canned soups and vegetables and convenience foods.
• Watch your blood pressure. “High blood pressure is responsible for half of all heart failure,” says family medicine physician Bruce Ellsweig, M.D.
• Weigh yourself daily and report any gain of more than 3 pounds in 24 hours or 5 pounds in a week.
• Notify your doctor of swelling in your legs or abdomen, difficulty breathing or any new symptoms.
• Stay active.
• Avoid alcohol and tobacco.
• If you’re overweight, lose the excess.
• See your doctor regularly.

Learning that you have heart failure (also called congestive heart failure) can take your breath away— literally. But while there’s no cure for this common condition, you can live an active life as long as you get the right care and play a role in managing your illness.

In people with heart failure, the heart can’t pump effectively, allowing fluid to build up in the body and causing shortness of breath. Some 5 million Americans have the condition, and the number is growing as the population ages. “People are living through heart attacks that once would have killed them, leaving them with damaged hearts,” says cardiologist Ron Freudenberger, M.D.

Fortunately, doctors have a growing arsenal of knowledge and technology to better manage heart failure. “Treatment is very different than it was 10 years ago,” Freudenberger says. “Today’s methods help us not only extend your life but also make it productive and enjoyable.” Heart failure treatment may include:

Medications to slow progression of the disease, relieve symptoms and improve the heart’s function.

A low-sodium diet to keep fluid under control.

Devices to prevent life-threatening problems. “Implantable defibrillators and pacemakers can help people with advanced heart failure and others at risk for sudden cardiac death,” says cardiologist Robert Malacoff, M.D. “The devices are easily implanted, and people are back to their normal activities within a week.”

Telemonitoring to track your condition from home. The monitor sends vital signs like blood pressure and heart rate via phone lines to an office. “A nurse follows up with you and your doctor if anything changes,” says home health nurse Darla Stephens, R.N.

Heart failure is best managed by a team including your primary physician, specialty doctors and nurses, and you and your family. “This disease is complex and can be frightening,” says nurse practitioner Donna Petruccelli, C.R.N.P. “We encourage families to learn about heart failure, come to doctor visits and attend support groups. Education will help you and your family stay positive, and that is very important.”

All the health care professionals in this article are with Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.

Want to Know More about heart failure and resources to help patients and their families? Call 610-402-CARE.

Published from Healthy You Magazine, January-February 2008

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