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MURRAY — While Sashana Steele was waiting for her heart transplant, she was still able to do almost everything other 27-year-olds can do thanks to the HeartMate 3 — the most recent LVAD, or left ventricular assist device used by Intermountain Health.
She went on roller coasters and hiked; the only thing that changed was she needed to carry a bag with her and couldn't swim or vacuum, to protect the pump.
Steele had a heart attack at 24, and continued having heart problems. She would have died if she didn't get the LVAD because her body started shutting down shortly after she got to the hospital for the procedure.
"It's wonderful, how far technology has come and the knowledge that our doctors have today. It's amazing, it's a blessing — I'm so grateful for it," Steele said.
She will be leaving the hospital Tuesday after recovering from a heart transplant on Oct. 7.
Steele was one of many patients, medical professionals and family members who attended a celebration of 30 years of artificial hearts at Intermountain Health on Monday — and the technology has changed significantly over that time.
Early patients become like family
Karla Pardini's husband, Victor, was one of the first Intermountain patients with an LVAD and he had to stay at the hospital because it attached to a large machine.
She said he complained about the weight of the device, but it wasn't until much later she got to feel how heavy it really was.
"I didn't realize, honestly," she said.
Pardini said her husband had an unexpected heart attack at 43, and doctors said the machine, although not technically approved yet, was the only way he would live. He was placed on an LVAD in 1994 for 143 days before he received a heart transplant — and was able to live for 19 1/2 years.
At the event on Monday, Pardini said many of the people with artificial hearts and LVADs became family, especially at the beginning.
She remembered, in the first few years, going to events and hearing of people who had lived four or five years after a diagnosis, and hoping for just that long. Later, others looked to them for hope.
"It really was a gift, I mean, honestly. I look around here and I think how many people have been given a second chance at life," she said.
Smaller, more reliable heart devices
Dr. Stephen McKellar, a heart surgeon at Intermountain Health, said he started working at the hospital system as an undergraduate in 1995, near the beginning of the artificial heart program. He remembers Victor Pardini being one of the first patients.
McKellar said working with the artificial hearts helped him decide to be a heart surgeon; he found fulfillment in helping people go from being very sick to living normal lives.
The devices pump blood, he said, and people can live for decades on the newer devices. The longest Intermountain patient used one for 11 years. Intermountain Health has implanted 464 devices over the last 30 years, adding a total of 534 years to the lives of 423 patients.
McKellar said most people need the LVAD, which is not a full artificial heart, because it only replaces one of the ventricles of the heart. He said Intermountain Health has only done about 20 full artificial hearts.
He said getting smaller devices was a big deal, as it allowed them to be used in women and smaller children.
McKellar also said the newer devices are more reliable.
Pumps are often used to hold people over until a transplant is available, but they are also used for people who are not eligible for transplants until the end of their lives.
LVAD helps mom attend wedding, meet grandchildren
Tamra Larsen, one of dozens of patients at the event, said shortly before two of her kids got married she went to visit her cardiologist. The next morning she got a call and was told she was at end-stage heart failure and would not last the weekend. Larsen said she didn't know her condition was that serious.
A few days later she received an LVAD at Intermountain Medical Center, saving her life.
She missed her son's wedding, getting to see some photos at the hospital, but she was able to attend her daughter's wedding with an LVAD — and do a delayed mother-son dance there.
Six months after she began using the LVAD, she received a heart transplant, but the heart failed and she spent about eight months in the hospital. This time she was placed on a device that would squeeze her heart to keep her alive.
Larsen said she was too small for a second heart transplant at first, but she worked to gain weight and was able to receive a second heart 11 years ago.
She connected with the father of her second donor two weeks ago, and was excited to share a photo of the girl who gave her heart. Talking about her donors was emotional for her, Larsen said both of those hearts and the LVAD kept her alive to see her 20 grandchildren.
Her condition is genetic. Larsen said her son and daughter have received transplants in the last two years, her brother received a transplant before she did and she has a cousin waiting on the transplant list.
"We just take each day is it comes, it's all we can do," she said.
She said Intermountain Medical Center is like her home now, she has connections with so many people there.
