Two heart attacks + one research study = a big fan of Geisinger Medical center physicians.
Even after two heart attacks and two open heart surgeries within three years, Shirley Kauffman, 71, of Shamokin Dam, still feels rather lucky. A registered nurse, she understood her family history for heart problems was unusually strong. Her mother had a stroke, and her father died of a heart attack at age 64. At this same age, Shirley had a quadruple bypass during open heart surgery. Because of advancements in care not available to her father’s generation, Shirley survived the heart attacks. But many symptoms of heart disease remained. “I had several chronic problems,” she says. “My legs sometimes felt like lead. They were so heavy that I couldn’t lift them.” Arteries blocked againShortness of breath and heart pain, or angina, regularly caused her discomfort and disrupted everyday activities. “I tried many treatments, from exercise to medication, over many years, but they gave me no relief,” Shirley says. She eventually reached the highest dosage of her heart medication, and she even tried one therapy that required her to visit the hospital five times a week for three months. “Nothing seemed to help,” she said. “My arteries kept re-blocking. That was the source of my problems.” She retired from a job she loved. But this cheerful and vivacious woman kept searching for help. A newspaper ad, and a question“Are you still having chest pain after open heart surgery?” That was the question headlining an advertisement Shirley saw in the Sunbury Daily Item one late Fall day. “That was me. I called the number on the ad right away.” By making this call, Shirley tapped into the resources of a team of cardiologists at Geisinger who were experienced with women and heart disease. It also put her in cue for an exciting heart drug trial being performed just 15 miles from her home in central Pennsylvania. “Within a matter of days of calling about the study, I had an appointment,” she says. And significant relief from symptoms was within sight. | Shirley's story...
...In her own words
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Innovative gene therapy
After a thorough check-up, Geisinger researchers told Shirley that she was a good candidate for a new drug study. Led by Geisinger’s cardiologists, the study evaluated a new gene therapy for women, using a drug not yet on the market. If successful, the medication would encourage new arteries to form around her blocked arteries, which could relieve her life-changing symptoms.
“I was very excited,” she says. “They explained the whole procedure to me very well, including that some people in the study would get the new gene therapy and that some would get a placebo.” A placebo is an inactive medication that researchers use to determine whether the drug being tested is actually more effective than no drug at all.
Real relief
“I don’t know for sure if I got the placebo or the real McCoy, but I can do so much more now that I wasn’t able to do before,” she says.
Before she joined this study, Shirley had painful and understandably frightening angina attacks three or four times a week. Today, they’re down to one or two a month.
Shirley quickly and happily lists other benefits. “I can walk longer now without getting short of breath. I don’t tire as easily. My legs don’t feel as heavy as they once did. Plus I can do things now with my grandchildren that I couldn’t do before.”
Shirley’s study is one of dozens that Geisinger’s physicians perform every year in a variety of medical specialties and at over 40 locations. For the relief she’s enjoyed, she also appreciates Geisinger’s focus on women and heart disease.
“Being a nurse, I know that it can sometimes be difficult to diagnose heart disease in women,” she says. “I’m so happy that I participated in this study at Geisinger. It has really improved my quality of life.”
Thanks to Shirley’s participation and the dedication of physicians at Geisinger, research like this holds promise to improve the lives of thousands of others across the country.
