HEART OF THE MATTER
BUTLER TWP — George Rock is a man without a pulse, and he still goes golfing once a week.
Three years ago doctors told Rock he was going to die.
A virus killed the bottom of his heart in 2003, and when the 80-year-old Rock's heart failed in 2015, his doctors believed they had run out of options.
“They said they couldn't do much for him, and they were talking about hospice,” said Shirley Rock, George's wife.
That's when they heard from Dr. Suad Ismail, a cardiologist they had worked with in the past.
She kept in touch with the Butler Township couple even after moving to Allegheny General Hospital. When she heard they were planning on hospice, Ismail told the Rocks to rush George to Allegheny General where she believed they could save his life.
“She said 'You get in an ambulance and get down to Allegheny General Hospital, and I'll set it all up,'” George Rock said.
And she did.
They rushed George to Allegheny General where he was included in a clinical trial for the latest heart pump technology, the HeartMate II left ventricular assist device, or LVAD.
He was the second patient in the trial and one of the first in the region to receive one.
“It's wonderful technology to help people,” said Dr. Stephen Bailey, George's heart surgeon.
The LVAD is a small, implantable heart pump that takes over the pumping action of the left ventricular in hearts that can no longer function properly on their own.
It lets patients live quite normal lives, either as a temporary fix before a heart transplant or as a long-term solution.
“What this does is saves people's lives,” George Rock said. “It's a thing that no one knows about, but it gives people second chances.”
His doctors worked with him throughout the process to best prepare him for the surgery and to maintain the device afterward.
Bailey met with him in the days before to make sure they minimize any disruption to his daily routines.
“I said 'Dr. Bailey, I'd really like to golf,'” George Rock said. “He said 'OK, I'll put everything on the right side to give you the freedom to swing.'”
The day of the surgery came, and a few weeks later George left the hospital with a new heart pump.Today, he goes golfing once a week.“He's doing fantastic,” said Bailey.“He lives on batteries during the day and at night he plugs it into the outlet,” said Shirley Rock. “We just feel it's been life saving.”As one of the first LVAD patients in the area, George Rock joined a small minority of heart patients who've had the option to get the device, Bailey said.Despite the LVAD's effectiveness and relative ease-of-use, few are familiar with the technology and fewer incorporate it in their treatment plans.In addition to it being fairly new, Bailey said there are also misconceptions surrounding heart pump technology.“Despite lots of efforts, it's underappreciated,” Bailey said. “A lot of people have the idea that if you have the LVAD you'd be stuck in the hospital.”This is not the case, and George Rock says since his surgery he's been about as active as ever.“I've been doing good,” he said. “I've been going shopping, my granddaughter's home from Florida and we've been taking her different places.”He also used to mow his grass but said he had to stop when his mower broke.The hardest part about life with an LVAD is the maintenance, George Rock said.Every day he wears a vest that holds around 10 pounds of batteries, including backups, for the device. He carries that in addition to the device itself and bandages for the area where it enters his body.“I'll tell you what, it's a chore,” he said. “My wife is just terrific, she changes all my bandages, the bandages around the hole in my stomach. The biggest problem is that if that gets infected then you're in trouble.”The bandages need to be changed every three days.
George meets with other LVAD patients at the hospital periodically, where they can talk about issues they've encountered and things they've found to make life with an LVAD easier.“You're working with people all the time,” he said. “That's what we do when we have these get-togethers: talk about our problems and come up with solutions for each other.”Today, he's working to get the word out about the device that saved his life.Abbott Laboratories, the company that made the LVAD has made him an ambassador for the product, giving him a chance to speak at hospitals and events and to star in commercials to tell the world about the new possibilities for those with heart failure.“If the word gets out it could help a lot of people in this situation,” he said. “I think a lot of people could be saved ... From going into hospice to going into something like this is really a good thing.”
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