From exhaustion to dancing: new device changes life of congestive heart failure patient at Nebraska Medicine

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) — A man’s incredible response to a new congestive heart failure therapy at Nebraska Medicine is offering hope for others suffering from the condition.

Steve Turner, 75, of Elk Horn, Iowa, was the first Nebraska Medicine patient to receive an Optimizer Smart Mini implant for cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) therapy.

New Hope for Heart Failure Patients

“It’s given me a new look on life. A total day and night,” Turner said.

Dr. Scott Lundgren, an advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Nebraska Medicine, identified the new technology as an option for Turner after attempts to optimize his medications failed to alleviate his symptoms.

“What it does is it provides electrical impulses to the heart during a particular part of the heartbeat and it helps the underlying failing muscle from a biological standpoint to improve the squeeze of the heart,” Lundgren said.

From Exhaustion to Energy

Symptoms, including exhaustion and shortness of breath, had previously debilitated Turner.

“If I saw a flight of stairs maybe five steps, I was looking for an elevator. When I was getting up in the morning, I was dreading just putting on my socks,” Turner said.

Turner said within a couple of weeks of getting the device implanted, he was astonished at how much better he felt.

“I’m going to bed at night looking forward to the next day,” Turner said.

Back to Living Life

He is now back to fixing up his rental home, which he had almost sold prior to the procedure.

“I’ve been up in the attic running wire, I’ve been ripping up carpets, I’ve been painting rooms, I’ve been plastering rooms, and I look forward to doing it. When I’m done at the end of the day, it seems like I still have some energy left,” Turner said.

“I was ecstatic, because that’s the goal — that whatever you do, patients feel better, get back to living a normal life and hopefully a better life than they were previously,” Lundgren said.

How the Technology Works

Lundgren said the device is small, similar in size to a pacemaker, and the implant procedure is minimally invasive.

He explained that long-term studies show CCM therapy helps patients walk further without getting tired or short of breath and helps improve their overall quality of life.

A Dream Wedding

Turner said Lundgren and the heart and vascular team helped him reach a major milestone.

“Our daughter was getting married in California and my goal was to walk her down the aisle. I wanted to be there for her. He got me there. In fact, he not only got me there, but he got me dancing there too,” Turner said.

Easy Maintenance

All Turner needs to do to maintain the device’s effectiveness is charge it once a week at home.

“There’s nothing to it. Sit down a couple of hours out of the week on a Sunday and that’s it,” Turner said.

Looking to the Future

Turner’s promising feedback makes Lundgren excited to offer this therapy to other patients in the future.

“With Steve being the first one in the city and seeing such significant results, I hope he’s not the last, and we’re able to provide this technology to an even larger patient population,” Lundgren said.