Walking to His Own Beat
Edward Sukyas’ morning walk takes him down a bustling section of Third Street in West Hollywood, past vintage stores, upscale coffee houses, and gourmet eateries—and past the spot on the sidewalk where two years ago he suffered a shattering heart attack.
On this chilly Los Angeles morning, Edward promises to point out where he was when he fell to his knees clutching his side in agonizing pain. But the 66-year-old commodities broker feels so healthy, so engaged in lively conversation that he strides right past the scene of his heart attack without taking notice until he is long past it.
“I don’t feel any sensation of handicap when it comes to my heart,” he says. “I feel great and the heart attack was simply a parenthesis—opened and closed.”
A stout gastronome with an infectious optimism and a somewhat difficult-to-place accent, Edward has enjoyed his quick-paced, daily hourlong walks in view of Cedars-Sinai for more than 10 years, and resumed them six short weeks after his heart attack.
He attributes his remarkably robust health to two shares of good fortune: one, that he was wheeled into surgery at Cedars-Sinai within an hour of the heart attack and, two, that he had the unprecedented opportunity to take part in the Medical Center’s revolutionary study involving the use of his own stem cells to “rebuild” his heart.
My wife recently was under the care of Wouter I Schievink, M.D. at Cedars-Sinai, where she ultimately underwent successful spinal surgery to repair a spinal leak in the lumbar area. While I was there, I contacted the Heart staff to try to find out how I might get into your stem cell program. I apparently was either not considered or too late. I have been sufferring from CHF since my first attack in 1990. In Nov., 1991 i underwent guardruple bypass surgery. Since 1996, I have an AICD device that acts to pace and to defibulate. I exercise regularly using a recombint bike and I watch my diet as carefully as I can. I know that I am a “ticking bomb.” I am 72 years of age, but I want to live at my highest level, especially as a result of grandchildren having recently come into my life. How would I get into your program? Thank you for your consideration.
@Hkaptain: We forwarded your question toLawrence S. C. Czer, MD, Medical
Director of the Heart Transplant Program, Director of Transplantation
Cardiology, andCo-Director of the Mechanical Support Program at
Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center’s Heart Institute. Dr. Czer’s answer is that there is hope to
eventually apply stem cell treatments for a much broader variety of heart
conditions (beyond the current study to repair muscle damage caused by
heart attack). We are not presently investigating the use of stem cells
for heart transplant patients, but this may start to happen in the next
few years. In the meantime, however, we are working on other, more
immediate, ways to minimize immunosuppressant medications. There have
been some new developments in this area in the last few years and Dr. Czer
encourages anyone interested to contact his clinic (1-800-CEDARS1) to
discuss the options that may now be available to them.
For those of us who have had a complete heart transplant…is there any research being done to rid us of our dependency on immune suppression drugs? Subsequent to my surgery, I suggested to a doctor who visited with a bunch of student doctors…that they might consider injecting my stem cells in my new heart so that perhaps, over time, these cells would be replicated throughout my new heart and my new heart (miraculously) would become native tissue……………………………He said, “maybe in 30 years”. I hope I live that long……………that might be possible according to the cardiologist who referred me to Cedars.