Young heart transplant patient is grateful for WellMed clinicians and home monitoring

Carlos Suarez began having heart troubles in his early ‘50s. He averted tragedy with the help of WellMed specialists and WellMed home heart monitoring.

Carlos Suarez was in his early 50s when daily shortness of breath and fatigue began dragging him down. Believing his weight was the problem, he ignored it for several years. Finally, when his symptoms became extreme, he sought help from a physician at WellMed. Doctors diagnosed him with heart failure.

Suarez received a pacemaker and was referred to the WellMed heart failure clinic.  He was also enrolled in the WellMed Remote Patient Monitoring Program. He received a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter and a scale that are designed to transmit data to a WellMed vendor. The information is logged and escalated per protocol and is also available real-time to WellMed providers through a dashboard.

Suarez remained under the watchful eyes of cardiologist Dr. Andrew MacKinnon and Nurse Practitioner Stephanie Bruno at the WellMed at Crockett Park clinic.

“We tried all of standard therapies, including lifestyle changes, but he was still doing poorly,” said Dr. MacKinnon.

About a year later, Suarez had a heart attack. “I thought it was a mild one, but they told me my heart stopped for two minutes,” he said. “That’s when they put in a defibrillator.” As it turned out, despite constant monitoring and care, Suarez’s heart was dying. It was only working at about 15-20%, he says. “If I didn’t have the monitoring and support from my doctors, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

Dr. MacKinnon hospitalized Suarez, where he was listed for a heart transplant. “I had to admit him; we couldn’t do anything further with medications and he was still very sick,” Dr. MacKinnon said.

Once hospitalized, Suarez was placed under the care of transplant surgeon Dr. Michael Kwan. He spent 30 days on a mechanical heart pump and was released from the hospital. Just one month later, his weight began to climb because of fluid retention – a heart failure symptom detected by the home monitoring program. He landed in the hospital and in the No. 2 spot on the heart transplant list.

On Valentine’s Day 2023, Suarez received his new heart from a 20-year-old donor. Today, he says he is a new man. He works out five days a week and can walk for miles. He is also a grateful man. “Although I don’t know who the donor was, nor do I know the family, I am grateful to them for this gift of life I have been given,” Suarez says. “I’m also so grateful for my care team who kept such a close eye on me. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them.”

About the WellMed heart failure program

The WellMed heart failure program started in San Antonio, Texas, in 2014 and currently serves over 600 WellMed patients. WellMed, which cares for more than 1 million Medicare patients in Texas and Florida, has expanded the program into North Texas with 224 patients now enrolled.

While the technology itself isn’t new, only a small but growing number of providers offer this sort of life-saving service. With a steady, watchful eye on patients’ vitals, physicians can keep patients’ symptoms at bay, keep them out of the hospital and potentially help improve their quality of life.

“Our program helps us keep patients as healthy as they can be,” Dr. MacKinnon said. “But it’s also up to the patients to put the effort into it. It’s not magic, but it’s a way for us to see those early red flags.”

The program is covered by patients’ Medicare Advantage insurance plans, with no additional costs.

What is heart failure?

Heart failure (sometimes called congestive heart failure) is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscle is too weak to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen. Most often, heart failure is caused by another medical condition that damages your heart. This includes coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy or an irregular heartbeat.

More than 6 million adults in the United States have heart failure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

* Patients in the South Texas program log in via WIFI to transmit data.

* Patients in North Texas are provided with equipment that automatically transmits data via a cellular-based internal network.