Download Heart Failure Program

FALL 2009
9
We Can Help You to Manage
YOUR HEART FAILURE
Heart failure is a serious illness that must
be monitored closely, but with the right
treatments and careful management of
your diet and lifestyle, your symptoms
can be controlled, allowing you to lead
a full and satisfying life.
The Valley Hospital’s Heart Failure Program
• social work services
offers diagnostic, treatment, and self-
• cardiac rehabilitation
management services provided by a multidisciplinary team of physicians, surgeons,
nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists,
dietitians, cardiac rehabilitation specialists,
case managers, and home care staff. All care
is coordinated by a nurse practitioner, who
will be your liaison to the services you need
to stay well and avoid hospitalization.
Valley’s Heart Failure Program, which has
been recognized by The Joint Commission
and granted Heart Failure Disease Specific
Care Certification, includes the following:
• patient education
• diagnostic testing
• medication treatment
• interventional treatment
• surgical treatment
• nutrition counseling
• home care
• consultations with physicians, nurses,
and other members of the team
In addition to the above services, Valley is
one of the few hospitals in the area to offer
cardiac MRI using MARISA™ technology,
which helps physicians accurately determine the best treatment for each patient.
Valley Home Care offers an in-home heart
failure telemanagement program that may
be covered by Medicare for patients who
are age 65 and older, homebound, and
meet other specific criteria.
Managing heart failure successfully includes
monitoring symptoms and body weight
daily, regular exercise, limiting sodium and
total fluid intake in the daily diet, taking
medications as prescribed, managing your
feelings and anxieties about your illness,
and quitting smoking.
“Depending on the severity of the
patient’s condition, we generally treat
heart failure first with medications
and dietary and lifestyle changes,”
says John Strobeck, M.D., Ph.D.,
Director of the Heart Failure
Program.
If medication and dietary
control do not relieve
symptoms or if symptoms
recur while on medication, patients may be
referred for high-level diagnostic testing,
interventional therapy, or surgery.
Robin Giordano, R.N., M.A., APN/C,
Coordinator of Valley’s Heart Failure
Program, says don’t be afraid to look to
others for support.
“Join a buddy to walk at the mall, hire
someone to clean your house, talk over
your feelings, accept a low-sodium cooked
meal with no salt added,” she says.
For more information about Valley’s
Heart Failure Program, call 201-447-8284.
To register for the Heart Failure Outreach
Program, call 201-291-6467.
Symptoms of
Heart Failure
When the heart cannot pump blood
properly, fluid can spread from the
blood into the lungs, feet, legs, hands,
liver, and abdominal cavity. The heart
failure team recommends calling
your physician or nurse if you are
experiencing any of these symptoms:
• shortness of breath when lying down
or exerting oneself
• weight gain
• swelling of the hands and feet
• frequent coughing
• hacking cough while lying down
Robin Giordano, R.N., M.A., APN/C,
a nurse practitioner and
coordinator of The Valley Hospital
Heart Failure Program,
with program director
John Strobeck, M.D., Ph.D.
• abdominal pain from liver congestion
• fatigue