Patient Story

Meet: Troy Golden

• Age: 45 (at implant)
• Occupation: Registered nurse and pastor
• Diagnosis: Dilated cardiomyopathy
• SynCardia Total Artificial Heart implant date: Sept. 15, 2010
• Freedom discharge date: Oct. 18, 2010
• Time on SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart: 230+ days and counting
• Current status: Waiting for a matching donor heart at home as part of an
  FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study of the Freedom® portable driver
• Residence: Geary, Oklahoma
• Hospital: INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center
• Surgeon: Dr. James Long

A Congenital Condition

My younger brother and I were both born with Marfan syndrome. This means the connective tissue that holds my body together is defective, which can affect many systems, including my heart and blood vessels.

My brother had his aortic valve replaced at age 12 and received a heart transplant 15 years ago. I began taking heart medication at age 27. I wasn't diagnosed with Marfan until age 41 when I had a defibrillator/pacemaker put in. The device helped some, but I continued to have arrhythmia problems.

A Major Overhaul

In December 2006, I had a major overhaul. I had an aortic valve replacement, an aortic root repair, a mitral valve replacement and the Maze rhythm procedure on my atrium to try to stop the arrhythmias. Pretty much everything they could do to my heart, they did.

After that surgery, my ejection fraction (the amount of blood being pumped out of my heart) was down to almost nothing. I was short of breath all the time. When I would bend over, I would get really dizzy and lightheaded. By 2009, I was deteriorating quickly. I was so exhausted all the time, when I'd get off work, I'd just go home and sleep. That August, I finally just quit working. I didn't have the energy to do anything.

A Series of Shocks

On Christmas Eve 2009, I got my first shock from my defibrillator. On Christmas Day, I got two more. It was really painful. They took me to the local heart hospital and I got four more shocks that night, followed by 24 shocks over the next four days. My whole chest felt like it was on fire, cooking me from the inside. It feels like you've been kicked by a mule.

On Dec. 30, 2009, they sent me to INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City to be evaluated for a heart transplant. I was in intensive care for about a week and then the cardiac floor for a couple weeks. From there, it was a continuing cycle of going home for a week or two, getting shocked by my defibrillator and being readmitted to the hospital.

In June 2010, I was going into congestive heart failure. Fluid was backing up in my liver and my abdomen. I was on dobutamine, had a Swan-Ganz catheter in my neck and was on several intravenous drugs.

By that time, I was very weak. It took two people just to get me up out of the ICU bed. I went from being able to walk to not being able to do anything for myself.

SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart

In September 2010, things weren't going well. Congestive heart failure was beginning to affect my liver and kidneys. My doctors approached me about the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. It took me a few days to decide it was what the Lord was telling me to do.

I worked through that and then all of a sudden I just kind of got better. However, a couple weeks later I started deteriorating again. This time, it was not only congestive heart failure problems, but I was also having arrhythmia problems again. My doctors approached me a second time about the Total Artificial Heart. This time I said yes.

I was implanted with the Total Artificial Heart on Sept. 15, 2010. After I got the Total, I was really happy with my decision. It's a lifesaver. I know for a fact that I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't gotten the Total Artificial Heart.

“This is taking someone who was checking out and giving them life, and life abundantly. It was admittedly rather awe-inspiring to know that our patient was alive and well with a 'flat-line' ECG on the rhythm monitor. The operation and recovery have been everything we could have hoped for.”
– Dr. James Long, Troy's cardiovascular surgeon and
co-director of the INTEGRIS Advanced Cardiac Care program

An Opportunity to Recover with the Total

The morning after the implant surgery I was extubated (had my breathing tube removed). Within a couple days, I was sitting in a chair. I walked out to the edge of the ICU room and back. Each day, I doubled or tripled the distance I was able to walk.

Before the surgery, my muscles had deteriorated from lying in the ICU bed and not being able to get up and walk. I had lost about 40 lbs before the surgery and had been reduced to a skeleton.

Before the Total Artificial Heart, a transplant would've been risky because of my deteriorated condition. Since receiving the Total Artificial Heart, I have gained about 15 to 20 lbs. SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart has given me the opportunity to recover much quicker. I've been able to build my body back up. When a donor heart becomes available, I'll be much stronger and healthier to undergo a second major surgery to receive my heart transplant.

“For Troy, the only alternative to imminent death was a mechanical heart pump. But, our experience told us that Troy's heart disease was so bad that a traditional heart pump would not be enough. So, we decided to try something different – completely replacing the heart with the Total Artificial Heart.”
– Dr. Doug Horstmanshof, Troy's cardiologist and co-director of the INTEGRIS Advanced Cardiac Care program

VIDEO: INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center announces its 1st implant of SynCardia’s Total Artificial Heart

Freedom from the Hospital

About a month after the surgery, my doctors asked me if I wanted to participate in the FDA-approved clinical study of the Freedom® portable driver and I agreed. I entered the medical profession and the ministry to help people like me and my brother. If this new technology can do that and I can play a small role in it, then it will all be worth it.

The driver, which powers the Total Artificial Heart, is designed to allow me to be more mobile and possibly go home. On Oct. 11, 2010, I was switched from the 418-lb "Big Blue" hospital driver to the 13.5-lb Freedom portable driver.

When I first got the Freedom driver in the hospital, it was wonderful to be able to get up and walk around by myself, to not be tied down anymore. Before I was switched to the Freedom driver, I had to call someone just to move Big Blue to get up from the bed to go to the couch. The Freedom driver allowed me to get up and walk around on my own. It basically gave me "freedom" from having to rely on someone else.

On Oct. 19, 2010, using the Freedom driver, I was discharged from the hospital to wait for a transplant at home with my wife Darrla, my daughter Laura and my son Brandon. Being home gave me a positive attitude, a feeling of independence and a sense of worth because I could do many things again that I hadn't been able to do for quite a while.

The first time I fixed something, I took broken hinges off a door and it made me feel like a man again. You want to be able to take care of your family so when you can't do anything it gives you a sense of worthlessness.

Preacher Returns to Pulpit

In November 2010, two months after receiving the Total Artificial Heart, I was able to return to preaching. I can't put in words how good it makes me feel to be able to stand up before my church and preach. That's my love and what I want to do. With the Freedom driver, I just strap the Backpack on and I'm able to return to the pulpit.

My congregation is ecstatic that I'm able to come back and be with them again. I've gotten stronger since the first time I preached and they say they're happy to see life back in me. One Sunday, several of them came up to me and said "You're back again!"

Life at Home

Today, I'm really feeling good. I'm still getting my legs stronger but I'm continuing to get better. It's night and day from where I was. With the Freedom driver, I'm able to preach again, go out to eat with my family and do simple things like get something to drink, eat, dress myself and walk around. I'm planning to go fishing as soon as the weather warms up. I'd also like to play golf again and go hunting.

VIDEO: INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center discharges its 1st Total Artificial Heart patient using the Freedom® portable driver

A Gesture of Gratitude

I have a sign next to my front door that says "There's always, always, always something to be thankful for." I am very thankful for many things, including the wonderful doctors and nurses at INTEGRIS, my loving family, my supportive congregation and the second chance at life I've received thanks to the Total Artificial Heart.

The most important thing I would tell someone about the Total Artificial Heart is it made me feel 100% better. I was at a point where I needed a heart transplant but I couldn't wait any longer because I was deteriorating so quickly. The Total Artificial Heart saved my life and the Freedom driver gave me the opportunity to live it.

CAUTION - The Freedom® portable driver is an investigational device, limited by United States law to investigational use.