Mending hearts, one patient to another

By Liz Barry

Published: March 5, 2008

Elaine Summers knows what she’s talking about when she speaks to patients about open heart surgery. She’s been through it twice.

“Anytime they split your chest bone wide open it’s intense,” she says.

Her second operation was 18 years ago. Ever since, the Lynchburg woman has been volunteering for the local chapter of Mended Hearts, a national organization devoted to providing support for heart surgery patients and their families.

Mended Hearts has been in Lynchburg for 20 years. To recognize the organization’s longtime service to the city, Mayor Joan Foster has proclaimed Feb. 11 through Feb. 17 Mended Hearts Week in Lynchburg.

The Lynchburg chapter has 251 members. Volunteers visit patients at Lynchburg General Hospital seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Last Thursday was routine for Summers. She usually volunteers three or four times a month.

Her first stop is the Mended Hearts office, located on the heart ward of the hospital’s East Tower. The doorway to the office is framed by plaques and awards the organization has received over the years. Inside is little more than a desk and two aluminum cabinets.

The office is the hub for the daily volunteers, who consult the records to see which patients need to be visited. Summers also checks in at the nurses’ station to see if there are any new patients.

On Thursday evening, Summers visits two patients. One is about to have surgery, and the other is in recovery.

Summers enters the room of patient No. 1, who will have four bypasses in the morning. Summers explains what Mended Hearts does and offers words of support.

“Like I say, I’m standing here and I’ve been through it twice,” Summers tells the patient. “I had my last surgery 19 years ago, and it’s added years to my life.”

She asks the patient if he has any questions or concerns he would like to share, emphasizing that the Mended Hearts support network will be available to him after surgery.

Next, Summers tries to meet a recovering patient in the coronary care unit. A family member informs her that the patient is not up for the visit. Summer leaves the room and makes a note to have another volunteer check on the patient later in the week.

Summers got involved with mended hearts because it helped her cope with her own surgery, and she wanted to give back to others.

Longtime volunteer Curtis Wade, 74, echoes her sentiment. Wade had two heart valves replaced in 1999. The night before his operation, Wade says he was terrified. After a visit with a Mended Heart member, some of his fears were mitigated.

“It relieved me a great deal,” Wade says.

Wade wants to spread hope to other patients. He says he would bend over backwards for Mended Hearts. He already devotes much of his time to volunteering and behind-the-scenes work.

“I am living proof that there is a rich, rewarding life after heart surgery,” Wade says. “I feel sure I wouldn’t be alive today had I not gone in that direction.”