Army Veteran Larry Scales has been living with heart issues for years. The 68-year-old Texan had his first heart attack in 1999 and, over the years, he worked hard to improve his health. Despite quitting smoking and watching his diet, he had a second heart attack in 2015 and got a pacemaker.
After having a third heart attack last year and exhausting all his medication options, he was feeling exhausted and fatigued when he sought help at the Michael E. DeBakey VA in Houston.
“I came to Houston VA feeling sick and tired of being sick and tired. I take pride in taking care of myself and I had no energy to do the things I love. When the doctors recommended an LVAD, I was a little anxious, but I jumped at the chance to get my life back,” Scales shared.
The left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is cutting-edge technology that involves a small, battery-operated pump that’s implanted into the chest and helps the heart circulate blood. Scales had this life-changing and lifesaving procedure at Houston VA last summer and said upon waking up from the surgery he knew immediately he had done the right thing.
“I feel better than I have in years.”
“I woke up from surgery feeling hopeful and positive about the future. The VA team gave me straight talk about what I needed to do to get better and they supported me through my recovery every step of the way. Now, I feel better than I have in years,” he said.
One of the first people Scales met at Houston VA was Dr. Steve Antoine, an advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist.
“Dr. Antoine spent a lot of time talking with me about my goals and educating me about my options. It was obvious he cared about me as a person and knew I was ready to take ownership of my life. He is definitely a heart doctor with a real heart for his patients,” he continued.
As a board-certified specialist in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, advanced heart failure, cardiovascular nuclear medicine and echocardiography and an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, Antoine brings a comprehensive skill set to his Veteran patients and particularly enjoys getting to know them.
“When I meet Veterans, I love learning about them and all they have accomplished. I knew right away Mr. Scales was an amazing guy. I met him right before his right heart cath, which is a procedure to measure cardiac output and pressures inside the heart. He told me that he likes cars, so I explained my findings to him in car lingo by telling him that I popped the hood and his engine was fuming and that we needed to do something immediately. He understood right away what needed to be done. His determination to live, courage and trust that he gave us over a short period of time made caring for him very easy despite how sick he was,” Antoine said.
Scales says his family, his faith and getting his mojo back were his biggest motivators during his LVAD recovery. He credits his wife, Peggy, a compassionate nurse with many years of health care experience as also playing a key role in his recovery. The couple has five children and seven grandchildren.
“When I first met my beautiful wife, we bonded over our love of life and a love of dancing. When I was in heart failure, I couldn’t dance with her at all. Since I got the LVAD, we listen to music around the house and even take breaks from our daily chores to dance,” Scales said.
Larry and Peggy Scales came back to Houston VA earlier this month for a Heart Month Celebration where they enjoyed sharing his story of recovery and meeting other Veteran patients. Their future plans include selling their home and purchasing an RV to travel, visit family and see the sights.
“We want to ride off to see the sunsets. I have a lot of life left to live and I’m thankful to VA for helping me get the chance to live it,” he added.
According to Dr. Savitri Fedson, medical director of the advanced heart failure program, Houston VA is one of just a few VA facilities performing the LVAD procedure nationwide.
“As one of the largest VA cardiothoracic and cardiology programs in the country, we offer Veterans the full spectrum of heart care and welcome complex cases. We are thrilled to offer Veterans like Mr. Scales the state-of-the-art care they so richly deserve,” Fedson said.
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I’m glad this has worked for you. I had open heart surgery on 6 Dec 2024. The mitral valve was replaced. I had a heart attack in mid-October 2024 and one of the sings/symptoms was rare. As a woman I knew that women present differently than men when they have a heart attack. It was the vision events I was having that was my biggest clue that something was wrong, I was also having chest pain. I went to the emergency room at my local V.A. hospital. They immediately admitted me and sent me out to community care because they didn’t have anyone who could do a cardio-cath. By the time I went for the heart surgery I could hardly breath due to congestion heart failure which I also was having. I am feeling much better.
god bless you i got a bpass in 2007 and a pacemaker on 2022. i hardly get tired now my wife and igo dancing a lot!
Glad you heart/valve etc. is on an even keel after your procedure. Procedures available today are sure life saver when
you get the proper diagnosis.. I have been a cardiac patient since 2005 so I know what you have gone through. My triple bypass was done when I was 54. No clues just tired more than I was used to. Test were all just fine but I felt not as good as I once was. Just to rule things out did a stress test that put me in the que the next morning with what the call the Widow Maker! They didn’t use that term until I was “Cured… I was good until 2014 then 2016 with Afib two procedures than well for a few year.. 2022 same deal as 05.. Passed all the tests. asked to be checked out further .. at age 75 I felt like doing nothing but pushed through just the same. The stress test resulted in the same “LADs” widow maker again. Two days later they did the same 3 artery clean outs laparoscopic instead of cracking my chest… a second time. Now at 77 doing well three years later . Finally retired and do what I can to stay in shape.. I hope you pay attention to what you body is telling you… I like seeing things go well… Stay that way.. well done”1
I received an LVAD in February 2018 after receiving LVAD it was found to have set infection I was given basically six months to live. August 30 of 2018 my wife and I received a phone call for 30 morning I was to go to the airport Florence South Carolina where a turbo prop was to bring me to my heart at the Richmond McGuire VA. I spent three minutes in the emergency room and around 15 1/2 hours in surgery where they took out the Left ventricular assist device and the old heart and sewed in my new heart. So believe me when I say, I know how you feel, and I am very thankful to have received this care from my VA.
I would like to know the other VA hospitals that do this procedure.