Heartfelt Help: How Support Networks Help People Heal

After a nearly two-year wait, 18-year-old MacKenzie Maddry finally got the call: she was receiving a heart transplant. It’s the news people living with heart failure, as Maddry was, dream of receiving.

Of course, Maddry quickly phoned the exciting update to her friends and family. But one of the first people she called was someone who was a complete stranger just a few months prior.

Maddry reached out to Alicia Nicoletti, a New York-based confidant of Maddry’s who also has heart failure. But how did they meet? Through Abbott HeartMates, a community where people living with heart conditions can build each other up while writing their own comeback stories.

“When we raced down to the hospital, we weren’t even out of my town yet, and I was already on the phone with Alicia who was just crying with excitement for me,” Bella Vista, Ark., native Maddry says.

Heartfelt connections like Maddry and Nicoletti’s are what the HeartMates program is all about and why Abbott created it to begin with: Heart-related incidents and conditions can cause emotional distress and be incredibly isolating experiences.¹ Support networks with shared bonds and a sense of community can help people in their health recoveries.

“It’s nice to have people who understand what you’re going through at such a deep level,” Maddry says. “For example, I can relate to people with LVADs [Left Ventricular Assistance Devices that help circulate blood for people with severe heart failure], and they can relate to me, even if it’s just the small things like, ‘Did you have this side effect? How did you deal with this?’”

HeartMates gives people the opportunity to join a community of support for people and caregivers impacted by heart conditions. After all, shared experiences are often how friends become friends and are what build trust and empathy.

“We wanted to create a safe space for patients — and caregivers,” says Nadim Geloo, M.D., senior director of medical affairs in Abbott’s Structural Heart business. “Diagnoses can be very anxiety-provoking and can make you feel quite alone. For patients, you can talk to your family, but sometimes it helps to talk to other people who are going through the same journey and not feel like you’re burdening your family members or friends.”

A positive outlook, which support networks can help instill, can cause patients to be more invested in their health care, Geloo says, leading to better care and recoveries.

“The HeartMates community is lifting people up and letting them know that you can live a normal life with your condition and do great,” he says. “The program connects you with great examples of people doing just that.”

Heart-Health Champions, One Common Bond

At age 14, Maddry was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, undergoing 21 cycles of intense chemotherapy treatment, which, coupled with multiple surgeries and infections, eventually led to heart failure. While Maddry waited to receive a heart transplant, she received Abbott’s HeartMate 3 LVAD to support her heart.

The HeartMates program, Maddry says, also helped get her through.

She was one of the heart-health champions at the inaugural Abbott HeartMates Draft Day who gathered in New York for a day of teambuilding and celebration.

Hosted by Abbott and ambassadors Damar Hamlin and Tedy Bruschi, both professional football players who made heart-health comebacks of their own, Draft Day recognized 11 people and their caregivers from across the United States who are living full lives after experiencing serious cardiovascular events.

It’s also where Maddry met Nicoletti for the first time.

The two quickly became friends, relating to each other on their heart conditions, sending pen-pal letters and sharing a love for Italian food. They’ve been there for each other at every step of the way ever since, such as when Nicoletti offered Maddry support during her heart transplant.

Fast forward a few months later, Maddry then paid it forward when another HeartMates teammate got her call: Lakeisha Brown, who spent time with both Maddry and Nicoletti at HeartMates’ Draft Day, was receiving a heart transplant herself. She reached out to Maddry for support through her healing process, and Maddry was able to share her own experience.

“It’s hard to say that feels good, because you don’t want people to have to go through the things you’ve gone through, but the shared support was a huge help for us,” Maddry says.

Now, Maddry and her friends, whom she met thanks to HeartMates, send each other heart-healthy recipes, exchange tips on public speaking and share their stories to help others. Those tips will come in handy for Nicoletti this month as she co-hosts two virtual HeartMates huddles with Geloo, where others living with heart conditions can share their experiences, find support and ask questions.

The Impact of Knowledge and Connection on Recovery

Heart conditions can weigh heavily on the heart. Evidence has shown that mental health disorders including depression and anxiety can develop after cardiac events such as heart failure, strokes and heart attacks.¹ In turn, mental health disorders may increase a person’s chance of adopting unhealthy behaviors such as an inactive lifestyle, smoking or failure to follow prescribed medical directions.¹

It helps to have support.

As Geloo says, seeing others who are living rich lives despite their diagnoses and understanding how others are overcoming their challenges can help patients with similar conditions see the light at the end of their own tunnel. It can help people become more invested in their health care.

When you have a positive outlook and a support network, “people are focused more on how to deal with their diagnosis and live a good life in spite of it,” Geloo says.

“Because of that positivity, they’re more likely to follow medical advice and make changes in their lifestyle that are necessary to reduce their long-term risk.”

It helps to have a HeartMate.

The Abbott HeartMates program is a community established by Abbott to offer support to people impacted by cardiovascular conditions, along with their families and caregivers. The program enables participants to share stories and receive emotional support as well as connect with others going through similar heart health journeys. For more information about HeartMates, visit HeartMates.Abbott.

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Heart Disease and Mental Health Disorders, 2020