Lucy Fenner
USA- Lucy Fenner: Living with Dilated Cardiomyopathy
- Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Weakening Heart
- Sudden Death and Screening
- Jack's Transplant and a Miracle Recovery
- Lucy's Treatment and Outlook
Lucy Fenner: Living with Dilated Cardiomyopathy
26-year-old Lucy Fenner is a dedicated runner who lives with a potentially fatal heart condition. Diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a condition that saw her brother undergo a heart transplant three years ago, in March 2013, Lucy was told that her heart was too weak for her to run the London Marathon and that she could be facing a transplant herself. "I worry about giving up everything I love when the time comes," says Fenner, "that I won't be able to exercise anymore and that eventually I'll need a transplant."
Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Weakening Heart
DCM is caused by the dilation of the heart muscle, causing it to become enlarged, weak and thin. As a result, the lower left chamber of the heart is unable to pump blood effectively, which can lead to heart failure, a common cause of premature death. According to Dr. Andrew Grace, consultant cardiologist at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, around 20,000 people in the UK have inherited DCM, as is the case with Lucy. Both her parents have also been diagnosed with the condition.
Sudden Death and Screening
Every day in the UK, between 12 and 15 people under the age of 35 die suddenly from an inherited heart condition. However, these conditions can often be detected on an electrocardiogram (ECG) with 90% accuracy, a test that costs as little as £2. In fact, it was only through her brother Jack's diagnosis that Lucy Fenner discovered she had DCM.
23-year-old Jack collapsed at his home in Esher, Surrey, after experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath during exercise for around two months. After being admitted to hospital, Jack was fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), a device that monitors the heart's electrical rhythm and delivers an electric shock to correct any potentially fatal abnormal heart rhythm. "He became so weak," recalls Lucy, "he lost about three stone, he couldn't walk or talk, he had no energy levels." In April 2010, desperate doctors told the family that Jack could have just 24 hours to live, but a heart became available for transplant.
Jack's Transplant and a Miracle Recovery
"Within two weeks, he was out of hospital," says Lucy of her brother's transplant, "within three months he was back walking the dog and within six months he was back training. It was a miracle." Now recovered, Jack has gone on to university, while Lucy's own condition has deteriorated.
MRI scans have revealed that Lucy's parents, Sharron, 59, a swimming teacher, and Mark, 60, a marketing director, both have DCM, although neither of them have symptoms. Lucy's younger brother, Toby, 19, has not inherited the condition.
Lucy's Treatment and Outlook
Lucy's heart is now working at around 40% of what is optimal capacity. "Had I not seen what happened to Jack," she says, "I don't know how bad I could have got." She has been prescribed beta-blockers, drugs that stop the heart from becoming weaker, by slowing down the heart rate so that the heart pumps less blood but more efficiently. "If my brother, my parents and I had known about our heart conditions earlier," Lucy concludes, "we could have paced ourselves, we could have started medication and potentially Jack wouldn't have needed a heart transplant."
