A long-time resident of Qatar has thanked the staff at the Heart Hospital – part of the Hamad Medical Corporation – for their clinical expertise and compassionate care.
Kiran Machado, a 39-year-old Indian, has lived all his life in Qatar.
In 2014, he sensed that something was wrong with him – he had backache, suffered chest pains and had a persistent cough.
Machado sought medical advice at private clinics in Qatar and in India, and was given medication that exacerbated his symptoms, which resulted in a 10-day stay at the Heart Hospital.
In August, Machado collapsed once at home and then a second time while out with friends.
His friends took him to the Heart Hospital Emergency Department where the clinical team did the initial assessment and found his potassium levels were very low.
He was told that he was experiencing heart failure.
“I was sure that I was going to die. Even after I was discharged from the Intensive Care Unit and admitted to the ward, I was constantly experiencing ventricular tachycardia attacks, which feels like extreme palpitations. I was very sick,” explained Machado.
“It was then that I had a consultation with Dr Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, the chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Heart Hospital. He reviewed my case and told me that he had a solution– a surgically-inserted pump to help my heart to keep blood flowing around my body,” he recounted.
“He explained everything clearly to me, and I knew that this was my best chance. Dr Abdulaziz also arranged for another patient, who is living with one of these pumps, to explain to me what it was like, which was very helpful,” Machado continued.
After examining him, Dr al-Khulaifi knew that this operation was necessary to save his life.
“Kiran had acute cardiomyopathy and his heart had stopped three or four times. The Left Ventricle Assist Device (LVAD) was definitely the best option for him. The device is inserted in the heart and is connected to a power and management pack that is external to the body, by a tube that exits through the patient’s stomach. The LVAD does 95% of the heart’s work. The type of LVAD that we use in Qatar is designed to stay in the body for life – providing a long-term solution for patients,” he said.
“We also inserted an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator into Kiran’s chest to regulate the heart’s rhythm,” Dr al-Khulaifi continued: “This is an extremely complicated surgery – in fact it is highly specialized, and it is available in Qatar, at the Heart Hospital.”
Machado will start his rehabilitation once he has sufficiently recovered from the surgery.
“I am already managing most of my daily needs myself and I am getting used to carrying the LVAD device. I live on batteries!” he laughed.
“It does take getting used to, but I am alive,” Machado added. “During my stay in the Heart Hospital – almost four months – I got to know the team there very well and they were like family to me. They cared for me with compassion and even prayed for me.
“I want to let people know how great the Heart Hospital is and how the team members put in an amazing effort to help their patients.”
The Heart Hospital has announced that they are setting up a specialist heart failure team of a cardiologist, a surgeon and a physician that will be available for patients 24 hours a day to provide the safest, most effective and most compassionate care to patients.
Dr al-Khulaifi with Machado.
