Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/244291
Sharon and Mac Gordon of Superior hope a new treatment will add quality to Mac Gordon's life, as he struggles with "Lou Gehrig's" disease. Mac Gordon, 57, of Superior underwent surgery in July, eight months after his ALS diagnosis. "His diaphragm is getting stronger," says his wife, Sharon Gordon, 54. "It's not as laborious for him to breathe," she says, speaking for her husband, whose speech is slowly deteriorating. Although he can still walk, Gordon spends more time in a wheelchair, largely because of lack of energy. He's lost more than 70 pounds off his 6-foot, 3-inch frame since diagnosis. Oberlin, Ohio-based Synapse Biomedical Inc. developed Gordon's pacing device, which stimulates nerve communication from the brain to the diaphragm. The diaphragm accounts for about 70 percent of a person's ability to breathe, explains Lonnie Martinez, director of respiratory care at Swedish, and a member of the surgical team led by Dr. Richard Tillquist. During the procedure, done laparoscopically, Tillquist placed electrodes in the diaphragm close to where phrenic nerve endings attach. The electrodes attach to wires powered by an external, battery-operated box that sends signals for the diaphragm to contract. "The impulses keep the nerve viable for a longer period of time," Martinez says. The device was developed to allow quadriplegics, including the late actor and activist Christopher Reeve, to breathe without lugging around an external ventilator, says Tillquist, who has performed the procedure on patients with spinal-cord injuries. By using a pacer, Tillquist notes, patients avoid the downsides of external ventilation, including lung infections. Synapse's trials show the pacer can extend an ALS patient's life by an average of 16 months, when used in combination with non-invasive ventilation, or NIV, which many ALS patients connect to only at night while sleeping. "The key is getting the word out that the time to consider a pacer is earlier rather than later," says Tillquist. He suggests physicians broach the subject with ALS patients at the time of diagnosis because the pacer is less effective as the nerves start dying and the diaphragm weakens. "The key is getting the word out that the time to consider a pacer is earlier rather than later." Neck discomfort is one side effect for Gordon, pain that results from the pacer sending impulses through the phrenic nerve up to the brain. Still, Mac Gordon believes that's a fair trade off for his improved breathing capacity, his wife says. Several other locals living with ALS are considering the procedure, Martinez says. About 500 people diagnosed with ALS reside in Colorado, according to the Rocky Mountain chapter of the ALS Association. Lonnie Martinez, director of respiratory care at Swedish Medical Center, holds the diaphragm pacemaker device designed to expand a patient's breathing capacity. Health and Wellness Magazine • 61