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For SL teen, life is good
BY JIM GIBBS
jgibbs@acnpapers.com
It’s a new year and, with it, comes a new lease on life for Zack Fout.
Back in July, the 17-year old Fout woke up with some chest pains. Not knowing what to make of it, he took some over-the-counter pain medicine and it went away. The next day, however, the pain was back.
Zack, however, was anything but fine. His chest pains returned and soon he was in the emergency room at Baylor Medical-Grapevine.
“He was exhibiting all of the signs of congestive heart failure – chest pains, shortness of breath,” said Dr. Richard Feingold, D.O., intervention cardiologist at Baylor Grapevine. “We put a device in his heart called an Abiomed (or pump catheter) which is a device that has a small motor in it that sucks the blood out of the left ventrical and back in the ascending aorta. This is used to bridge the gap for a heart transplant or bypass. I’ve done it in a lot of older patients but never someone this young. The stars really aligned for Zack on that day because he was so close to a facility that could treat him.”
April and her husband George flew back to Southlake immediately and the pump was removed after a few days.
“When we left the hospital, Zack’s heart was pumping at 40 percent and, in three weeks, it went up to 70 percent,” April said. “It was a very scary time for us and it’s something you never expect. Especially in someone so young.”
Zack, who is 6-feet-2 inches tall and weighs about 180, said he is taking better care of himself now.
“I was never really overweight or anything before all this happened but, still, it makes you think,” he said. “I do a lot of exercising now and I’ve learned to not take my health for granted. “
April agreed.
“We’re learning how important every day of life is and not to take it for granted,” she said. “It’s very scary to think how close we came to losing Zack last summer. Thankfully, he got the care he needed and everything was in the right place at the right time.”
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