Joseph Ciappetta

As a teen in 1960s Brooklyn, N.Y., Joe Ciappetta and his buddies would sing a cappella just about anywhere, including parks and subways, belting out the songs of their favorite doo-wop stars and other crooners. And while the music may have aged well, the same can’t be said for Ciappetta’s heart. About 14 years ago, he collapsed at his then upstate New York home. After receiving a pacemaker, defibrillator and a new heart valve in the ensuing years, life continued for Ciappetta, a retired horticulturalist for New York City. But his heart condition worsened, and he was eventually referred to Yale Hospital in Connecticut. Journey to an LVAD Ciappetta, 72, initially rejected the suggestion of a left ventricular assisted device (LVAD) from doctors at Yale. “I didn’t like the idea of living on batteries,” he recalls. “I felt like I was going to be a robot.” An LVAD is a battery-operated mechanical pump that helps pump blood from your left ventricle, the heart’s main pumping chamber, to your aorta. Ciappetta and his wife, Denise, were facing some tough financial times due to his medical problems, and eventually decided to live with Denise’s uncle in Scranton to get back on their feet. “We basically had nothing left,” he says. A cardiologist at Yale knew Sima Hodavance, MD, a cardiologist with Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, through Dr. Hodavance’s fellowship training there, and referred Ciappetta to Dr. Hodavance for continued treatment. Dr. Hodavance also recommended an LVAD. Ciappetta said Dr. Hodavance told him his heart was in danger of failing at any time. Within weeks that prediction materialized, with Ciappetta hospitalized several times after experiencing severe breathing problems. Ciappetta has severe dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle enlarges, stretches and becomes thinner. As a result, his heart muscle doesn’t contract normally and can’t pump blood as it should.