Schroeder Tests Coordination by Writing a Love Note to His Wife

Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder responded to a challenge during an occupational therapy session by writing a love letter to his wife, according to a hospital spokesman.

“He had been asked to scribble out a note of some kind to test his coordination with paper and pencil. Mr. Schroeder came up with the love note for his wife, Margaret,” said Robert Irvine, a spokesman for Humana Hospital Audubon, where Schroeder received his artificial heart Nov. 25. Irvine said he would not give details about the note “because what it contained was personal.”

After Schroeder’s therapy session, which he underwent Thursday, the patient and his wife later shared popcorn and diet soft drinks while watching television, Irvine added. He said the 52-year-old federal retiree from Jasper, Ind., remained in satisfactory condition.

On Friday, Schroeder stepped up his exercise regimen to include two 15-minute sessions on his stationary bicycle while doctors monitored his self-adjusting mechanical heart.

Schroeder’s plastic and metal heart is set at 80 beats per minute, but the drive unit for the air-powered device has a microprocessor that can sense increased physical activity and adjust the heart rate, doctors said.

“The heart does increase its rate to adapt to increased activity just as a natural heart would,” said Linda Broadus, a hospital staff member. “Everything is fine, and the doctors feel he is where he should be.”

But there was no indication when Schroeder might be discharged and permitted to move across the street into an apartment that Humana is providing for the family.