A Blaine resident diagnosed with heart failure at age 28 plans to return to the Porcupine Mountains in 2026 for a snowmobiling trip he takes each year with friends.
For that resident, Spencer Peka, the trip almost never would have happened.
Peka said that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began having increasing difficulty catching his breath. While at his family cabin north of Askov over Memorial Day weekend that year, he noticed trouble breathing, though not enough to raise concerns.
When he returned to the cabin for the Fourth of July weekend, however, his symptoms worsened.
“I couldn’t lay down without coughing a lot,” Peka said. “I was coughing nonstop, couldn’t keep my breath, thought it was Covid.”
While quarantined at the cabin, Peka followed his mother’s advice to seek medical care. He went to an emergency room in Faribault.
“And, my lungs looked good,” Peka said. “They were stumped. They said that everything looks ok for the most part, here’s an inhaler and some cough syrup.”
After several weeks without improvement, Peka sought care again. By July 14, 2020, he canceled work because his cough had worsened.
Although his lungs appeared healthy on examination, a nurse at the Faribault clinic found his heart rate at 200 beats per minute. A COVID-19 antibody test was negative.
Peka then checked into a more advanced hospital in Minneapolis, where staff expressed concern about his elevated heart rate even during normal walking. They informed him he was in heart failure — news Peka said upended his world.
“I was supposed to go on an ATV trip with my friends and brothers, but that didn’t happen,” Peka said.
On July 20, doctors ran additional tests and gave him two options: a heart transplant or an LVAD — the Abbott HeartMate 3. On July 21, Peka’s birthday, the surgeon visited him for the first time.
Peka said the surgeon explained that the LVAD could extend his life 10 to 15 years, with a transplant possibly adding another 15 to 20 years. Because he was still in his 20s, the surgeon wanted him to live into his 60s or 70s rather than face the risk of dying in his 40s or 50s.
On July 24, the decision was made to move forward with the LVAD procedure, and the surgery was scheduled for July 28. Peka said he was discharged by Aug. 8 with the device successfully implanted.
Peka said the medical team indicated he otherwise would have had roughly two weeks to live without intervention, with cardiac arrest occurring at some point.
Despite the severity of his condition, Peka said he stayed calm throughout those months and described the experience as a crash course on heart failure.
“I just remained calm the entire time,” Peka said. “I’ve worked in finance my whole career, finance of some sort. I don’t do healthcare. They’re telling me all this bad stuff is happening, and I’m not gonna fight them like some people can.”
He added that even now, when recounting the experience, he still feels calm.
Because of state restrictions during the peak of COVID-19, Peka was allowed only one hospital visitor per day, forcing his family to rotate.
Peka said he has gone on snowmobiling trips with his family through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula since he was a teenager, usually once or twice a year.
“It’s a hobby that I’ve been doing since I was a kid,” Peka said. “That I am still healthy and mobile enough, the LVAD has changed my life for the better 100%. It allows me to still do all my hobbies, snowmobiling is at the top of that list.”
He said the trips serve as his vacations. He also credited the LVAD with allowing him to get married in Ely, something he cherishes.
Peka described the Porcupine Mountains as scenic, with trees, rivers and a summit popular with ATVs and snowmobiles that overlooks a large valley with a lake and river.
After leaving the hospital in August 2020, Peka said that by January 2021 he was hiking to the top of the summit again.
“I’m proud of myself for keeping my health and going forward after having open heart surgery,” Peka said. “Snowmobiling is a testament to my strength to keep living life as best I can.”