I am who I am TODAY because of a lot people and their passion. Let's start here...

This Wednesday at 5am, My Wife, Rosie and I are flying off to California.

We are attending Thoratec's HeartMate2 Patient Ambassador Summit 2010. We are honored and looking forward to sharing what we will learn once we come back.

Posted in the photo is part of LVAD NATION from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan... I am who I am now because of them and would like to thank the ENTIRE staff there.

Not pictured are Margaret, Donna and the many doctors & nurses that saw me through surgery and recovery. L to R Rosie, Jennifer, Anne Marie, me and Khristine... pictures of Margaret and Donna soon to follow.

And The Good Saga Continues...

Thoratec Quoted Me On Their Website ;-)

Nice, Thoratec quoted me on their Website and also posted a photo of me. Thank You.

http://www.thoratec.com/vad-trials-outcomes/patient-stories/details.aspx?sid=5

And the VERY good saga coninues...

Tomorrow Is Not Promised To Anyone... But...

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. I can attest to that and feel more blessed that the LVAD has given me the quality of life (naturally with some restrictions) I had prior to my heart attack.

The remnants of my silent heart attack left me struggling to walk a maximum of 5 feet, let alone run. My left ventricle ceased to function at an adequate rate to sustain life as I knew it... i could not even hold my 10 month old grandson!

Running, swimming and contact sports are some of the restrictions while with the LVAD, however I am free to enjoy lifting my grandchildren... and trying to keep up with them.

I look back and think that without the LVAD, the best case scenario would find myself confined to my sofa, maybe a hospital bed in my own home... or even admitted to the hospital full time... for up to a year or more awaiting a heart transplant.

The LVAD is a gift that i can never repay to all those committed... to Thoratec, who brought my Heartmate2 LVAD to reality, the team who implanted and grafted the LVAD to my heart. And last but not least, the LVAD Nation located on the 7th floor at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. THANK YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN!


What the heart attack took away the LVAD GAVE BACK TO ME. This is priceless.

For the past 7 months, after my LVAD implant, the LVAD has continued to make "me" feel like "me" again!

And the good saga continues...

email me @: LVADone@gmail.com

Dr Naka Succeeded Dr Oz

When Dr Oz headed for TV land,
Dr Naka took over the reigns.
Dr Naka is the surgeon who
performed my LVAD implant at
New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

Is Dr Naka the next TV doctor?



Yoshifumi Naka, MD, PhD

Positions and Appointments
2001-present Associate Professor of Surgery
Columbia University College of
Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY
2003-present Director, Cardiac Transplantation Program
Columbia University Medical Center,
New York, NY
2001-present Director, Mechanical Circulatory Support Program
Columbia University Medical Center,
New York, NY
1999-present Attending Surgeon
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
Clinical SpecialtiesGeneral adult cardiac surgery
Adult cardiac surgery for coronary artery disease
Valvular heart disease
Heart/lung transplantation
Mechanical circulatory support device implantation
Research InterestsCardiac and pulmonary transplantation
Organ preservation
Surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation
Mechanical circulatory support devices
Vein graft disease after bypass surgery

Education and Training
1996-1998 Visiting Clinical Fellowship, Cardiothoracic Surgery
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
1993-1996 Research Fellowship,
Cardiac and Pulmonary Transplantation
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
1993 Fellowship, Cardiovascular Surgery
Osaka Police Hospital, Japan
1991 Residency
Osaka Police Hospital, Japan
1989 Research and Clinical Fellowship
Osaka University Medical School, Japan
1988 PhD
Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan
1984 MD
Osaka University Medical School, Japan

Professional Experience1998-1999 Junior Attending Surgeon
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
Professional HonorsCournand and Comroe Young Investigator Award, American Heart Association, 1995

Young Investigators Award, Japanese Association of Thoracic Surgery, 1988
Professional Societies and CommitteesMEMBERSHIPS
American Association for Thoracic Surgery
American Heart Association,
Councils of Circulation and Cardiothoracic Surgery
American Society for Artificial Internal Organs
American Society of Transplant Surgeons
International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery
Japanese Circulation Society
Japan Surgical Society
New York Society of Thoracic Surgery
Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Society of University Surgeons

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Co-Chair, Satellite Symposium 3 “Current trends in mechanical assistance: Role of destination therapy” at the annual meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, San Francisco, USA, 2004

Co-Chair, "Featured Research Session" at the annual meeting of the Japanese Circulation Society, Sapporo, Japan, 2002

Co-Chair, "More VADs go bad," at the annual meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, Vancouver, 2001

Chair, "A issue in device immunology", at the annual meeting of the World Artificial-Organ, Immunology, and Transplantation, Ottawa, 2001

Chair, "Device patient interaction" at the International Heart and Lung Transplantation 3rd Fall Education Meeting, Mechanical Circulatory Support and Replacement II, Anaheim, 2001

Guest Editor, Ann Thoracic Surg 71 (suppl); Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Circulatory Support Devices For Severe Cardiac Failure. New York, NY, 9/15-17/00

For more information on Dr Naka please visit:
http://asp.cumc.columbia.edu/facdb/profile_list.asp?uni=yn33&DepAffil=Surgery

And the good saga continues...

The Silent Heart Attack The Silent Killer "You may never know until its too late"

Learn more from http://www.americanheart.org/ on
the Silent Heart Attack


The Silent Heart Attack The Silent Killer

Time can be a heart attack victim's friend or enemy. Speedy diagnosis and treatment are crucial as each second that passes, the heart tissue starts to die. The Silent Heart Attack is the worst type of heart attack. Twice as many deaths occur with the silent heart attack than heart attacks with chest and arm pains.

The silent heart attack fools the patient with a sour stomach and needing to vomit often. The thought of a stomach virus or food poisoning masks the reason to think it was a heart attack; however, diarrhoea is usually absent. Permanent damage will occur to the heart the longer it goes untreated.




Do not hesitate to call your doctor or to go to the emergency room if you develop an abnormally SUDDEN stomach problem. Better to be safe than sorry.

BELIEVE ME as I had a silent heart attack...




And the good saga continues...

LVAD Man? IRON MAN? PEOPLE ASK WHY...

Iron Man?
LVAD Man!
Many people ask why!

For reasons that are not obvious and reasons that are... such as his artificial heart, demeanor and driven strength... Iron Man became a symbol for me and my family.

The Iron Man character is fierce but appropriate. I never saw the movie before ...UNTIL I was in the hospital bed, with the LVAD situation fresh in my mind and the HOSPITAL providing all CCU patients & LVAD recipients with FREE Premium TV and Movies.

The Movie playing at the time was Iron Man... very fierce looking at first, the character in the movie was an ironic comparison and adrenaline raiser for me. The PHOTO below is the 1st Iron Man (Wont tell you too much, not to ruin the movie lol) as the result of being built purely in a dark dingy cave in the middle of nowhere.

I photoshop-ed an American Flag on Iron Man's right arm and the caption.

PHOTO BELOW IS THE KNOWN VERSION OF IRON MAN, tactfully and SURGICALLY CREATED IN THE PROPER ENVIRONS OF A LAB:

And as for me, the hospital was NOT MY dingy cave, MY dingy CAVE was being "under" the weird edgy soreness and stupor of the MEDS and open-heart surgery. MY cave "escape" was post-op when I was allowed to go HOME and conquer my normal and newest tasks once again. Thank you Columbia-Presbyterian Surgery Team, LVAD Nation and Dr Bijou!!!

***IRON MAN 2 PREMIERS MAY 2010***

HERE IS TRAILER FROM 1ST IRON MAN 2009:



and the good saga continues...

HeartMate® II 75 page PDF DOWNLOAD:

LVAD/Thoratec info/Revision O December 14, 2006:

HeartMate® II LVAS:

Patient Management Guidelines

75 page PDF DOWNLOAD here:

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/DOCKETS/ac/07/briefing/2007-4333b2-20-%209_4%20HM%20II%20Patient%20Management%20Guidelines.pdf

And the good saga continues...