What A Wonderful Trip It Continues To Be by Steve Dunlap

FROM TIME TO TIME, MY BLOG WILL HAVE GUEST WRITERS WITH THEIR TESTIMONIALS. BELOW IS THE VERY FIRST IN THE SERIES...

A STORY OF AN LVAD JOURNEY WRITTEN BY STEVEN DUNLAP FROM TEXAS.

What a wonderful trip it continues to be. Throughout all of the trials and tribulations connected with heart disease, it continually amazes me the directions life takes you. The fear that one has whenever they begin a journey is real. When I began my journey with chronic heart disease, there was a fear that I would not be hanging around much longer. My cardiologist had told me that he couldn’t do anything else for me.

I was expecting to live the next few months and then go on. He referred me to the transplant team at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. Before I could get there however, I ended up in the hospital and had to have a pic line and a bag of medicine hanging from my body 24 hours a day. Those of us with LVADs know what it is like to have a bag on you, but the plastic tubes of medicine going into your arm is something else. The worry and fear that the tubes might clog up, having to wait for the home health nurse to get there to change your bandage, wondering if your clothes will rip the tubs out, the list goes on.

When I was approved for the LVAD implant, the work began. I am not a small guy. Whenever I had first gotten sick, I weighed over 300 pounds. Through hospital stays and comas, I had dropped to 240 by the time the implant time had come. My fears had taken on all new meanings. Had I done enough to survive? Is my family prepared for what is to come? Am I really ready to die? I am a church going person. I believe that there is only one God. I believe he sent his son to save my eternal life. But even knowing this, I still had my doubts.

The night before one of the invasive tests, I was really doubting my inability to survive all the mess that I was getting ready to start. I was laying in the comfort of my hospital bed contemplating all my doubts. I said a small prayer, “Show me you are with me.” One of the nurses then came in to give me my “earlier than anyone should” vitals. Whenever she had finished, she began to leave the room. She asked me if I wanted the door open or closed, and I told her it did not matter. She left the room but did not shut the door all the way.

As I turned myself over, it was then that I noticed the reflection on my room’s window. There where darkness had been only a few minutes before, was a perfectly white cross. The way the light was coming from the door and the reflections fit, this white cross came into my room. A reverent “Thank you” came from my heart and peace came upon me. Ever since, there has been no fear. I trust in Him. He knows what I am supposed to do and He is guiding me in my journey. What a wonderful trip it continues to be.

Steven Dunlap Texas, USA

THANKS STEVE!
AND THE GOOD SAGA CONTINUES...

“What can we do to make THORATEC better?” My answer was “ Build ALOT more LVADs. Save more lives”

Every since the LVAD was implanted in me, I have adopted the phrase “And the good saga continues…”. So all along my “good saga”, THORATEC has proven time and again that it is an organization that is sincerely committed to their visionary mission of saving lives. They are manufacturing a product whose “end users” are in different stages of heart failure, in which mine is End-Stage Heart Failure.

In more ways than THORATEC may ever know, their product, the HeartMate II is a gift… a gift of life, and life is the most precious commodity anyone can have.

THORATEC has proven to me that they are always looking to improve an already well-run organization. They go to extreme and tedious lengths to reinforce quality control at all levels in creating the components of the HeartMate II.

The participants of the Summit were treated to a tour of THORATEC’s manufacturing plant where I found employee morale to be comprised of pride and accountability. The participants of the summit were also engaged in a round of discussions to assist THORATEC in their future decisions and directions.




And I can say from the bottom of my LVAD that each summit participant took pride in answering any questions THORATEC posed as we all knew that sharing our experiences, giving our opinions and ideas will better the quality of life of future LVAD patients and their families.

One of the easiest questions asked of me was “What can we do to make THORATEC better?” My answer was “ Build ALOT more LVADs. Save more lives” ;-)

Being a participant at THORATEC's HeartMate II Ambassador Summit has been a phenomenal experience I will never forget.

Thank you THORATEC… from the bottom of my LVAD… each and every employee.