SAME LVAD RODEO, DIFFERENT SPIN

Photo below is dedicated to the Bionic Bride!!!

Holding the HeartMate II LVAD replica.

The LVAD... the inside look ;-)

This Nurse/Doctor is actually a USB memory stick sent to me :-)
And the good saga continues...

A-ROD Crushes 600th! LVAD Crushes 1st!

Yesterday A-ROD hits his 600th home run.

Me and my LVAD crushing the ball! Hehehehehe!

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

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 AWARENESS for Paramedics/EMT/EMS Ambulance Companies. 911 PROTOCOL?

Currently i am visiting online emergency services forums. Most are unaware of how to treat an LVAD patient. They do not know that LVAD recipients do not have a pulse or a "readable" blood pressure. However, they are all eager to learn.

The Heartmate ll made by THORATEC is the first CONTINUOUS FLOW DEVICE. It has only one moving part making it more reliable. Since it is a continuous flow design, the blood is in constant flow as opposed to the native heart beating that creates the pulse. The Heartmate ll is approved by the FDA for use in the USA for Bridge To Transplant (BTT) and Destination Therapy (DT) patients.

THE SCENARIO:

A 911 call is made from a cell phone at a mall. A male patient collapses and seems too sluggish to move. An ambulance is immediately dispatched to the location. The paramedics arrive and find the patient sitting on the floor with his wife by his side. The male patient is conscious and answers the questions the paramedics ask.

He states he became dizzy and passed out. The patient continues to say that he has a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implanted and grafted to his heart. The LVAD helps pump oxygen-enriched blood that his damaged heart can not do. The male patient also claims that due to the design of the LVAD, basic equipment WILL NOT detect his Blood Pressure nor Pulse.

Only special Doppler equipment will detect his vitals.

It appears that the patient has lost color and is sweating. What next? There is a titanium heart/blood pump implanted to his heart. If needed, are chest compressions dangerous for this patient? The answer is YES! It can cause the LVAD to dislodge from the heart and the patient can internally bleed.

I am a 47 yo male with an LVAD implant. I DON'T HAVE the conventionally found Blood Pressure and I do not have a Pulse, However I am alive and well and I am trying to raise awareness of 911/EMT/LVAD PROTOCOL and to obtain more info from the experts on how to spread this crucial topic. It is predicted that the LVAD will be as common as dialysis.

So it is imperative that our 1st responders should be "user-friendly" with LVAD recipients especially when most LVAD recipients are leading mobile and normal lives.

Thank you

and the good saga continues...

My HEARTMATE ll: The Creed of an LVAD Recipient

--------------------------------------------------------

Dedicated to the entire SURGICAL & LVAD TEAM and nurses at NYP.

Especially for Margaret, Rosie, Jennifer, Khristine, Donna,

Dr Bijou, Dr Naka & Dr Takayama

--------------------------------------------------------

My Rifle: The Creed of a US Marine
by Major General William H. Rupertus USMC, Ret.
(written following the attack on Pearl Harbor)

has been adapted for the respect of a

HEARTMATE ll LVAD and the Recipient.

My HEARTMATE ll: The Creed of an LVAD Recipient

This is my HEARTMATE ll. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

My HEARTMATE ll is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

My HEARTMATE ll, without me, is useless. Without my HEARTMATE ll , I am useless. I must use my HEARTMATE ll honest & true. I must remain more diligent in diet and form than my enemies that attack my health and heart. I must act before it acts upon me. I will...

My HEARTMATE ll and myself know that what counts in this war is not only the blood that pumps and flows, the progress or setbacks, We know it is also for the general good of future generations that count. We will...

My HEARTMATE ll is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its purpose and its flow. I will ever guard it against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my HEARTMATE ll clean from bacteria and have the spare equal and ready. We will become part of each other. We will...

Before God, I swear this creed. My HEARTMATE ll and myself are the defenders of my well-being. We are the masters of our enemies. We are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is achieved and there is no enemy, but peace and a healthier life!

and the good saga continues...

LVAD VIDEOS & VIDEO OF MY SURGEON

MY SURGEON DR. NAKA

(APPEARS @ 32 SECONDS OF VIDEO)

GENERAL LVAD INFO

THORATEC HEARTMATE II LVAD

And the good saga continues...

START HERE: DONT KNOW WHAT AN LVAD IS? IT WAS AN ALL OUT AMBUSH!

It all started when i thought life was set and my perimeters secured.

2 Grandsons in the last 3 years...

Jaydon & Jordon.

We just completed 4 round trip cross-country drives NYC to Cali and back from October 2008-October 2009

My wife and best friend made my good life possible!

I was sitting pretty, no one could knock me off the Helm.

Then "It" came, from all directions!

T H E H E A R T A T T A C K !

NO CHEST PAIN! NO PAIN OR NUMBNESS IN THE LEFT ARM, MY HEART ATTACK WAS DISGUISED AS "FOOD POISONING".

All i had was a sour and very eruptive stomach.

For one week i sat home with my wife nursing my stomach. FINALLY I had a few doctors see me. They told me i had a MASSSIVE heart attack! They told me i needed a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) implanted and grafted to my heart ASAP... They told me i was lucky to still be alive :)

THANK YOU GOD, I AM BLESSED with the LVAD in place...

I was discharged 11 days after the LVAD was implanted and grafted (I am told one of the fastest discharges in LVAD's 14 year history at the hospital). With a longer lease on life, things began to change; including my wardrobe that showcased undercover holster-shirts!

These special shirts make my days easier as i need to carry 2 lithium batteries (and instead of guns, the batteries are tucked into the holsters) to power my heart pump... the LVAD.

The LVAD team (Margaret, Rosie, Jennifer, Khristine and Donna) and the rest of LVAD NATION at the hospital trained me and my family to live with and safely maintain the LVAD. They are angels here on earth.

I still have no complaints as i work on myself in preparation for a Heart Transplant :)

The good saga continues...