Join Us on Twitter for LVAD Tweetchat

For the LVAD (Left Ventricle Assist Device) community, so many of us are spread all over, and in some areas there are only one or two people living with a LVAD, that unless we connect online, we are very isolated on information, support, and a simple community of people who are going through similar life [...]

100 Days and counting….

Yesterday marked 100 days of life with a LVAD.  Boy has time flown.  It seems like I just came home from the hospital weeks ago, but I am thrilled with the progress so far and this milestone.  So what has having a LVAD meant to me for the last 100 days? Well here is a [...]

The LVAD Leash – Life at the end of a 30 foot cord

Part of my new normal of being powered by electricity involves battery packs during the day to be portable, but each night, I eventually switch over to wall power which involves a 30 foot cord.  This cord allows me some freedom at night (about 30 feet of it). The wall unit is in our bedroom, [...]

I don’t always have the answer, nor do I need to.

If you know me personally, you know how hard that declaration is for me. I almost always have the answer (or at least I claim to).  Ever since the first grade I was quick to raise my hand and deliver an answer, even if it was the wrong one.  I would get all red in [...]

How do you Explain your LVAD to Younger Children?

Back in September of 2011 when I first found out that I was going to need a LVAD implanted to keep my heart going until a donor heart was found, my wife and I barely understood what exactly this device would entail, much less how we were going to explain it to our children (9-year-old [...]

LVAD Tips & Resources – Holster Shirts

  One of the first questions/challenges facing LVAD implant recipients, is how to comfortably carry around the battery packs and controller unit during the day, to allow as much mobility as possible. I have been told of several solutions, from Photographer/Hunter/Fishing vests with more than enough pockets to store all of the equipment and wallets, [...]

Supergirl & The WonderTwins 2012 Christmas Photos

I promised some updated photos, so here they are:  

I Knew I was Being Transformed….I Just Didn’t Think it would be Into a Cyborg!

OK, so let’s get this out of the way; it’s no big secret that I am a Christian. No, you don’t have to be one also to read this blog. I will try to not be one of those that like to “vomit” their Faith on someone. I won’t try to convert you or brainwash [...]

My New Normal – Life with an Implanted HeartMate II LVAD by the Thoratec Corporation

On October 7th of 2011, I joined a quickly growing segment of incredible people that are living with an LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device). It is a tight knit and extremely supportive community that has quickly made friends and family of complete strangers. Mine is the HeartMate II built by the Thoratec Corporation (www.thoratec.com). Here [...]