10,000 Heartmate II LVADS Have Now Been Implanted

This is incredibly cool! Thoratec Corporation, which makes the Heartmate II device that I currently have implanted announced that they have now hit the 10,000 milestone of lives forever changed through the implantation of these devices.  Many of my online fellow LVAD-ers are featured in this video (Shout out to @LVADone & @VEGASLVAD !!). It is definitely [...]

The Waiting Game (Life on the Transplant Waiting List)

Back in October of 2011, when I was in the hospital, I qualified to get on the waiting list to be blessed with the gift of a donor heart when one became available.  There are so many contributing factors that can cause you to not be a candidate for a spot on the list.  They [...]

My Interview on the Christopher Gabriel Show on WDAY Radio in Fargo, ND

Christopher Gabriel, his wife and family have been great friends of ours over the years, His talent for Acting and Storytelling are brought to bear perfectly in the ”Theater of the Mind” known as broadcast radio.  I was honored to be asked about and to share my current phase of life with Heart Issues and a Left [...]

OY! What a Pain in my Foot!

  Gout is one of the oldest diseases in the medical literature; it has been around since the first recorded case in the time of the ancient Greeks. I always thought that it was one of those “old people” diseases often depicted in comedic sketches or on Saturday Night Live. I clearly didn’t know that [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]