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 [...]
Archive for the ‘My New Normal’ Category
10,000 Heartmate II LVADS Have Now Been Implanted
Posted: April 20, 2012 in Daily Life, Health, Heart, LVAD tips & resources, My New NormalTags: #LVAD, @MrChristopherL, cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, heart, heart health, heart pump, lvad community, Thoratec Corporation, University of Minnesota
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The Waiting Game (Life on the Transplant Waiting List)
Posted: April 17, 2012 in Daily Life, Health, Heart, My New NormalTags: #LVAD, 1b status, @MrChristopherL, cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, donor heart, heart, heart health, heart transplant, status 1a, www.unos.org
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
Posted: March 6, 2012 in Daily Life, Health, Heart, My New NormalTags: #LVAD, cardiomyopathy, Christopher Gabriel, congestive heart failure, Dick Cheney, heart, heart health, heart pump, heart transplant, ICD, Thoratec Corporation, University of Minnesota, WDAY, WDAY AM
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!
Posted: February 21, 2012 in Daily Life, Health, Heart, LVAD tips & resources, My New NormalTags: #LVAD, @MrChristopherL, avoiding purine rich foods, cardiomyopathy, cochisine, congestive heart failure, diet, diuretics, foot pain, gout, gout and diuretics, gout treatments, heart, heart health, heart transplant, joint pain, nutrition, purine rich foods, purines, sudden onset gout
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 [...]
Happy Birthday Mom! I miss you!
Posted: February 13, 2012 in Faith, Health, My New NormalTags: family, heart health, mom
Today was Mom’s birthday. It is the first one that has passed since she did last year. I wanted to do something in my own way to honor her on this day. So I thought I would post the transcript of the eulogy that I gave at her memorial celebration. This is for Mom. On [...]
100 Days and counting….
Posted: January 16, 2012 in Daily Life, Health, Heart, My New NormalTags: #LVAD, cardiomyopathy, heart health, heart transplant, lvad community, milestones
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
Posted: January 11, 2012 in Daily Life, Heart, LVAD tips & resources, My New NormalTags: #LVAD, cardiomyopathy, heart health, heart pump, heart transplant, lvad leash, LVAD power 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, [...]
