Just passing through: seven months since transplant

January 8 came and went as night follows day. It was a routine Wednesday for most. For me it was another benchmark for a relatively newly transplanted heart patient. 

I'm now seven months down range from my heart transplant and feeling better daily. For example, climbing stairs was slow and strenuous for many weeks.  Resting on a landing was routine.

Cardiac rehab is having a progressively good effect, it seems. Stairs are not as big a problem as they were just weeks ago. 

There are no guarantees in life as everyone knows. There are fewer donor hearts available each year and this is the year when more LVAD operations will be performed than heart transplants, roughly 2,300 LVADs versus about 2,200 donor hearts.

A friend of mine with an LVAD has been listed for a heart transplant at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.  He's been on the 1-A list for over 100 days.  1-A status is the highest priority for a candidate for a new heart. 

His job requires him to travel but his doctor nixed travel plans for next week, saying he needed to be close by because a heart is around the corner.

The friend's dad made the pair unique because he was just implanted with a HeartMate II.  The pump gives the recipient a second chance to live.  So until the son is transplanted, the pair are the only father and son LVAD owners. Here's a link to his blog http://waitingforanewheart.blogspot.com

The significance is clear to me:  LVADs can help young and old alike.  As few as 10 years ago, none of us--the father and son or me--would be here for long, once congestive heart failure reared its head.  The LVAD has made all the difference, allowing me and my friend to await a suitable donor and having a good quality of life during the wait.