About Me

In March 2009 I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy - Heart Failure. Within two months, it progressed to end-stage. In August 2009 I had a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) implanted to help my heart pump blood. Then in December I was placed on the heart transplant list. On January 11, 2010 a heart became available for me and I was taken to the operating room. While on the table, the surgeons found that my own heart had began to heal. I didn't get that transplant and subsequently had my LVAD removed in September 2010. Today, I have a new appreciation for life and am learning to take each day one step at a time.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Start Fresh Each Day

This January marked 6 years since I laid on the operating room table to receive a heart transplant but to our surprise, I didn't need it.  I remember the day like it was yesterday. I remember the feeling of complete joy that I didn't have to have my heart replaced. The feeling of love to be surrounded by my closest family and friends who had taken the heart failure journey with me. The feeling of pain from being on the ventilator.

A few months later, they brought me in for more testing and told me that my heart was not as strong as they thought it was and that I would need to keep the LVAD longer.  Then finally in the fall of 2010, I was the first person to be able to get my heart pump removed to my recovered heart.

Although it's been 6 years, there is not a day that goes by that I am not grateful for the days I have now with my family and friends. And in the last 6 years, we have adopted our son and are fostering another. Each night as I rock the baby to sleep, I give thanks to God for the blessing of the day and for allowing me to serve Him by serving our boys. But when morning comes (always too early) and I have to drag my exhausted body out of bed (my heart is still only functioning at half of a normal one) it takes me a few minutes to remind myself that even though life can be hard, it is a true blessing. Not all of us will go to the brink of a heart transplant, but many of us have gotten to that point in life where it seems so much to handle. It is in those times that I find it so important for me to remember all of the blessings and amazing things God has done for me and remember that it is a new day. And I want to live each day as if it were my last and in a way that will make God proud. I have failed many times, but it is in the trying that I know it is important to remember that each day starts fresh.

Can any of you relate with wanting to start over each day and do a little better than the day before? I am so blessed that I have a new day to love, laugh and live.


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2 comments:

  1. Ms. AJanuary 20, 2016 at 3:23 AM

    How very fortunate you are to have been able to have your LVAD removed and avoid transplant. My son recovered some function and was able to have his removed, since it was the second one he had clotted. (He also clotted numerous external pumps) He only made it 5 months without the LVAD, before ending up in the hospital with a couple more external pumps and waiting for a transplant, which happened 2 months later.

    Nice to see something from you!

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  2. UnknownJune 10, 2016 at 12:39 AM

    Please continue to post updates. I find comfort in knowing you are still alive. I have been explant for 10yrs 3/5/2006. You are one of only two people I know exist that continue to live without transplant. My heart is "fully" recovered, my body not so good. Thanks for being public about your health. I don't monitor my Gmail. You can find me at Facebook LVAD Conversations.

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