Sport with LVAD

Hey I applaud you for your decision to participate in the 5K, in May of tissue year my wife came home after work to get her running shoes because she had forgotten that she signed up for it months before and it was going down that evening. She asked if I wanted to go and I've never done it so I jumped at the idea, and so glad I did. It was a night run cause it wasn't quite as hot and everyone wore glow sticks, bracelets, and necklaces so it was pretty exciting. I'm 35 y/o, 6'3 about 250lb, always been strong, healthy, and active, but never a distance runner. But I needed it to prove to myself that I wasn't broken, and as fragile as Dr's have lead me to believe. As you stated, I too just wanted to finish it for ME.... I have had and still have alot of issues with the skin and tissue on and around my driveline area, so running it all wasn't possible with the pain of bouncing each step, so I went with sprints of fast jogging holding my bandage tightly against me until it became unbearable, then I'd drop back to a fast power walk, which with my long strides and fast pace allowed me to keep passing others by, which again wasn't my goal but OMG IT FELT GOOD! I forced my way to finish and was on cloud 9, then come to find out that for males in my age group, I came in 2nd! I got my picture posted and a 2nd place medal. Now there were only about 78 participants and I don't know or care how it was broken down, I HAVE A 2ND place Medal for a 5k, with an LVAD..... BOOM! Sorry I got pumped thinking about it, but my advice is GO FOR IT!

Congratulations on running in your first competitive 5000 m run with your LVAD! I am never going to run a race like that, but I am able to do most things I want to do. I am able to exercise 60-70 minutes at least three times a week and have increased my strength and endurance and continue to amaze my doctors as they didn't think I would survive the operation and then four and a half months in the hospital. It is simply by God's grace that I am here. When I left the hospital I could not stand up on my own, could not walk by myself, even with a walker, and now I am able to both of these normal functions and drive my car and exercise. There is a professional body builder that has continued to workout as he waits for a new heart and he has videos on you tube. You can google Andrew Jones bodybuilder and view his story. Dan