Sleeping with your controller ( and I am not refering to your spouse)

I have rigged up a carrying belt consisting of a standard fanny pack (changing the zipper to velcro closure) , to carry my controller. For the batteries , I got two hard case camera cases with belt loops. These fit easily onto the fanny pack belt . for sleeping , I simply remove the belt from my waist , and lay it down beside me. The only downside is your movement is restricted by the length of your driveline. ; however , no tangled cords in the morning.

Hi Blake. Thank you for the information, I shall give it a go.

You are not alone in discovering this. I've only had my LVAD since May of this year and I'm still waking up with the power leads around the controller. I've found that pulling extra line in under the cover so that the connection is pointed toward my knees, it helps a little. I also loosen my controller enough to turn it to my side because I tend to sleep on my side.

I have had my LVAD for 15 months and I too seem to get the cord wrapped around quite a bit. Went on vacation two weeks ago to Florida and one nite in a motel my alarm went off and would not stop so got back into my vest for the rest of the night. Found a lvad place in Macon, Ga, (thank goodness for the map of lvad places in each state I found on this site) and come to find out I had somehow crimpted the cord and it broke, so please be careful. My vad even stopped for a short time, but started back up when I got into my vest. I guess I'm not a restful sleeper and I roll around too much. I try to keep my controller close to my waist and that seems to help.

pdgolden is a very lucky person. The one thing that frightens the life out of me is hearing the controller alarm going off (and I am still not refering to my spouse). My transplant surgeon informed me "If your LVAD stops, you will feel unwell, very quickly". Not exactly what I wanted to hear. But hey, were still here.

I have a heartmate 2. At night I put my controller in the fanny pack, and put the cords so the white and black are coming out of 1 end and my driveline from the other. I lay the controller in bed with me with the driveline end pointed towards my head and the cords going out the bottom of the bed. My wife and I sleep together with the controller in the middle so it can't slip out of bed.

21 months since my "Heartmate II" was fitted, 17 months on the transplant list and I have been back at work for 17 months (13 months full time). Getting bored now. Can't drive (the UK government suspend your driving licence when you are fitted with an LVAD). Getting fed up with the nose bleeds (bloody Warfarin). The danger now is that I become complacent and forget that I am carrying this device around and risk damaging the leads.

I had my device implanted in June 2013. I sleep on my right side and have found that if I loop the connections next to my body and run the main cord up and under my pillow the cords do not get tangled. I can also roll onto my back and not have to change the layout. If I roll back onto my side the cords are set up with no interference.

Hi fortunate cookie, I made a pouch (sleeping bag)to put the controler in along with the wires up to the Y shaped connector. All the cords come out one end and it's only about 12" from my body. I can sleep on either side and it lays next to me. It is too close to fall off the bed too. I do sell this product along with some others on a site www.lvadgear.com. Its called the sleeping bag. Feel free to look at the pictures and make your own. It has worked wonderful for me. You can also email me at lvadgear@live.com.