Welcome to some of the newest LVAD recipients....and their stories!!

My name is Megan L. and I am 25 yrs old. I am the oldest of 11 children and none in my family has a history of any type of heart disease. So when I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in Aug 2008 it was a real shock to me and my family. They stated that my heart was oversized due the a viral infection that attacked my heart and overworked due to me being over weight. My weight when I was diagnosed was 312lbs. Now I'm half that size. When i was released from the hospital in June 2012 I weighed 201lbs. I was so proud of myself. But to give you guys a view of how fast the diseases in June 2009 I had a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted. Life got easier for a while until my heart failure came back at full attack mode in Nov 2011. After that things seemed to be getting better but I was wrong. I spent my 25 birthday (Dec 22) and Christmas in the ICU at UT Southwestern at Dallas, Tx. On March 1 2012 I had my heart first attack shortly after I had my LVAD implanted (march 30 2012). I believe that I'm the youngest person in my town(Shreveport, La) with a LVAD; although not the youngest person to have an LVAD. I met a girl who was 17 at the time of her implantation. At first it took a while before I would get adjusted to the LVAD and to be honest I'm still getting used to it. I have to remember that I'm not normal and I cant do normal things. Not normal meaning that i cant take baths anymore. Do my own laundry the list goes on. Things people normally take for granted I'm unable to to do on my own. Having a LVAD not only changed my life but the peoples lives around me.