Husband just had lvad fitted

I know it is terribly on both of you, but it will get better. The more positive images you can come up with the better. I am a very optimistic person and my wife is the ultimate pessimist, so I guess we balance each other. After my operation (Sept 10, 2013) I had an infection called C-diff three times which you can only get in the hospital. It took almost three months to recover. I am now out in the woods metal detecting and fishing --from the bank. So hang in there and the Docs will make sure you make it to that transplant day. Please keep us posted on your husband's progress.

I don't know if I'm the most supportive person on this site....my husband had LVAD and RVAD place June 2 and never left the hospital, he was too unstable--he remained in ventricular tachycardia with a rate of 285 until transplantation--initially, they tried to shock him out of it but finally gave up. The way it was explained to me: the heart is going to do what the heart is going to do; we are relying on the LVAD to keep him properly perfused. Ignore the heart rate. They finally turned the monitor off. The VADs didn't restore any quality of life to my husband, but they let him limp along--just barely--until he got the heart. He's doing fine now, transplanted August 15, long rehab and then home, readmitted for CMV, now on the mend for real. I am sorry you are going through this--I'd say "thoughts and prayers" but that's sort of lost its meaning. A GoFundMe that a family friend set up for us was the most help--financial strain on top of abject terror would have killed me. My husband's surgeon looked at him a couple of months after the surgery and said: "You have no idea what you have been through." Then he turned and locked eyes with me and said, "You know exactly what he has been through." For the bulk of the ordeal, my husband was so near death that he remembers very little--I am all PTSD'd over the whole thing, though. I was holding his hand as his internal defibrillator was firing, I saw the life drain out of him when he went into ventricular fibrillation, before the VADs were placed. I cleaned him over and over again when he had diarrhea from the gastrointestinal bleeding caused by the anticoagulants he needed for the VADs. It's a lot. It's a lot to go through. I'm a different person, in a different life.

I would say be patient. LVAD's are great but not perfect. They have limitations but things do get better. Just give the technology time to work, it's a big adjustment for his body as well as for both of you personally. There is some fine tuning that MD's can do to make you feel better. Sometimes the fast heart rate can be attributed to stress or anxiety over wondering if everything is going to be ok and work as planned. The stress can diminish over time as you both adjust to your "New Normal" as I like to call it. I hope that the fast heart rates have been resolbed by now and that you can enjoy a better quality of life that you have over the last year.

My husband had his LVAD implanted on August 10th, 2017 and never got out of the CVICU. He passed away on October 18th. Be thankful that your experience's as difficult as they are, were successful!

I have an LVAD. I had a Myocardial Infarction January 29th, 2015. I do not remember a lot of what happened to me. My wife had to fill me in on the events which transpired. She told me about the LVAD and I asked, "When am I having the surgery?" She said, "Honey, you've already had it!" I also have a pace maker/ defibrillator. It regulates my heart rate from AFIB. There have been many hurdles to climb but I have survived. I believe you and your husband will too. It is hard to put into words what I wish to say to you to help. Emotions play a large part in recovery. Be strong for you and your husband. My wife took very good care of me until I could gain my strength back. Last year I was able to attend a conference on LVADs by the manufacturer HeartWare. It was a true milestone in my comeback to be able to accomplish attending the event. Stay strong!