Learning About My LVAD

An LVAD stands for a left ventricular assist device. It is a device prescribed to patients who are in end-stage or advanced heart failure. It is a mechanical pump and device that is attached directly to the heart. From there, there is a cord that then comes out to the left or the right of the belly button. The cord is then attached to a battery-operated device. ¹

When I first heard that I was in advanced heart failure, it was like someone came and told me I was going to be dead in a matter of weeks. Advanced just made me think there is no hope and I would end up in hospice. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case for me.

I didn’t really comprehend the emotional toll having the LVAD would have on me. Before it was implanted in me, I was excited because, after 2 weeks of being in the hospital, the doctors finally found out what was wrong with me. I was in for a surprise to say the least. Prior to my being scheduled for surgery, one of the LVAD coordinators named Sharon came and gave my family and I a course on the Heartmate 3 - the device I would be getting.

I think that becoming acclimated to the LVAD was the hardest part. It is 10% physical and 90% mental. Every day was a mental battle.

Learning about my LVAD after my advanced heart failure diagnosis

Showering with an LVAD

With the LVAD, you can’t take showers and you can’t swim. If water touches the device, it will respond by shutting off. If the machine shuts off then there is nothing pumping your heart and you’re put in an unnecessary emergency. When it came time to bathe, you have to cover the driveline with Tegederm strips to keep water from getting inside. The rest of the LVAD goes inside a shower bag.

Charging batteries

The second thing I learned about my LVAD was in regards to charging the batteries. It was important to remember to make sure that all the batteries (including the extras) were charged. They give you a charging station which can fit 4 batteries. The life of the 2 batteries was 17 hours.

The doctors also gave me a charger that you are supposed to plug into every night before bed. This one plugs into the wall which has a power source. Every night before you go to bed you must plug into the wall charger. This is because if the battery runs out you most likely won’t hear it, whereas the charger in the wall is meant to wake you up. I remember once that our power went out at home, and the alarm was screaming, it was like a fire alarm. I jolted out of my sleep and because I kept a pair of charged batteries by my bed I was able to put 2 newly charged batteries in, in a matter of seconds.

Preventing infection

Another thing you have to get used to is dressing changes. The cord that I explained above that comes out to the left or the right of the belly button has a dressing on it. The dressing must be changed every other day or else you were vulnerable to infections. I never had any infections but I know of some people that had infections and its caused major problems for them.

Sleep

For my stomach sleepers, you can’t lay on your stomach with the LVAD. They say it disrupts the flow of blood and something happens with the machine. Many LVAD patients are on blood thinners because the doctors don’t want a blood clot to disrupt the pump from pumping. Some patients also have fluid restrictions with the LVAD. As for me, I was not drinking enough so I was always dehydrated at appointments.

Travel

When traveling you must travel to places where there are LVAD centers because if something goes wrong, you need a hospital that understands the device. Not all hospitals are equipped with the technology that the LVAD requires so it is very important that you do your research on these matters. Everything must go with you including the wall charger, charger port, all 8 of the batteries, your dressing kits, all medications that you’re on, along with anything else not listed. I didn’t travel with my LVAD because I only had it for a year and the farthest place we went was to New York which is only a 4-hour drive.

One more thing I forgot to mention is you won't be able to go through metal detectors. So when you go to a place with metal detectors you politely them know you can’t go in them and they’ll use the wand instead.

What questions do you have?

I hope this helps some of you if you are interested in the LVAD or if your doctors have talked to you about getting a device. I know I may have forgotten some things that I have learned about my LVAD, so if you have any further questions about the LVAD please comment below.