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Debbie S. Family Member

I am a caregiver/Mother of a LVAD recipient

My son is 21 y.o. and was implanted with an LVAD on Jan 14th, 2013. He had to have 2 teeth surgically removed to prevent infection while being considered for his transplant and with his LVAD. He came home from the hospital on Feb 3rd. Since this time he's had bleeding from both extractions and I mean heavy bleeding that landed us in our local ER. Thank God for Surgicel! We've got that under control but my son is dealing with so much depression. I try to encourage him to take this new life one day at a time. It's very stressful for him and I. I am his caregiver, I have to keep up with the housecleaning, laundry...etc. I also am taking care of my 29 y.o. son that was brutally stabbed 9 times back on Dec. 18th, 2012. He has only been out of the hospital 4 days before my younger son with the LVAD. I dress his wounds daily. My son desperately needs to talk to people in the same situation as him, whether it be on this site, facebook or even by phone. Anyone that has been through this surgery and are having a positive experience I would appreciate it if you could help him out. His name is Trevor Samples. He's on facebook and I sent him a link to join this site. I've been off work for a week in Dec. when my older son was in this trauma and now this time I've been off work since Jan 2nd and will not go back to work until Feb 24th. I pray by this time my son with the LVAD will be more independant and confident of self care. If he's still having problems, I'll not go back to work until he's able to handle this a little better. My husband and I are not rich people, heck we live paycheck to paycheck. Actually, I make more money than him, but I cannot and will not leave my son without help. I'm a firm believer in God and Faith. God has helped me through these situations that we've experienced and I put my trust in him. People have been so generous with helping my oldest son get to his Dr's appts that are 2 and a half hours away from our home. I'll have to travel the same distance to take my younger son to his follow up visits and I have Faith that we'll get help with that too. This is such a hard situation that I'm in. I'd truly appreciate any help with contacting my son with some positive things about the LVAD experience that anyone has had. Thanks and God Bless!

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Virginia R.

Hi,

I just read your post and have to say I am totally moved by your situation. You are a strong brave woman and with the grace of God you are doing a wonderful job. My name is Gina and I had my LVAD implanted on 8/2/13 at NYU. It was very sudden as I had gone into cardiac arrest 5 times and almost died. My heart had completely failed. My only chance of survival was to have the surgery. I am 58 years old and have been a very independent person all my life. I also have a very positive and upbeat view on life and I refuse to let this beat me. At first I was not sure how to process this. It felt strange having this device and as my son was my caregiver I kinda gave him the reins and let him take over. After 2 months he had to return to his home so we talked to my LVAD team about me taking over my own care. They said there are many LVAD recipients who do this. Well that was he green light for me. I started doing my own dressing changes, bathing and dressing myself. I also now vacuum, dust do laundry which sometimes is a little hard but I don't give up. Luckily I am able to have my groceries delivered so I don't have to worry about that.

I recently was awarded Access-a-ride so I can get to my doctor's appointments and pretty much anywhere else I want to go. I do all this on my own. Apart from the slight discomfort of the vest and batteries I have become accustomed to this whole situation.

Even during the recent hurricane Sandy I lost my power for 5 days and as I'm sure you know we cannot survive without power as we need to charge the batteries. I called my local hospital who told me to come in and use their power. My neighbor drove me there every other day and I was given a room in their Cath Lab. I took my book and all the information with me so I could show them exactly what the LVAD was. As a result they contacted Thoratec to arrange for someone to teach them all about it. So far I believe I am the only person on Staten Island with and LVAD but that's OK as I think this makes me unique.

Please pass this message along to Trevor and let him know he can facebook me, I go by the name of Gina Richardson. I will be more than happy to help him and turn his frown upside down LOL.

Kindest Regards,

Gina