Community Forums

My father just got the heartmate 3 and was recently sent home. He is having some back pains from mostly laying in a hospital bed for the past 3 weeks so I wanted to take him to get a massage but we are afraid that they might mess with the driveline. So ultimately, my question is has anyone gotten a...

--Invitation to Participate-- We would like to better understand the experience of providing care to a family member or friend with an LVAD. If you are a caregiver of someone with a LVAD, we invite you to copy paste on the following link to see if you are eligible to participate in our study. https:...

This may not be the forum for this question, but who better to answer my questions than those living with an LVAD and the people who care for them. My fathers LVAD (Heart Mate II) was implanted August 2015. When he had his heart attack we were literally told to take him home so he could die, as the...

My husband and I have a motorhome and would like to resume travelling. Since we enjoy state and federal parks which often have no electric hookups we will have problems with charging batteries and using the mobile power unit. There must be others out there who can help us with an answer to this...

Hello, we are new to the VAD community. My husband received his VAD (Heartmate III pump) on August 5th. We live in a small town located 5 miles away from a much larger city, and 24 different home health care agencies refused to provide home health care services (blood draws for lab work) because we...

Am I selfish if I don’t want this LVAd shit I can not find ANY body to talk to. I jus don’t want it michael_k1964@aol.com

My husband has end stage heart failure and has the option to have an LVAD. As his caregiver, I am trying to find information on how well a person diagnosed with mild Alzheimers/dementia would be able to function with an LVAD, especially as his cognitive skills declined. We have talked about what we...

Link to Article about Data Recorder from Vienna: https://zmpbmt.meduniwien.ac.at/wissenschaft-forschung/cardiovascular-dynamics-artificial-organs/projects/vad-monitoring/ Link to Belly Band: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C24WY1D/?coliid=I1TNYOCUGLDJA2&colid=2E8W66B2JHK9W&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it...

Has anyone out there in LVAD land been successful in changing their own driveline dressings and if so, please pass along how you do it. I can only get so far before I have to let my wife finish the job. I currently do a sterile dressing change but am having a hard time lining up the tagaderm and...

Hello everyone, i am a new member of this site, a caregiver for my husband. I read a lot of useful Information, but it is all about mostly Heartmate. Is there anyone out there with a Jarvik 2000 LVAD?

Hat demand eine BekleidBek für Jarvik 2000 Does anyone have a shirt or vest suggestion for a Jarvik 2000

Hello A dear friend of mine has just received and HVAD and will be coming home from hospital within a week. Some ladies and I are working on moving her bedroom downstairs and wanted to setup an area to store all the bandages, equipment and items needed for driveline management. What has been the...

My husband received his LVAD Oct 2016 and although there’s been lots of highs and lows - we are grateful for the time he’s gained and still gaining ! However he has a lot of phlegm (sorry) and respiratory secretions that are getting worse . Has anybody else experienced these symptoms, he’s kind of...

I've got to assume there is some backup equipment out there that one can purchase; whether it be from a heart transplant patient or from someone whose family member has unfortunately passed away? We would like not to lug equipment back and forth between two homes. Does anyone have an information on...

My husband got his LVAD June 2018. We JUST received the first invoice for dressing supplies and it was $3,443!! Our cost after insurance for Chloraprep is $202. A box of sterile gloves $75, Foley anchors (which are terrible and always come off but that's another story) are $62.00 The company is...

I have had an LVAD for 8 years. The new daily cleaning of my driveline is a pre-packaged kit, which includes an effective infection prevention disk called biopatch. Because of skin issues, I am unable to use them. Every day I have a new disk to add, and have a good-sized bag now. They are packaged...

It has now been eight weeks since my LVAD implantation and life has been going reasonably well since my surgery. Two weeks in the hospital, one week in a motel adjacent to the hospital, five weeks at home. My caregiver returned to his family last week so I am now on my own. I will be starting back...

I have Heartmate II equipment for sale. It is in STELLAR condition, recently tune up my my LVAD team, cleaned, new power cord added, new batteries given to me, new battery tops..... everything! I also have a gently used LVAD bag. It's like new! And I had driveline site care supplies and LOADS of...

I am the proud owner of a Heartmate 3 LVAD. I have had it for 15 months now and have has an interesting ride, but that is for a later post. My issues have been with driveline management and skin rashes. My skin is very sensitive to tape and adhesives and it has been a challenge to find the most...