I have been able to learn a lot over the years about the cardiovascular system due to my

dad’s heart condition. Years ago, before I was born, my father was diagnosed with what was then
called idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS). This is now referred to as hypertrophic
obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) which is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes
abnormally thick. This was diagnosed by a doctor because my father was experiencing shortness
of breath, chest pain, and arrhythmias. These are the most common symptoms of this condition,
so it was easy for the physician to diagnose.
About ten years after his diagnosis, his heart stopped beating for about ten minutes on a
job site that he was at and firemen revived him. The emergency room physicians were shocked
that he had no brain damage from the lack of oxygen to his brain before the firemen began
performing CPR on him. During this hospitalization, they implanted a pacemaker and
defibrillator, along with prescribing him many other medications. The purpose of the pacemaker
was to use low-energy electrical pulses to control the rate and rhythm of his heart.
The purpose of the defibrillator was to normalize his heartbeat by sending a high-energy
electrical pulse to the heart when it began to beat out of rhythm. His pacemaker was to regulate
his heart rate on a day-to-day basis, while his defibrillator would shock his heart to the point of
him passing out because the strength of the electrical pulses had to shock his heart back into
rhythm.
His ongoing rhythm problems turned into severe, constant episodes of atrial fibrillation
(AFib), which lead to the diagnosis of congestive heart failure. Congestive heart failure is a
condition where the heart cannot pump adequately. This also caused kidney failure because it led
to his body retaining fluid and salt. They then stated that this could have all been caused by
cardiomyopathy which is a hereditary disease of the heart muscle. This condition explains why
his muscle around his heart was enlarged and prevented his heart from delivering blood to the
body the way it should.
His condition progressed to end-stage heart failure and reached the point that they
surgically implanted a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). This electromechanical device was
implanted in his chest to help his cardiac circulation, which replaced the function of his failing
heart. This pump was battery operated where the driveline exited his body on the right side of his
abdomen. This is where we would ensure that batteries were charged that would pump his heart.
During this time, we had to clean his driveline site, in a sterile field, every day. At this time, he
was then placed on the transplant list. There were a lot of factors that went into his placement on
the transplant list. He was classified as a 1B status which means that he had the second-highest
priority on the heart transplant list. He was not required to stay in the hospital as an in-patient,
but that the LVAD and continuous intravenous medications were his life source.
After about a year with the LVAD, his defibrillator shocked him but this time he did not
pass out due to his LVAD continuously pumping his heart. During this hospitalization, he was
placed on life-support and he was moved to a 1A status on the transplant list. Within a few days,
he received a heart transplant. A heart transplant requires a surgeon to connect you to a heart-
lung machine where it does the work of the heart and takes the strain off the lungs, pumping
oxygen-rich blood into the body so the heart is still during the operation. The surgeon then
removes the diseased heart and sows the donor heart in place, attaching major blood vessels to
the donor’s heart. After his surgery, when his heart and lungs were able to maintain their
function on their own without the help of a ventilator, he was able to receive therapy to regain
his strength and live a relatively normal life with the help of anti-rejection medication to allow
his heart to pump in its new body.
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“Defibrillators.” National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, U.S. Department of Health and
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