25-year-old lived for more than a year without a heart
Admittedly I didn't read the whole story, the click-bait title got me.
I had a girlfriend with a similar device attached to her (an LVAD). At first it was a little unnerving seeing her unplug the batteries that were keeping her alive and charge them every night. It quickly became normal for me. Life with it seemed relatively normal except she had to have a purse with her at all times (it carried the batteries).
The interesting part was when she received a transplant and went cordless. After being attached to it for two years and not having a heartbeat the sound of her heat beating kept her up at night for a couple of weeks. I hadn't even considered the beating of a heart to be relevant to our daily lives until she had mentioned it once she heard hers beating again (an LVAD is just a constant velocity pump. The blood is always flowing).
Not sure how much it really adds to the conversation other than an interesting anecdote.
Please think about becoming an organ donor. It is completely ok to decide against it. At least you have contemplated the idea.
Fun fact: The book Infinite Jest includes a character who keeps their artificial heart in their handbag. In one scene, the handbag is snatched by a passing thief which leads to the character shouting "She stole my heart, stop her!". As expected, this is tragically misconstrued by passersby who believe that the woman was in the middle of a sad yet not unexpected lovers quarrel, whereas in actual fact her heart had been stolen. Tragicomedy in the same scene.
Separate thought, if you were to replace your lungs with a machine that oxygenated your blood, could you calmly sit without breathing? Is the anxiety/impulse to breathe do to a lack of oxygen?
The pump is shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9WUHSJrhm4
It's surprisingly loud
There is a great NYT documentary on artificial hearts and the history behind it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xn5u-LzsW8
It starts with the Jarvik-7 artifical heart from the 1980s (first seen as a success, then as a failure) and then moves on to today's temporary and permanent artifical hearts.
See also this reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) thread from another patient with such device from 2 years ago (2014):
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/24a8ln/hello_reddit_i...
I wonder if it affected his mood at all. I mean is the heart pumping of anxiety or anger a symptom or part of a feedback loop?
Carmat have a competing device that's been implanted in 5 patients so far. It is much more technically advanced, with Alan Carpentier designing, I think, to prevent blood clots. However, it's. A pump based device Nd the jury is still out on how long pump based devices can last. They expect the xarmat heart to last 5 years.
Artificial KIDNEY will be a boon for human beings
Love seeing these stories about the will to live and fighting through hardship and making the most of every opportunity. These sorts of folks - who just want to be normal - really strike a chord with me. Fascinating specific instance and type of treatment.
I wonder if it is just better to have the artificial heart for the rest of your life? With all the complications with having a heart transplant, it seems like it could be equally dangerous.
Note, I'm a lay person, and have no clue. Just pondering.
Its good to hear people are working on things like these, artificial hearts prolonging life. Gives some perspective and your own problems pale in comparison.
I don't know why for a second I've read that he lived more than a year without internet.
Wow, would hate for one of those supply lines to fail :|
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whoa, one step closer to becoming cyborgs.
That surprises me. I thought that we had ample proof that Cheney lacked a heart.
Not surprising considering my boss who was born without a heart.
This is not new or particularly interesting. Dick Cheney had one of these for a long time. I knew someone who had one too. I'm not sure why this is being written about as if it's new.
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How could you be so heartless! Oh, how could you be so heartless!