VAD heart pump helps keep Delaware heart failure patient on the go

BEAR, Delaware (WPVI) -- When medication stops helping with heart failure, a ventricular assist device might be the next option.

VAD implants have doubled in the past decade, but are still underused.

A Delaware man says a VAD is giving him a full life, with travel and more family time, with very few drawbacks.

Herman Davis's family has quite a history of heart disease, including his father -

"He was only 46 when he died of his third major heart attack," Herman recalls, adding, "My oldest brother and my oldest sister died. Um, they had heart problems, too."

Herman's own issues go back to 2012, and he already had a pacemaker-defibrillator when he discovered that wasn't enough.

"I could barely move. I think I had actually blacked out for a time," Herman says about an episode that occurred right after he got back from a vacation in Aruba.

His heart was too weak to pump enough blood, and needed mechanical help.

"This pump really is surgically implanted to bypass that sick ventricle and give the body all the necessary oxygen through the appropriate blood supply," says Dr. Eman Hamad, a Temple Health advanced heart failure specialist.

Dr. Hamad says a VAD, or ventricular assist device, moves oxygen-rich blood from the base of the heart to the aorta, the body's main blood vessel.

The pump is powered by a battery pack, but can also be plugged directly into a power source at night.

"They all have what we call a drive line, which is an electric wire coming out of their abdomen. And we use that to connect to the batteries," she says.

She says VADs can be used 2 ways: 1.) to help someone get to transplant -

"Using a pump to restore flow to other organs makes you better," Dr. Hamad notes. "The better you are going in, the better you are coming out."

Or 2.) As a long-term solution for those who may not qualify for transplants.

"I've had a patient who stayed on a VAD for 10 years," the doctor says, with the caveat that the risk of blood clots and infections does rise after 5 years.

Herman says it took about 4 months to adjust to the sound and care of the VAD he got nearly 3 years ago. But since then, he's had a great quality of life, traveling and being with the family.

"I go to the gym to work out," says Herman. "I can still drive. I could do anything I wanted to, other than submerge in a tub."

Dr Hamad says VADs are constantly improving, "Getting smaller, better, less side effects, more compatible with the human physiology."

And she says research and testing are underway on a fully implantable VAD, so there won't be any need for an external battery pack.