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Show Caring Magazine so large I had to carry it around on a luggage cart," he said. "The new generation of devices is so much easier." Randy was on the LVAD for 16 months before receiving a heart transplant. At age 20, Michael Cross never gave much thought to heart disease. As a teenager he had always enjoyed robust health. Then one winter he contracted a case of bronchitis, and, through causes unknown, his heart began to fail. Suddenly he found himself so fatigued he could hardly stand up. "After I was fitted with the LVAD, I was able to get around again," Michael said. He will continue on the device until a donor heart is knowledge, it is advances Medical physicians' ability to help people may be greater today by another order of magnitude compared to medicine even 10 years ago. Yet what is truly incalculable is the impact these scientific advances have found. IHC's LDS Hospital was the first medical center in Utah on the lives of patients and their families and friends. approved to treatments are experimental or part of national pilot Many studies, and a medical team evaluates each patient to determine if the treatment is suitable. For those able to benefit, such medical breakthroughs offer hope of longer life and renewed health. Here are the stories of several individuals whose lives were changed by physicians practicing at IHC. PORTABLE HEART PUMPS Eighteen years ago in Utah, dentist Barney Clark made history as the first person to receive an artificial heart. He survived for only 112 days, but he helped blaze a trail in the treatment of advanced cardiac disease physicians have been following ever since. Today, physicians are coming closer to achieving a permanent artificial heart. A portable heart pump, called the "Left Ventricular Assist Device" (LVAD), is being used not only as a bridge to an eventual heart transplant but also as a permanent implant in some patients. The small device is implanted inside the patient's body, where it assists the damaged heart in pumping blood. The device is connected to a small battery pack worn on a belt by the patient, who can resume a fairly normal lifestyle, walking around freely and unencumbered by bulky equipment. Initially, the LVAD was implanted temporarily in patients who were awaiting donor hearts a wait that often lasts For example, John Boyd, a resident of Lander, Wyo., has had a months. history of cardiac disease. His heart had become so damaged that a transplant was necessary. At age 56, he was fitted with an LVAD while he waited for a donor heart. "I felt better immediately after I got the LVAD," he said. "For the first time in years, I felt like my old self again." John received his transplant last autumn. Heart disease runs in the family of Randy Case, age 43. He was implanted with an earlier version of the LVAD two years ago. "The battery pack was implant the LVAD. The hospital is one of only 20 medical centers in the United States participating in a national study of the LVAD as a long- term alternative to heart transplants. For some patients who cannot receive |