Patient Story

Meet: Greg Michels

• Age: 40 (at implant)
• Diagnosis: Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Implant date: May 1, 2009
• Transplant date: Aug. 21, 2009
• Time on the Total: 112 days
• Residence: Billings, Montana
• Hospital: Intermountain Medical Center
• Surgeon: Dr. Stephen Clayson

How it all Started

In 1990, I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. I tried to take really good of care of myself after that. I was lucky that my condition progressed rather slowly.

Crash & Burn

In early 2009, I began going downhill really quickly. I started vomiting a lot. I thought it was just sinus drainage making my stomach sick.

In April, I had gone to the clinic and my clotting number was right where they wanted it at 2.5.

However, five days later I still felt sick, so I decided to go to my cardiologist. I threw up in her trash can for 5 minutes. My clotting number had jumped to 6. She and I both decided I should go to the hospital.

My cardiologist wanted to do a right heart catheterization, but before that could happen, I went into cardiac arrest. Everything was shutting down. My liver and kidneys weren’t doing well. I had to be flown by air ambulance from Billings, Montana, to Salt Lake City, Utah.

When I arrived at Intermountain Medical Center, they managed to get me stabilized, but were constantly adjusting my medications and drawing blood for tests. They told me, “Your heart isn’t going to be able to last for more than another week or so.”

LVAD or Total Artificial Heart?

One of my options was a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). I’d always been a little suspicious of LVADs because I thought the right side of my heart was just as bad as my left. As an engineer, I know that if I have a failed pump, I don’t necessarily want to just put a new one in right next to it.

I had many questions about LVADs: Am I going to end up with two because both sides of my heart are so bad? Will my heart be healthy enough to function as a check valve? Will the blood back up into the right side of my heart? The answer always was “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

The staff at Intermountain Medical Center called a special meeting because they had to do something and they had to do it quick. Their recommendation was the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart.

Road to Recovery

On May 1, 2009, I underwent surgery to remove my dying heart and replace it with the Total Artificial Heart.

I sat up for the first time the following day, and took my first steps a few days later.

After about two weeks, I moved from the ICU to the step-down unit. With the Total Artificial Heart, I was really self-sufficient. I really didn’t need much medical care other than having a nurse help me push my “Big Blue” driver around.

I walked on the treadmill for half an hour each morning and half an hour each afternoon. My goal was to be as healthy as I could for my heart transplant. I understood that a transplant was its own set of challenges. The better shape my body was in, the better my kidneys, liver and lungs would be so I could sail through the transplant.

Heart Transplant “Rockstar”

• On Aug. 20, 2009, at 9 a.m, the doctors told me they had a heart.
• The next morning, I went into surgery at 3 a.m. By 6 a.m. the Total Artificial Heart had been removed and the donor heart was in place and beating. Every one told me that the heart was very healthy and could not be in better condition. I was extubated and breathing on my own that night.
• The day after my transplant, I walked 144 feet. The doctors called me a “rockstar.”

I was discharged from the hospital with my new heart on Sept. 1, 2009. They gave me a real nice send off. After spending so much time on the third floor, it was emotional leaving. Everyone was great. Having said that, I am in no hurry to stay again!

A Strong Support System

My wife and I have been married for 18 years and we have two children. As a family, we just put one foot in front of the other throughout the whole experience. The Total Artificial Heart worked great for me. I have no regrets about not getting an LVAD.

My 11-year-old son is in Boy Scouts and they are always going on hikes, but my health always prevented me from going with him. The last few years my rule has been don’t walk anywhere that you can ride. Since receiving my heart transplant, we’ve finally been able to enjoy hiking together as father and son.

My Lifeboat

Since my transplant, we’ve been staying in Park City, Utah. There are a lot of mountain bike trails which I’ve been taking walks on 3 to 5 times a week.

The one problem that I didn’t really anticipate with getting a donor heart was my family complaining that they can’t keep up with me! Today, I’m still going strong even at the end of a 2-3 hour walk. For the last 15 years, that would’ve been completely out of the question!

I look at the Total Artificial Heart as my lifeboat. My ship was sinking and the Total Artificial Heart was my only way of getting to a donor heart.

I don’t know if everybody’s donor heart is like mine, but I’ve got a great one.