Help With Heart Transplant Expenses

Travis Ghee has an intensity honed by years working as a firefighter and extradition agent transporting prisoners across the country. His quick smile and laugh soften his demeanor. At 30 years old, Travis was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. “I went to the emergency room and they thought I was having a heart attack,” said Ghee. “They slapped nitro patches on me and hooked me up to all these machines. The doctor told me it was congestive heart failure. I asked, “What can I do to get better and get back to work?” The doctor said, “You don’t understand, your life just changed.” Travis had to quit his job, move back home to Murfreesboro and begin treatment with drug therapy. After three years even the drugs couldn’t help his weakened heart pump enough blood. To save his life, surgeons with the Heart Failure Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center implanted a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, in his chest to take over much of the work of his heart. The LVAD is an electric pump that draws oxygenated blood from the left ventricle heart chamber and circulates it to the body through the aorta. A cable exits his body near his stomach and connects to a battery and controller, each about the size of a paperback novel. Because the technology is so new, doctors aren’t exactly sure how long LVAD patients can survive. Exactly 2 years after implant of the LVAD. Travis Ghee received the call for a heart transplant. And on December 2nd he received his new heart.