Michael Garding
Patient Advisor
I am 52 years old (born 1967). At age 25 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (weight was 167 lbs).
In October 2004, I was admitted to emergency with a racing heart, and was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyapathy, and was implanted with a defibrillator. In 2006, my defibrillator went off, and I was put on Amiodarone. In November of 2013, I had an atrial ablation because of repeated atrial fib attacks.
In June 2014, I had a ventricle ablation which took 6.5 hours, and came out with a stroke on the right side of my body. In the early spring of 2015, my heart function deteriorated quickly, and started showing signs of kidney failure. On July 22 2015, I had an LVAD implanted as a bridge to transplant because I was not strong enough to survive transplant at that time. I started dialysis in the fall of 2015.
On Feb 3, 2016, I was officially put on the transplant list, and 17days later I got the call for a heart/ kidney transplant. The plan was to do the heart tx first, and if everything went well, continue with the kidney. The heart tx didn’t go as planned, and I got very sick, forcing them to abort the kidney tx.
On March 28, 2018, I received my kidney transplant, and have been getting stronger everyday, however, I still have bad days, days where I can hardly function, and other days where I feel I’ve turned a corner.
I am 52 years old (born 1967). At age 25 I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (weight was 167 lbs).
In October 2004, I was admitted to emergency with a racing heart, and was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyapathy, and was implanted with a defibrillator. In 2006, my defibrillator went off, and I was put on Amiodarone. In November of 2013, I had an atrial ablation because of repeated atrial fib attacks.
In June 2014, I had a ventricle ablation which took 6.5 hours, and came out with a stroke on the right side of my body. In the early spring of 2015, my heart function deteriorated quickly, and started showing signs of kidney failure. On July 22 2015, I had an LVAD implanted as a bridge to transplant because I was not strong enough to survive transplant at that time. I started dialysis in the fall of 2015.
On Feb 3, 2016, I was officially put on the transplant list, and 17days later I got the call for a heart/ kidney transplant. The plan was to do the heart tx first, and if everything went well, continue with the kidney. The heart tx didn’t go as planned, and I got very sick, forcing them to abort the kidney tx.
On March 28, 2018, I received my kidney transplant, and have been getting stronger everyday, however, I still have bad days, days where I can hardly function, and other days where I feel I’ve turned a corner.
