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Congestive Heart Disease, Dancing With Death

Congestive Heart Failure

‘Dancing with death'

If you bothered to click into this article, it only means 2 things; you either have congestive heart failure or know someone who has congestive heart failure.   Congestive heart failure is not something we think about, it just happens, it sneaks up and attacks, leaving us changed for life.  The guardian angel, always present by our side now has a companion.  The dreaded grim reaper.  He may not be visible, but he is felt, letting us know our mortality has been compromised.   He keeps his distance at times but he has become part of us, a constant shadow following us around.

We try to make the best of it; try to assume that nothing much has really changed, that with a bit of good living we'll get by just fine.  I guess that is the only logical way to react, we keep up a good smile to friends and family, not letting them know how sick we really are and to keep the peace, they go along with the ruse.  Doctors are good at keeping up a good front, saying just take your meds, get exercise and you'll be fine.  But I've had some of the more non delicate types who break the code of silence, daring to say out loud, "Mr. Verge, you are really living on the edge."  Like this is my choice, like I've planned it all.  And he had the uncouth nature to say this in front of family, he broke the rules. He dared to tell the truth, not that I really care, but in front of loved ones.  Definitely not a charm school candidate.

And there are those of you out there that managed to just get the acknowledgement of the reaper, your guardian angels were working overtime. You are class I, head of the class I should say.  You can still go out and play, yours was a warning, so behave...my lucky ones.  The medical society has grouped us into 4 classes, all written in roman numerals for some odd reason.  Class IV, my class, well, I guess you could say the guardian angel was out having a smoke when the reaper came to visit that day.  His scythe left us scarred and breathless, forever married to endless tests, doctors, medications and a whole shopping list of worries.  We are the bearers of strange devices that keep us going, our invisible guardian angel now has some mechanical help.  In my opinion we are the strong ones, because no matter how hard it hurts, we keep that smile going.  No matter how out of breath we get, we manage to climb that set of stairs.  We keep going despite the odds, we are hopeful and we are determined to beat the reaper. 

There's no reason for me to go through the basics, we have all arrived here, many through no fault of our own and we are struggling to understand the best way to proceed, to improve, to breathe and to do those little things we took for granted before.  A simple walk never became such a daunting task.  I'm going on 3 years now, have had 3 different defibrillators/pacemakers and hospitalized 7 separate times just for heart operations.  I feel like I have the right to comment, I've earned it, my ticking badge may be internal, but the scars I bear are very visible on the outside.

It took me almost 6 months to learn that I had congestive heart failure.  For some odd reason I was only told that I had a massive heart attack and should look for a new vocation. None of my questions were really answered; everything was cloaked in some mysterious shroud, the disease that couldn't be mentioned to me.  My cardiologist said ‘just hang in there" and when I complained about the daily chest pains, he said it was ‘probably a touch of heartburn.'  At that, the red lights went off in my head.  When the coughing of blood became daily, I kissed the old doctors goodbye and headed for the specialists.

A brand new world opened up, but the word ‘transplant' was the sacred word of the day.  A word that would soon come to taunt me.  I almost fainted the first time I heard it, I thought the heart could repair itself...little did I know.  Then I saw a congestive heart failure specialist, he said ‘transplant'.  I went to another cardiologist, again the word 'transplant' crept into the conversation. i went to get a 3rd opinion just in case, and again, I could hear the echoed word ‘transplant' bouncing off the white Formica in the room. 

Since then I've read everything I could get my hands on, internet, books, articles, anything.  I've heard of all sorts of cures, from heart nets to shrink the heart, left ventricular assistance devices, some type of cuffing and blood pumping system which I can't even remember, ventricular reconstruction to actually cut out the dead scarred section and to sew it back up to endless vitamin and supplement cures.  Every single idea I have taken seriously and I have seriously passed these notions by my heart failure specialist and each time, I get that condescending look, with the inevitable shaking of the head.  His one comment to me was ‘I shouldn't read too much'.  HA! the only thing I ever got from him were a few pamphlets telling me what I already knew, exalting the upmost holy trinity of class IV lessons.  No salt. Watch the liquid intake and exercise.

So my fellow pupils in class IV, how are we to learn to out dance the dance of death?  There a few options for us.  Of course there is transplant, for some that is the only solution.  We can continue with our daily struggle and just grin and bear it, hoping for the best. But for us that still can move about I suggest a newer approach, again something the cardiologists won't mention, a field that has been squashed by the last administration for 8 years.  A reason to hope.

STEM CELL IMPLANTATION

Don't worry you good Christians out there, the world has evolved and science can now take your cells, duplicate them and make them usable to help repair our broken and damaged hearts.  Ain't no baby controversy here for this to even make Fox News.  This is a real and growing industry already accepted in many parts of the world as a normal solution to regenerating dead and scarred areas of the heart muscle.  It is called adult stem cell therapy and many of the companies performing this task duplicate your own cells.

Just think, a disease that kills some 1400 daily can now be reversed.  At the 16th annual world congress on anti-aging medicine (Washington, D.C./ speaker Dr. Grekos) the company Regenocyte, a stem cell therapy for heart patients saw an average increase of 21% in ejection fraction rates as well as the patient's heart failure class status.  Class IV patients have moved on up to class II within 6 months of therapy.  This is not science fiction, this is happening right now.  And the word is GLOBALLY.  Can you imagine our grand pharmaceuticals giants are probably all champing at the bit to be the first to get FDA approval.  And I am sure it is not out of the goodness of the heart. (No pun intended)

If you are financially well off and ready to take the leap, there are already many companies welcoming your paychecks.  These companies, albeit many having headquarters in United States, do their unsanctioned dealings abroad, escaping the grip and ire of the FDA.  Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Israel, Thailand, Germany.  The list grows every day and will continue to grow for people who can afford it, why not...it works.  The list is as interesting as the countries where they originate, names like Angioblast, Regenocyte, Cellartis, Neurotherapeutics, Vescell, Bioheart , Xcell and Neuronova.  Every developed, developing and even so called ‘3rd world' countries are investing in this boom of the future.  In the United States alone, there are 43 separate stem cell research and development companies.

The real HOPE in all of this for us ‘peons' of class IV is that in the United States, all and every study is still in clinical trial, still not approved by the FDA, although it is being performed throughout the world...and this makes it to our advantage.  Need you ask why?  There is one simple answer, we are guinea pigs and the price is normally free.  I can guarantee you that this will not last long.  And for me, it is my only chance to improve from a debilitating state to a semi-normal state.  No one will rip open my rib cage, I will not have to suffer the trials and tribulations of a heart transplant.  I just may be able to out dance the reaper through modern medicine.  I am more than ready to start and cheer and put on my sailin' shoes.

I am not a medical professional; I am a victim, a patient, looking for answers to help myself.  I do not advocate that you run out and do a clinical trial.  But I do advocate that you read all of the available information for heart improvement.  I have found that the established cardio experts still stick to the old school of methods, that is to say, transplant.  I am offering options and knowledge which is often brushed under the carpet when you see your cardiologist.

To find out about clinical trials, check out www.clinicaltrials.gov and I guarantee you if you search, you will find.   Almost all major medical universities and hospitals are offering clinical trials in adult stem cell research.  There is a pharmaceutical race going on, and we may be the winners. University of Minnesota, Cleveland Heart Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, Heart institute of Texas, Mt. Sinai and NY Colombia Presbyterian, just to name a few, are all busy at work with clinical trials.

 My purpose in this article is to offer hope to those of us who are caught in the grips of the reaper, the dreaded class IV of congestive heart failure.  We have the means possible to out dance the grim reaper and to start to take normal walks again with a smiling angel sitting on our shoulders.

Almost all of the home pages for the companies listed here can be found in my stumbleupon account, under the name of newayswealth, along with other interesting tidbits. The link is http://newayswealth.stumbleupon.com/.

Eat and live well.

Quiero mas. Mucho mucho mas.

Just a finishing word to a good friend Bob, who is a firefighter and paramedic in Arizona.  We may be just passing faces to you and your co-workers, but to us, you are the unknown hero, whether it be pulling us from a blazing fire or rushing us to the hospital in the ambulance.  We remember your face and we thank you.

About the Author

David Verge is a cabinetmaker, carpenter and contractor all in one. He has travelled the world,living in Spain, France and Germany for extended periods of time. Now settled in th US, he is developing his skills in network marketing.

What is the Grim Reaper's weapon that he carries around called?

I'm having one of those moments when I completly forget something, and it is really starting to bug me. Can you help me?
What is the Grim Reaper's weapon that he carries around called?

A scythe. A curved blade on a long wooden handle used for threshing.

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