NORFOLK — "Medically, there's no explanation of why I'm alive,” Rufe Vanderpool told me as we sat down to talk about his heart.
You wouldn’t know it just by looking at him, but Rufe Vanderpool is a heart transplant recipient.
I met him and other patients as they gathered for their support group at Sentara’s Heart Hospital.
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He says each of us is connected to heart disease and stroke in one way or another, but there’s hope in the fact that each of us can do something to help change that.
Mr. Vanderpool volunteers his time at the hospital to help others like him at their monthly group meeting.
This group of survivors often has these heart to hearts.
“Every person in that room should be dead. And they're not,” said Mr. Vanderpool.
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Each of them has walked the walk in their heart health journeys and come out on the other side to share their stories.
“They're scared, yeah, we all were scared, you know,” he said. “But that group that you were watching in there. We've all come through it. And so, you know, I go volunteer. I see people, I encourage them to come to that room. I haven't had a single person that comes to that room that's been disappointed.”
Rufe has had quite the journey he was just 57 years old when he had a massive heart attack, and he’s also had stents placed, a pulmonary embolism, and used an LVAD for almost 3 years before receiving his new heart-which has helped him guide others who use one too.
“I have one line coming out of me, but I also need this line for the LVAD group. And when I go home, I feel so encouraged,” said Lila Hedgepeth, an LVAD heart patient. “I feel stronger.”
Like Rufe before her, Lila Hedgepeth uses an LVAD too.
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LVAD is short for “left ventricular assist device.”
The device is a battery-operated mechanical pump that is surgically implanted in the heart of patients to pump their blood.
In other words, it does the work the heart can’t do.
“This weighs about 10 pounds, and I have to be hooked up 24/7-365,” she tells me.
She tells me she was days away from dying when she got it and has never looked back.
“I'm alive. And that's wonderful!”
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While we were at Sentara, we were lucky enough to get some time to chat with cardiologist Dr. John Herre.
“There will be about 4,500 heart transplants in this country this year and another 3,000 or so left ventricular assist devices,” said Dr. John Herre.
He’s the medical director of the hospital’s advanced heart failure program.
“Our goal, across the board, no matter what we are treating is quality of life, and the most important thing is how you feel, and the second most important thing is how you take care of yourself,” said Dr. Herre.
According to the American Heart Association, heart disease continues to be the world’s leading cause of death.
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And Dr. Herre says there are things you can do to improve your health even if the heart disease is genetic.
“Addressing diet and exercise, careful attention to what we call health maintenance,” he told us. “And if you do those things, then the likelihood of developing serious heart disease is really quite small.”
Dr. Herre also encourages people to consider signing up to learn CPR, consider becoming an organ donor, and to make sure to get that on their driver’s licenses.
It’s because of a donor that Rufe was able to get his new heart almost 4 years ago, and it’s why he’s here today and continues to walk with the American Heart Association’s Hampton Roads Heart Walk because he knows that with every step, he’s helping save lives.
“Death has come for me multiple times. So, I'm on bonus time. And you know the so every day I see the sun is a great day, you know,” said Rufe. “And so, I try to figure out how to give back.
Rufe is one of the top fundraisers in our area for the American Heart Association.
The money he and others raise helps fund groundbreaking research that helps patients like him.
I’ll get to hang out with him and other survivors as I emcee one of two heart walks hosted in the Hampton Roads area. If you’d like to find out more about how you can join in and walk to save lives, I’ll have information on how you can join us here.
