{"id":7684,"date":"2026-01-14T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7684"},"modified":"2026-01-14T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:30:00","slug":"army-veteran-opens-his-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7684","title":{"rendered":"Army Veteran opens his heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2026-01-14T15:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three times<\/h2>\n<p>In late 2010, only a year after getting out of the Army, Iraq War Veteran Keith McCarter knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started to feel super weak and not eating,\u201d he recalled. \u201cCome to find out, I was in end-stage heart failure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He was just 25-years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since he was too weak for a heart transplant, McCarter\u2019s first surgery to install a mechanical heart pump\u2014known as a left ventricular assist device (LVAD)\u2014designed to provide long-term circulatory support.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For three years, McCarter lived with the LVAD as well as an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) that used electric shocks to regulate his heart. Due to physical restrictions of his condition, he couldn\u2019t exercise and needed gastric sleeve surgery to control his weight, which\u00a0involved removing a large portion of his stomach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was the first person with the LVAD to have the gastric sleeve done at UW [University of Wisconsin] Health (a local partner health care system),\u201d he noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This surgery helped him lose over 100 pounds, dramatically improving his health and quality of life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201cI did the right thing, listened to the doctors and took my medications consistently\u2014it worked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>His heart function improved so much that the LVAD was no longer needed, which led to McCarter\u2019s second heart surgery to remove it in 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot too many people get the chance to have the LVAD explanted,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve lived without it for about 11 years, relying only on my ICD and medications. I felt like a healthy guy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During those 11 years, McCarter\u2019s passion for law enforcement led him to become a Dane County sheriff\u2019s deputy, a demanding but rewarding job he loves.\u00a0However, life had another curveball planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New device brings hope<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/01\/McCarter3_r1-scaled.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Army Veteran Keith McCarter had three heart surgeries but is doing better than ever. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>By the end of 2024, symptoms of heart failure returned, resulting in multiple procedures and an extended hospitalization at <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/?s=Madison+VA\">Madison VA<\/a>. His health care team implanted a catheter-based, miniaturized heart pump under his right collarbone, commonly known as a \u201cbaby LVAD.\u201d\u00a0This short-term support measure stabilized his condition until March 2025 when McCarter received his third heart surgery, this time for a transplant.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing able to live those 10 years meant that a new device became available. That was a big turning point because we hoped the technology would improve if we could make it that far, and it did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing one in every three Americans. McCarter credits his survival and recovery to the care he received, particularly from the Madison VA Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDr. Murray saved my life in 2011 and has been with me ever since,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I first met him with my mom and wife, he cleared his whole evening to talk with us. I knew I was sick, but I didn\u2019t realize I needed a heart transplant. It shocked me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As he looks ahead to his future, McCarter, who is currently on medical leave, is determined to return to his law enforcement duties with the help of his VA health care team that supported him throughout his 15-year journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love my job,\u201d he added. \u201cMy plan is to make it back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s never too late to apply for VA health care you\u2019ve earned. If you are a Veteran or know a Veteran who has not yet applied for their VA health care benefits, learn how to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.choose.va.gov\/health\" rel=\"noopener\">get started<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<p>This article was originally published on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/madison-health-care\/stories\/army-veteran-keith-mccarter-opens-his-heartthree-times\/\" rel=\"noopener\">VA Madison Health care System site <\/a>and has been edited for style and clarity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/144344\/army-veteran-opens-his-heart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Army Veteran Keith McCarter has had three heart surgeries, but is now doing better than ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Army Veteran opens his heart - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Army Veteran Keith McCarter has had three heart surgeries, but is now doing better than ever.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7684\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Army Veteran opens his heart - 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