{"id":7924,"date":"2025-02-27T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7924"},"modified":"2025-02-27T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T15:30:00","slug":"army-veteran-receives-life-saving-heart-transplant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7924","title":{"rendered":"Army Veteran receives life-saving heart transplant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-02-27T15:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p>Army Veteran Terrill Giere has been out of the military for more than 20 years, but he still has the fighting spirit of a soldier.\u00a0After battling heart failure and a stroke, relying on a left ventricular device (LVAD) to keep him alive, and then developing a potentially deadly infection, Giere recently received a life-saving heart transplant at the Michael E. DeBakey VA in Houston. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This month, while he continues to recover,\u00a0Giere, 60, celebrated Valentine\u2019s Day with his wife and is looking forward to living a long and happy life. <\/p>\n<p>During a 2020 trip to Colorado, Giere started having breathing issues that, at the time, he attributed to the high elevation.\u00a0When he got home to Texas, he went in for a check-up and was surprised when doctors diagnosed him with heart failure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Needed a heart transplant<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cBefore this diagnosis I was pretty healthy, but my heart started acting up pretty fast.\u00a0By 2023, I had to be medevaced to Houston VA to get an LVAD.\u00a0It was a scary time,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n<p>After a year of relying on the LVAD\u2014a small, battery-operated pump implanted into the chest that helps the heart circulate blood\u2014Giere returned for more unexpected news. His doctors found he had developed an unusual allergy along with a very serious infection and needed a heart transplant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew there was something serious when they took 45 vials of my blood. Everything happened so fast. I was in shock. In less than a week I was told they had found a heart and I was in the operating room,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Since the heart transplant last October, Giere has been working hard to recover and is already feeling great. He enjoys walking and says he can\u2019t wait to get back to spending time with his 10 grandchildren and two great grandchildren who affectionally call him \u201cGrumpy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been so impressed by the staff at Houston VA. For such a large hospital, both the LVAD and the transplant staff have taken amazing care of me.\u00a0When I walk onto the transplant unit for a check-up, sometimes I feel like a celebrity. I really think that God had a hand in my health journey and he guided the hands of the VA doctors taking care of me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to Dr. Savitri Fedson, medical director of the advanced heart failure program, Houston VA is one of just a few VA facilities performing LVAD procedures and heart transplants.\u00a0She said Veterans like Giere who receive both an LVAD and a heart transplant often embody a special spirit of resilience and hope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe LVAD serves as a critical bridge allowing Veterans to regain their strength and improve their quality of life while waiting for a donor heart,\u201d said Fedson, who is also a professor for the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. \u201cThis combination not only extends their lives but also enables them to embrace new beginnings and cherish precious moments with their loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Giere credits his wife Shannon as playing a key role in his recovery. Fifty-eight years ago, the couple\u2014pictured above\u2014met as toddlers and formed an instant connection.\u00a0Life took them on different paths with Giere joining the military and serving in the honor guard in Washington, DC. Each raised a family. However, years later they reconnected and married in 2021.\u00a0They have been inseparable since.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShannon is the reason I\u2019m here today.\u00a0She has been with me every step of the way through all my health battles. She really is the love of my life,\u201d Giere added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe thank Mr. Giere for choosing to receive his care at Houston VA,\u201d said Fedson.\u00a0\u201cIt is our honor and privilege to care for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/138484\/veteran-receives-life-saving-heart-transplant\/\" 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>After battling heart failure and a stroke, one Veteran received a heart transplant at the Michael E. DeBakey VA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7924","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 receives life-saving heart transplant - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After battling heart failure and a stroke, one Veteran received a heart transplant at the Michael E. 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