Mike Barfuss and his little black cooler bag

Have any of you wondered “what is that little black” cooler looking bag Mike Barfuss carries everywhere he goes?

Five years ago, Barfuss of Winner was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. His symptoms continued to worsen until the summer of 2021 he was having trouble walking and playing golf without losing his breath.

Something needed to be done to improve his quality of life. In September 2021, his cardiologist in Sioux Falls recommended he see the heart pump specialist from the University of Minnesota Fairview Hospital on her next visit.

Barfuss was ineligible for a heart transplant with his age and former chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The antirejection drugs needed after a heart transplant would flare up the Hodgkin’s again.

After meeting with the Minneapolis doctor, Barfuss went through three days of intensive testing to se if he would be a candidate for a heart pump, LVAD (left ventricular assistive device).

The heart team of 19 in Minneapolis determined Barfuss was in the “sweet spot” and approved him for surgery. With surgery, the LVAD is placed in the heart ventricle with open heart surgery.

The pump takes the blood from the left ventricle through a tube to the aorta and blood circulates through the body. Mike’s pump spins at 5200rmps.

Following surgery and discharge a 30 days stay in Minneapolis was required to learn how to care for the belly wound, learn the average controller readings and to begin rehab.

The pump has a tube (driveline) which exits the body through a stoma which needs a weekly dressing change. That same tube plugs into a controller outside the body. The controller has two ports with cords exiting it that hook up to batteries that keep the pump going. The batteries and controller are housed in a special spandex shirt that Mike wears. The black bag has an extra set of charged batteries and an extra controller in case of a breakdown.

At night, the daytime batteries and extra set are charged up and Mike is plugged into house electricity.

The black box is named Fred and Mike needs it with him at all times. The controller is named Wilma.