New heart, new life for Valpo man

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Diane Bovard looks on as her husband speaks during an interview at their Valparaiso home Tuesday July 19, 2011. Bovard, a retired Indiana state trooper and vietnam-era Marine, is recovering from a recent heart transplant. | Andy Lavalley~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: November 2, 2011 1:11AM

VALPARAISO — Glenn Bovard isn’t a particularly religious or political man. He’s a retired state trooper and Vietnam veteran who’s no stranger to death.

Two years ago on Christmas Eve, his heart stopped beating.

It took an act of Congress and some good doctors to get it back.

“I guess somebody up there likes me,” Bovard said with a shrug.

In 2009, Bovard and wife, Diane, enjoyed a quiet Christmas celebration with friends in Chesterton.

The heart attack struck during dinner, leaving Bovard collapsed on the floor. His hostess, a nurse, began CPR, but the outcome looked grim. Sensing the danger, his implanted defibrillator fired off, shocking Bovard’s heart.

“He died; he was turning blue,” said Diane Bovard who watched in panic.

This heart attack was a whopper, but Bovard, 63, made it. After a few days at Porter hospital, doctors told Diane they’d done everything they could for her husband. Bovard remained critical in what doctors called “cardiogenic shock.”

But one Porter doctor had heard about a University of Chicago physician who might be able to implant a device to stand in for Bovard’s failed heart. It’s a ventricular assist device or VAD. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has one. And soon, Bovard would, too.

On Christmas Day, Dr. Valluvan Jeevanadam put two temporary ventricular assist devices on Bovard’s heart.

“The prospects of him surviving were fairly slim,” said Dr. Jai Raman, also a surgeon at University of Chicago Hospital.

Remarkably, Bovard’s condition stabilized and Raman installed the long-term ventricular assist device. Bovard’s circulation quickly improved and his overall condition amazed doctors.

“We found that we had a survivor,” Raman said.

Nothing new to Bovard. In 1974, the young Marine rode shotgun with a machine gun on a truck when it drove over a land mine north of Da Nang. Five Marines died instantly; two died a few days later.

Bovard made it, but suffered burns across his body and spent the next 18 months in a Navy hospital in Japan. When he came back to Indiana, the Chesteron High School grad joined the Indiana State Police in 1976. He ended his career as a detective and he was part of the FBI fugitive task force.

Soon after Bovard’s doctors witnessed his remarkable improvement, they suggested a heart transplant. By then, Bovard was ready to resume his favorite pastime — mowing lawns.

“I felt 1,000 percent better,” he said.

Although Bovard had good health insurance, it already paid out his lifetime maximum for benefits and wouldn’t cover the transplant.

“If you don’t have money, you don’t get a heart,” Bovard said.

Bovard happily enjoyed life again on the VAD unit. He mowed, played golf, cleaned gutters, built a deck and romped with his Boston terriers, Lucy and Beanie.

“If you’re in need of a transplant, it gives you unlimited time,” Bovard said of the VAD.

But he can’t stray far from a power source because the VAD’s batteries need recharging every 12 hours. It’s also bulky and noisy.

When the Affordable Care Act, championed by President Barack Obama, became law, Bovard’s odds improved again. “When I saw what the president came up with, I thought, ‘That’s me,’ ” he said.

His insurance company lifted his lifetime benefits cap and he joined a transplant list. The call came on June 18. Naturally, Bovard was out mowing a neighbor’s lawn.

He and Diane rushed to the University of Chicago Hospital, where doctors awaited. The surgery took seven hours.

“The surgery was a cakewalk compared to the heart attack,” Bovard said.

While waiting for his new heart, Bovard bought a poster of a diagram of the heart and its chambers. He took it to the hospital when he got his heart, and all his doctors, nurses and aides signed it.

His biggest thrill came when he woke up from surgery.

“I looked at the clock and the nurses, and felt no change,” Bovard said. Then, he moved a bit. “I had a heartbeat; you could hear it.”