Bionic man in Caldwell county?

(KXAN) AUSTIN - Ronald Breaux walked down the halls of Seton Medical Center in Austin with a new glimmer in his eye.

"I used to not be able to walk out of the house without being tired," said Breaux.  "I had to let my garden go, cause I couldn't take care of it."

The 57 year old from Caldwell County was diagnosed with congestive heart failure more than ten years ago and was told a heart transplant was the only treatment that could save him.  However, Breaux recently learned he was a candidate for a ventricular assist device implant, and his future changed.  Less than two weeks after receiving his VAD at Seton, Breaux is up on his feet walking more than he has in years.

A ventricular assist device, or VAD, is basically an artifical heart.  Former Vice President Dick Cheney recently had a VAD implanted.

"It's kind of what we tell our patients is a heart helper," said Seton's VAD Outreach Coordinator Erin August.  "It helps pump your blood whenever your heart becomes so sick and debilitated that it can't do its job of pumping enough blood to the body."

In January 2010, the Federal Drug Administration approved the HeartMate II ventricular assist device for use in patients who not only are waiting for a heart transplant, but who want to live with the VAD for the rest of their lives.

"They're patients that have heart failure or weakening of the heart muscle so severe that it's really difficult for them to do really anything," said Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Eric Hoenicke with Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons in Austin.

Watch more of an interview with Dr. Hoenicke here.

Patients can easily carry two batteries and the pump strapped to their bodies, so they're mobile for everyday activities.  Each battery generally last about twelve hours.  At night, patients plug into a constant power source.  Older VAD models were much bulkier and did not allow patients to be as active.  The new VADS allow patients to do just about anything but submerge themselves in water, so no swimming or taking a bath.  They can, however fly in an aircraft and drive.  The VADs simply plug into a car's power source just like a cell phone does.

"In college I actually worked in a bioengineering lab, so I got to see a lot of these from the ground up," said August.  "It's amazing to see them come to fruition and how they really change and enhance people's lives."

For Ronald, getting back to the little things on his Caldwell County ranch will be a big change.

"I'll go fishing," said Breaux.  "I'll go hunting. I'll go work my garden, work my yard. Nothing I ain't planning on not being able to do."

Seton Medical Center in Austin is one of about one hundred facilities in the country using the VADS.  Scott and White Healthcare in Temple uses VADS too.

There are obvious risks associated with this surgery.

"It does involve an incision in the chest," said Dr. Hoenicke. "It does involve going on the heart lung bypass machine. In the best case scenario patients will be discharged from the hospital in a week to a week and a half."

August said the HeartMate II VAD costs about 250 thousand dollars that some insurance policies will cover.