At 69, Stanley “Shorty” Carson is still climbing into heavy equipment, hauling machines onto trailers, and doing the kind of work that defined his life long before retirement.

Not long ago, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep going.

Heart disease ran in Shorty's family. His father died of a heart attack at 56, and as Shorty and his four brothers reached that same age, they all felt the weight of it.

In 2024, Shorty’s health took a turn. He became constantly fatigued and swollen as symptoms of congestive heart failure began.

"I was basically drowning in my own fluid,” he said.

That's when a friend encouraged Shorty to seek care at UK HealthCare’s Gill Heart & Vascular Institute. Though he’d never been treated at a large academic medical center, Shorty decided it was time.

At Gill, heart failure cardiologist Dr. Navin Rajagopalan and his team reassessed Shorty's treatment and stayed in close contact as he progressed.

When medication alone wasn’t enough, Shorty was admitted to UK’s Albert B. Chandler Hospital with the help of registered nurse Stacy Ford.

While hospitalized, doctors removed more than 50 pounds of excess fluid and addressed an irregular heart rhythm that was making his heart failure worse.

Dr. Kristin Ellison, one of UK HealthCare’s electrophysiologists, then performed a procedure that restored Shorty's heartbeat.

Since the procedure, Shorty has had "good days and bad days" — but the good ones are winning.

Those walks to his pickup are easier. The work he loves is still part of his life. And his team at UK HealthCare is committed to helping him continue doing the things that bring him joy.

“Fortunately, good people done good things,” Shorty said. “I feel like they’ve put me back where I can finish up what I want to do in life.”