WASHINGTON -- For many people, a failing heart often means a transplant.

But now, new technology is allowing some people to hold off on having a tough transplant and live longer.

Nearly two years ago, Janna Kintzley, a 37-year-old mother of three, suffered a rare kind of heart attack.

The two arteries that fed into her left ventricle suddenly burst, starving her heart for oxygen.

"Once that happened she essentially had the front of her heart die," said Dr. Stuart Russell from Johns Hopkins Hospital. "She was left with not enough pump function to survive with something short of an artificial device to assist her."

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Doctors implanted a left ventricular assist device or an LVAD, in Janna's chest. It's a mechanical pump that keeps her heart going. Without the device to assist her, she would die.

Her only option was getting a heart transplant, but Russell said that was going to be tough.

"The one significant problem for her was that she has a high number of antibodies," he said, "antibodies on the body that could potentially bind to a donor heart and if she had antibodies on a donor heart, the heart could potentially stop working."

Another factor was that the life expectancy of a successfully transplanted heart can be limited to 15 years or even less. That would mean Kintzley's young daughters could risk losing their mother at a very young age and the family wasn't willing to risk that.

Instead, she is living on her heart pump. The device is attached to her heart with wiring coming out of her abdomen that connects to a control panel and batteries, which need to be changed every five hours. The device beeps if the pump is low on power.

"My quality of life is just phenomenal," she said. "If you asked me a year and a half ago, would I be here today talking to you and feeling this great? I never would have guessed it. My life is so good with the heart pump and so much easier."

However, Kintzley's life has changed dramatically. Besides having to avoid water and exercise, she risks infection and the possibility that the pump could malfunction. Lab tests have shown the pump to last for at least five years, but Kintzley and husband Keith try not to worry.

"Day to day, we don't even think about it, for the most part," said Keith.

Janna added, "I don't worry about the little things so much anymore. After all I've been through, I enjoy each day so much. I feel blessed for each new day."

Kintzley said she may consider a heart transplant in a few years, but for now she's staying on the pump.

She is part of a clinical trial and her type of LVAD is not FDA-approved yet.