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After five heart attacks, former Vice President Dick Cheney’s ticker has taken a beating. Last week, he said that he underwent surgery to install a new heart pump.

What he got was a LVAD, or left ventricular assist device, which is made for people like Cheney who need a little help pumping blood because their hearts aren’t keeping up.

The pump runs something like a drill bit, continuously rotating at 9,000 rotations per minute rather than squeezing and releasing, so Cheney now officially has no pulse, according to Dr. Stuart D. Russell, chief of heart failure and transplantation at Johns Hopkins’ Comprehensive Transplant Center.

But what he’s likely getting in return, says Russell, who is not involved in Cheney’s care, is a better quality and quantity of life.

Cheney said in a statement that he had “increasing congestive heart failure,” which afflicts about 5 million Americans whose hearts have weakened over time. In most candidates for the device, the amount of have blood squeezed out with each beat is significantly reduced – normal is 55 percent or greater and Cheney was likely more in the 10-15 percent range. That makes the people grow tired quickly after doing minor chores such as dressing.