"It's good to be home," Sam Phayer admitted. "You don't really know what will happen in the future but you have to take it day by day."

The 21-year-old Warrnambool man now relies on a portable machine to pump blood through the left side of his enlarged and stretched heart after being diagnosed with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (known as DCM) in October.

The life-threatening illness was diagnosed just months after Mr Phayer landed his dream job as a computer technician at Emmanuel College and announced his engagement to childhood sweetheart Samantha Wiltshire.

Miss Wiltshire spent the first few weeks by Mr Phayer's hospital bed, initially in Warrnambool and Geelong and then at The Alfred in Melbourne.

He went to the emergency department on October 9 after suffering shortness of breath and a sore chest for the best part of a week. Tests finally confirmed DCM and he was fitted with a portable ventricular assist device during a major heart operation on November 2.

Mr Phayer is believed to be the first Warrnambool person to receive one. It is carried in a small satchel and connected to his heart with a cable that runs below his clothing.

He said it was much less confronting than the previous heart machines which had to be wheeled around on a trolley.

The couple has spent the last two months in a unit near the hospital, allowing Mr Phayer to attend check-ups and take part in an intensive rehabilitation program.

"I basically had to learn to walk again," he said.

At 21, Miss Wiltshire has willingly taken on the role of full-time carer and will almost have to shadow her fiance around with a spare battery and controller.

That task will be made easier in the next week as the couple make last-minute plans for their Valentine's Day wedding with family and friends at the botanic gardens - a celebration organised before Mr Phayer became ill.

"We're looking forward to a big welcome home and a wedding together," Miss Wiltshire said.

Mr Phayer is now on the waiting list for a heart transplant, which is the only real cure for the disease.

The couple was heartened by the community's response to their plight, with a public appeal helping them meet the costs of Mr Phayer's recovery.

"It was just amazing that everyone helped like that. We would be in so much debt if it wasn't for that"