Today we celebrate the 11th anniversary of my brother's new heart. Friday, August 13, 1999 he received a heart transplant. I remember the events of that time as if it were just yesterday. My brother (Bud) had been on the transplant list for 17 months, so the waiting wasn't new to us and was just a part of life. We all wore pagers so we could be notified the minute a heart became available. Bud's pager (the most important) went off about 11:00 pm on Thursday. He, my brother Joe and Joe's fiancee, Anna were out listening to the band that was going to play at their wedding that was just a little over a week away. Bud called into his transplant coordinator who informed him that a heart had become available, however he was the secondary recipient, not the primary. When an organ becomes available for transplant two people are notified so that in the event that the organ ends up not working for the primary recipient, a secondary is ready to go so that the organ doesn't go to waste.
My mom called me to inform me that a heart was available but that Bud was the secondary and that they had to go to the hospital, but would probably be back home in a couple of hours. I asked her to please call when they got home. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I heard that they were back home. In the mean time, I prayed for the person who had just died and for the person about to receive a new heart. Not 45 minutes after my mom called my brother Joe called and informed us that the heart was Bud's and we needed to get to St. Louis as quickly as possible. The woman who was the primary recipient had some antibody issues that prevented the heart from going to her (she did later receive a heart). The next few hours were a flurry of phone calls and travel plans and flying into St. Louis.
We arrived around 3:00 am at the hospital where Bud was already being prepped for surgery. Because of his complicated anatomy they went right to work trying to remove his diseased heart to be sure they had it out by the time the new heart arrived. Time is very critical in a transplant. The doctors were actually able to get the old heart out rather quickly and Bud laid on the operating table for quite some time without a heart (and without his new heart even in the building). It finally arrived around 7:00 in the morning (we later learned that the team that went to harvest the organ forgot it in the operating room and one of the doctors had to race back to retrieve it) and by noon was in Bud and he was successfully "off the pump" (the heart-lung machine that does the work for your organs while they are shut down). Coming off the pump is one of the most difficult parts and a huge milestone. We were able to see Bud three hours later. He ended up needing another open heart surgery the next day and a week and a half later, he was home. The ensuing months were tough on everyone (toughest on Bud) but the good thing is he has said that he really doesn't remember anything from August 12 until Thanksgiving and that is a good thing.
So as we celebrate today, I ask you to take a minute to do two things. First, think about becoming an organ donor. If it is right for you, make your wishes known to your family. Second, join me in remembering the family of Bud's donor and say a prayer for them as they celebrate a very different kind of anniversary today.
Posted by Margaret Sarver