Transplanted Part 2
Transplanted Part 2
May 25th, 2007
When I get to the hospital I am taken to a room that has been isolated for the 4 hours before my arrival. I then am asked to change into a hospital gown, and get in bed. A doctor Young comes to talk to me and let me know that he will be hooking me up to IV’s and starting a reverse affect of a particular medicine I have been taking. As all this was going on Susan was on her way to the high school where my youngest daughter was attending, to get her. By the way the day of all this was Katelyn’s 16th birthday. At about 2:30pm they arrived as well as my son and father-in-law. We where told at that time that the transplant may take place between 5-6 that evening. As the day progressed the word of this must have spread because people from church kept filtering in. Well around 5:30 we were told that it might be closer to 9-930 before surgery. In the meantime a nurse found out that it was Katelyn’s birthday and arranged a big chocolate cake to be delivered to my room. So we sang happy birthday to her and everyone ate cake while I just watched…lol. Dr Young kept coming in and just letting me know what they were doing and preparing the family for what I would look like after the surgery. Lora, my transplant coordinator was also in a lot letting us know the status of the situation. Although nothing can be said of the donor or what has happened to him. At about 1015 that night we are told that the plane has taken off and that the donor heart is a really, really, really, good heart. What we were told at that time was that it was from a young man, who was a rather large body size but had been very athletic all his life. So at about 11 I was wheeled to surgery where I said goodbye to my family and started some babble about my last wishes and all that to which Lora told me that I was going to be just fine. So I shut up. I was taken to this holding area where my chest and arms were shaved, and the next thing I remember was being pushed into the surgery room looking up at the surgical lights. That was the last thing I remembered. These next events I will write about is concerning the updates the family received during the course of the night. These were recorded by a dear lady in our church.1:35 am Lora told the family I was on bypass and the heart was here.2:30 am the heart is in and beating and the doctors where putting in drain tubes, and getting ready to take off bypass.3:30 am off bypass and checking for bleeding.4:00 doctors were wiring up sternum. and was being placed on a ventilator 4:40 am Lora tells family they were finishing up and sewing everything back in place.4:50 am the transplant surgeon Dr. Salerno tells family I am on the way to recovery and would be weaned off the ventilator later that day and that it was an excellent heart. The surgery was just over 3 1/2 hours.5:15 am family comes in; they said I am puffy and pale, hooked up to a lot of tubes and wires, and of course the ventilator. Lora tells the family that my old heart was the largest of the last 5 transplants, and when they removed it was an angry red color, it literally fit into the 2 hands of the surgeon. But the new one was a very healthy pink color and was the size of his fist. The family is reminded not to get bogged down in details but look at the big picture. They have to make sure brain; lungs, kidneys and heart are all working together.The next thing I do remember was seeing the lovely face of my wife and her telling me that I had a new heart and that it was beating perfectly. And was told that upon that news I flashed a $100.00 smile and gave a thumbs up…then slipped back into sleep.I will stop here for now because I know this has been rather lengthy. But will later this week will finish the rest of the week.
