Pete Stull’s Heart Journey to a New Life

Hi, my name is Carissa. I am setting this up to raise money for my dad (Pete Stull) and his impending heart transplant. He has completed all of his testing and is awaiting review by the board. The only requirement left pending is that they require a formulated amount of money to be saved up to alleviate financial stress while he waits for and after getting the transplant. Insurance is going to hopefully cover the majority of the transplant surgery itself. The money saved is for out-of-pocket medical expenses, medications, living and travel expenses to Tampa General Hospital (TGH), recovery and follow-up care. The timeline for a new heart cannot be predicted. It could take a day, months, or maybe even a year. However, his timeline for needing a heart and getting on the transplant list has been pushed up due to his heart worsening.

As for a little back story, my dad had an infection around his heart that damaged it and at age 42, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF), which has been managed for the last 16 years. Over that time, he has had 3 implanted ICD defibrillators that had to be replaced due to manufacture defects on the wires that broke and defibrillated him multiple times. Fast forward to New Year’s Eve 2019, he went to hospital for stomach related issues was his gallbladder which required a cardiac evaluation before they could remove his gallbladder. They found out he had a double blockage and needed a double bypass and had to put on a bag for drainage of gallbladder since it could not be removed at the time.

January 2020, he had his double bypass and doctors were not optimistic that he would survive, only giving him a 7% chance of survival. He was on ventilator for 4 days. When he woke and was extubated, he told us that he had seen GOD and was sent back. My dad was on the stairway to heaven and seen a man at the top of the stairs with his arms extended out. He had a golden face, hands and feet. My dad knew it was GOD who pointed to him 3 times to go back down the heavenly steps when he turned around, he seen my nana, Sherry and myself at the bottom. Then covid came in March/April 2020 and the world stood still. He never recovered enough to have his gallbladder removed. Beginning of 2021 my dad was diagnosed with end stage heart failure; the left side of his heart had completely failed and was requiring support. He has been in and out of the hospital all year, put on IV Milrinone that he had to have 24/7. August 2021 he was implanted with an impella pump due to his kidneys and liver were now failing. This was a temporary solution until he got his LVAD – (left ventricular assist device). Complications arose with having internal bleeding so the LVAD surgery happened last minute after they could not find the source of the bleeding but at least got it to slow. The impella pump was only rated for 2 weeks and after almost 3.5 weeks the doctors asked him if he would be willing to take a huge risk of getting the LVAD while still bleeding because he was out of time. Of course, my dad said yes. The surgery was over 8 hours, and he developed a blood clot in the main artery of his arm. Which required another 3 hour surgery to remove. Then came the rehabilitation and recovery from being in the hospital for months. He was successful. The LVAD is a bridge to transplant. They started transplant evaluation at Temple and was admitted in June 2021 with more complications and was not able to proceed with the evaluation. Recently he celebrated his 60th birthday at Busch Gardens with our family, which everyone had a Great time! He would like to create more memories with his grandchildren.

After having the LVAD installed, everything was going okay until the right side of his heart started failing now. March 2022, he was hospitalized again for almost a month and put back on the IV medication to aid the right side of his heart now. He now wears batteries for his LVAD to make his heart pump, and the IV bag for medications to help the right side of his heart. Some might call him a Cyborg or the million dollar man for all that he has been through these past 2 years. He has the strength to continue his journey. June 9th, he went to a routine right heart catheterization to check the pressures on the heart and they found that there has been no improvement, that it is getting worse. The doctors deemed it necessary to speed up the process to get him on the list. Since then, he has been admitted starting the evaluation/work up for heart transplant or to get on the list. He has completed the testing portion and is awaiting the Medical Review board to decide if my dad is a good fit for transplant. The only outstanding part is the financial requirement. Please keep him in your prayers that he keeps moving in the right direction to his goal to get the new gift of life.

I do not normally ask for things, but please consider making a donation of what you can to help my dad on his new path to a new heart. Anything and everything are greatly appreciated. We know money is tight for everyone right now. If you are unable to donate, please share this link with others. Please say a pray for our family’s long journey and consider becoming an organ donor at www.organdonor.gov.

He has had a happy life with amazing friends and family but there is so much to come and to live for. So many more memories to make with his grandkids. He would like to continue to touch the hearts of everyone he meets. God has a plan for him. If you have had the privilege of knowing my dad, you know he is humble, funny, likes to talk a lot, is a hard worker, easy going, generous and has a lot of knowledge on diagnosing anything from soup to nuts over the phone without even being there. Despite going through his own tough times, my dad is always willing to lend a hand to help others. It’s our turn to help him. Your donation will help my dad Pete both pre and post-surgery. The year following a heart transplant will consist of lots of doctor appointments, being unable to work and on anti-rejection medications, and all other unexpected costs along this journey.

God Bless and let’s keep his heart beating!