In May of 2006 Elmer had a massive heart attack that left his heart severely damaged. By 2009 he needed a heart transplant. On November 12, 2009 he entered the hospital at UCSF in California in the ICU & waited for a heart because he had become critical. On November 29, 2009 Doctor Charles Hoopes & his amazing transplant team placed a new heart in Elmer that he was blessed with getting from an amazing donor & his family. We have been forever grateful to them for this precious gift.

This gift has allowed Elmer 14-1/2 years of memories that we never thought that he would get to have. He has seen grandbabies be born (we just had #13!) our children get married & done so many wonderful things with friends & family as well as just the two of us. We have made sure to live life to the fullest for not just him but for his donor has well.

We recently moved to Georgia & last year during a checkup to get him established here with their Cardiologist at Kaiser. Kaiser also does not have a Transplant Team in GA so they had referred him out to University of Alabama (UAB) to handle all of his transplant follow up. During a routine evaluation it was discovered that Elmer had several severe blockages & they put in 3 stents. This was very concerning to them because only a year before they were not there. It was decided that they would start the evaluation process for another heart transplant.

As soon as it was mentioned that they might possibly want to re-transplant him I looked up to see who their transplant doctors were. Unbelievable......DR CHARLES HOOPES!! If you remember from above he transplanted him at UCSF right after that he left & went to KY to start a program & somehow he left there & ended up at UAB! We had no idea but knew it was meant to be & that God put both of them nearly 3000 miles & nearly 15 year later at the same location again for a reason.

Fast forward to last week. Elmer came to UAB to finish up his transplant evaluation to see if they were going to put him back on the list. He ended up being admitted to CCU & being told he could not leave the hospital without a new heart because he had severe blockage above a stent that was to risky to stent, also that he was in advanced heart failure & that his heart was failing & that he was at a great risk for sudden death.

Needless to say our world came to an abrupt stop. We were not expecting this news at all. Elmer did not have any of the symptoms that he had the first time besides being a little tire. Yet somehow he is even sicker this time around!

He has now been transferred to the HLTICU (Heart Lung Transplant ICU) and is officially on the waiting list for a new heart. He is currently at status 3. Early next week they will go into surgery & put something called a Balloon Pump into him that will assist in the blood flow temporarily while he waits for the new heart. Once this is place he will be bumped up to a status 2. The hope is that since he is at such a high status he will get an offer within a couple of weeks.

Mentally this has taken a toll on us yes. However, the real issue is the finances at this time. We are in another state which means I am unable to work. I do not qualify for FMLA because I have only been at my job for 8 months but that doesn't pay you anyway. We not only have to meet his deductible but we have all the costs of me staying in Alabama as well. The one blessing is that Kaiser is paying for my hotel room I have to pay for the parking everyday at the hotel & the hospital as well as all of my meals. They will reimburse for my meals but not until 10 weeks after all of this is done with Elmer! With me not being able to work we will not have enough income coming in with just his SSDI. As of today I have exhausted all of my PTO. We had gotten rid of most of our credit cards & had only recently been able to start saving money again so it will not only not last long but will not cover all these expenses!

Once Elmer has his transplant he will remain in the hospital up to an additional 2 weeks. We will then have to remain here in Alabama at the hotel another 6-8 weeks while he undergoes outpatient tests & observations. We know that all of this is for a reason & that Elmer has been given yet another opportunity to be blessed with another precious gift for a specific reason. We love to share his journey & give others hope & have even been sharing our journey on social media in an effort to help others going through this transplant journey. Feel free to follow at our TikTok - A Change of Heart

We are reaching out now to everyone with great humbleness asking that if you can help us in any way we would appreciate it. This journey is very emotional & stressful physically, mentally & emotionally. Please continue to pray for us that we can continue to keep our faith & humor as we go through this second change of heart! Thank you for reading Elmer's story & helping us out, we truly appreciate all the love and support.