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It’s been four years since John's life-saving heart transplant. The last two years haven't gone well health wise with intense constant pain and various complications. My wish is to help improve my husband's quality of life while we still have time to...
We’ve had many dress rehearsals and close calls with John almost dying. My deepest sadness is the realization that next time it won’t be a rehearsal and I will lose the love of my life.
This fundraiser is to help with expensive prescriptions —as well as therapy not typically covered by insurance.
In 1998, three years after we were married, John almost died of heart failure due to an undetected congenital defect. John had emergency open-heart surgery after one of his heart valve cables snapped, receiving two artificial heart valves made of titanium/ceramic. However, major complications developed after the doctors discovered a foreign object had been left in John’s heart during the surgery.
The doctors were baffled. A bolt from the chest spreader had fallen into his left ventricle and was floating in his heart post operation for a week until being detected. John’s medical records show that he was at risk of dying each time he stood up from a severely erratic heartbeat. In addition, his white blood cell count skyrocketed, erroneously leading to the concern of infection.
Another emergency open-heart surgery was set a week after John’s heart valve replacement. Unfortunately, the second surgery to remove the bolt resulted in two heart attacks within 48 hours, one in the operating room and the following day in recovery. His life was jeopardized again, and John’s overall health took setbacks. The following year John struggled with tachycardia and atrial fibrillation. After trials with strong medications, two ablations were successfully performed to correct his heart rhythm.
For the next 12 years, John lived with heart failure that included the leak around his aortic valve. His outstanding team of cardiologists regularly monitored his heart function, and they managed to keep it under control for the most part.
In 2011, John was in a serious accident on the way to the cardiologist and his car was totaled. The situation was worsened when the airbag exploded after it impacted a mini flashlight hanging from John’s medic alert necklace. As a result, his chest hit the steering wheel full-on and he suffered four fractured vertebrae.
While John was hospitalized, the doctors discovered he had an aortic aneurism. A few months later, open-heart surgery was scheduled to wrap up the aneurism and to replace the aortic valve that had been leaking since the replacement in 1998.
With the surgical team in place to begin, John was placed under deep anesthesia. Then, in a bold last-minute decision from the operating room, the surgeon aborted the surgery acknowledging that John’s heart was too weak and the chances were extremely high that he would not make it through.
From 2011 until 2018, John’s heart function was closely monitored, but it continued to decline. So the only real next option was a heart transplant.
On April 16th, 2018, John’s health rapidly declined, and he was admitted with severe heart failure with only days or weeks to live. After multiple tests, John was approved on May 2nd to be put on the transplant list.
On Friday, May 4th, John was officially placed on the heart transplant waiting list at the highest classified priority, Status 1A. These are individuals who must stay in the hospital as in-patients and require high doses of intravenous drugs, require a ventricular assist device (VAD) for survival, are dependent on a ventilator or have a life expectancy of a week or less without a transplant.
On May 6th at 2:45 am, less than 48 hours after being placed on the waitlist, there was a match with a donor's heart. The surgical team immediately began preparation for the heart transplant surgery to begin at 6:30 pm that same day. The surgery took about eight hours and ended successfully at 2:30 am. We are forever grateful to the donor and to the team of doctors for the life-saving transplant surgery.
”Grief doesn’t begin when the person dies. We experience the loss while the person is alive. Because our energy is so focused on doctor appointments, tests and treatment, we might not be aware that we’ve already begun grieving the loss of someone that we love.”
We’ve had many dress rehearsals and close calls with John almost dying. My deepest sadness is the realization that next time it won’t be a rehearsal and I will lose the love of my life.
This fundraiser is to help with expensive prescriptions —as well as therapy not typically covered by insurance.
In 1998, three years after we were married, John almost died of heart failure due to an undetected congenital defect. John had emergency open-heart surgery after one of his heart valve cables snapped, receiving two artificial heart valves made of titanium/ceramic. However, major complications developed after the doctors discovered a foreign object had been left in John’s heart during the surgery.
The doctors were baffled. A bolt from the chest spreader had fallen into his left ventricle and was floating in his heart post operation for a week until being detected. John’s medical records show that he was at risk of dying each time he stood up from a severely erratic heartbeat. In addition, his white blood cell count skyrocketed, erroneously leading to the concern of infection.
Another emergency open-heart surgery was set a week after John’s heart valve replacement. Unfortunately, the second surgery to remove the bolt resulted in two heart attacks within 48 hours, one in the operating room and the following day in recovery. His life was jeopardized again, and John’s overall health took setbacks. The following year John struggled with tachycardia and atrial fibrillation. After trials with strong medications, two ablations were successfully performed to correct his heart rhythm.
For the next 12 years, John lived with heart failure that included the leak around his aortic valve. His outstanding team of cardiologists regularly monitored his heart function, and they managed to keep it under control for the most part.
In 2011, John was in a serious accident on the way to the cardiologist and his car was totaled. The situation was worsened when the airbag exploded after it impacted a mini flashlight hanging from John’s medic alert necklace. As a result, his chest hit the steering wheel full-on and he suffered four fractured vertebrae.
While John was hospitalized, the doctors discovered he had an aortic aneurism. A few months later, open-heart surgery was scheduled to wrap up the aneurism and to replace the aortic valve that had been leaking since the replacement in 1998.
With the surgical team in place to begin, John was placed under deep anesthesia. Then, in a bold last-minute decision from the operating room, the surgeon aborted the surgery acknowledging that John’s heart was too weak and the chances were extremely high that he would not make it through.
From 2011 until 2018, John’s heart function was closely monitored, but it continued to decline. So the only real next option was a heart transplant.
On April 16th, 2018, John’s health rapidly declined, and he was admitted with severe heart failure with only days or weeks to live. After multiple tests, John was approved on May 2nd to be put on the transplant list.
On Friday, May 4th, John was officially placed on the heart transplant waiting list at the highest classified priority, Status 1A. These are individuals who must stay in the hospital as in-patients and require high doses of intravenous drugs, require a ventricular assist device (VAD) for survival, are dependent on a ventilator or have a life expectancy of a week or less without a transplant.
On May 6th at 2:45 am, less than 48 hours after being placed on the waitlist, there was a match with a donor's heart. The surgical team immediately began preparation for the heart transplant surgery to begin at 6:30 pm that same day. The surgery took about eight hours and ended successfully at 2:30 am. We are forever grateful to the donor and to the team of doctors for the life-saving transplant surgery.
”Grief doesn’t begin when the person dies. We experience the loss while the person is alive. Because our energy is so focused on doctor appointments, tests and treatment, we might not be aware that we’ve already begun grieving the loss of someone that we love.”