Main fundraiser photo

A Heart for Bruce

Donation protected
A HEART FOR BRUCE – FUNDRAISER FOR VIETNAM VET HEART TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT

 

(Honesdale & Jessup, PA)    On Saturday, June 27th  VFW Post xxxx  at 205 Dolph Avenue, Jessup, PA, will be the gathering place for friends, family, and the greater northeastern Pennsylvania community to come out and show their appreciation and financial support for recent heart transplant recipient and Vietnam Veteran Bruce Kovatch.  Dubbed “A Heart for Bruce – a special fundraiser for a special guy” all proceeds raised that day will directly benefit Kovatch who is currently recuperating in Houston, Texas, after getting his new heart at Memorial Hermann Medical Center, Houston, Texas, late last fall.

 

Anyone whose path has crossed with this northeastern PA native and Vietnam era Army veteran would surely have taken note of his great sense of humor and the caring he demonstrates to everyone around him.  And anyone who knows him well also knows something of the personal path he has been traveling since his time in the service, particularly in the last several years.  His most recent journey to Houston began decades ago in the jungles of Vietnam when Kovatch, like many other servicemen and women at the time, was exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange.

 

Originally from Jessup, PA, Kovatch returned from the service and he and his wife Ann

eventually settled down in neighboring Wayne County (Cherry Ridge) where they both worked, met and made friends, joined organizations, volunteered, worshiped, and all of the other daily activities many of us too often take for granted.  Although there may have been some telltale signs along the way, by 1985 it had become clear that Bruce’s health was on a downward trajectory and he was suffering from ischemic heart disease, that is, a reduced flow of blood to the heart.  Forced to retire in 2000 because of rapidly deteriorating health, Bruce had survived several heart attacks, heart catherizations and several stints, as well as two heart bypass surgeries, a stroke, and two abdominal aneurisms.   Other health complications also presented themselves that were a direct result of congestive heart failure.  By 2013 it became obvious to Bruce and Ann, as well as Bruce’s doctors and caregivers, that the only option for survival would be a heart transplant.

 

In April of 2013 Bruce and Ann set out on the next leg of this journey…to get Bruce on a heart transplant list.  By this time the severity and level of Bruce’s debilitation was obvious.  With Ann assertively advocating all the way, they spent months (which turned to years) and what seemed like an eternity going through test after test, traveling, navigating hospital and hotel stays, requiring transportation to and from airports and hospitals, and much time off from work for Ann.  The result was disappointing when despite positive feedback and encouragement at facility after facility their hopes would be dashed by rejection.  Bruce was denied at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Beth Israel in Newark, New Jersey, as well as Methodist and St. Luke Hospitals in Houston.  He was not accepted at Columbia Presbyterian in New York, but was told he would have a better chance at Beth Israel.  Neither accepted him.

 

Bruce’s journey was about to change course, however.  Their next “stop” was Houston’s Memorial Hermann, renowned for their high-risk transplant surgeries.  The rounds of redundant testing (each hospital doing their own) required Bruce to remain in Houston, where he was able to stay at Nora’s Home, a housing facility available for transplant patients and their families.  While waiting to see if he would be accepted for Memorial Hermann’s transplant list, Bruce suffered yet another heart attack on September 28, 2014.

It was particularly life threatening and finally, after two years of waiting and with his condition worsening by the day, the Doctor’s placed Bruce on the heart transplant list.  Remarkably, after nearly two years of trying to get on a list, his wait was short.  On October 31st, 2014, Bruce received his heart.

 

Today the Kovatch’s are thrilled to report that the heart was a perfect match, even better than the surgeons had originally expected, with no signs of rejection.  But Bruce’s journey is not over, he must remain in Houston, Texas for at least a year to enable the doctors to monitor his condition, checking blood and other clinical testing needed for heart transplant recipients.  Next month, Bruce will have another operation to remove his pacemaker along with his 6-month biopsy.  Because of the nature of heart transplantation, a relative or close caregiver must remain with the organ recipient through the 12-month recovery, and so Ann is by his side in Texas.

 

Both Ann and Bruce remain at Nora’s Home where they can focus on Bruce’s care and healing.  As one of the committee members and friends working to help raise funds for the Kovatch’s on June 27th summed it up, “Bruce and Ann should not be thinking about financial woes – that is OUR mission.

Organizer

Bruce Kovatch
Organizer
Waymart, PA

Your easy, powerful, and trusted home for help

  • Easy

    Donate quickly and easily.

  • Powerful

    Send help right to the people and causes you care about.

  • Trusted

    Your donation is protected by the  GoFundMe Giving Guarantee.