My LVAD lifeat9200rpms: Oz, the Tin Man, and a new heart

Going to 1-A status on the UNOS transplant list gives me the willies.  As of Friday evening, July 20, 2012, the pre-transplant coordinator at the U of Minnesota confirmed that I'm now in 1-A status for the next 30 days.  I am using the term "the willies" as a substitute for saying I'm terrified.  

The words to the popular song that Oz never gave nothin' to the Tin Man that he didn't already have are very stubborn right now.  The lyrics and tune are running around in my head.  Thanks America.  

I've gotten this far, 27 months and 19 days downrange from my LVAD implant surgery, and I would not be here without old pump Number 8358 HeartMate II.  Do I really want to give up something that has given me back my life?  Or do I want to exercise the option of going through with a heart transplant?

If, successful, the transplant requires a completely new regimen of anti-rejection drugs for life.  I know there will be side effects from the drug therapy and those are not pleasant to contemplate.

So what makes a person like me, your ordinary 68 year old with a perfectly good heart pump, want to go for a transplant?  I've been asking myself that from day one on the transplant list.  The only answer I have is that I want to be around for as long as possible to interact with and to help my family:  partner, daughters, son, their families and our grandchild. 

The U surgeons transplanted two hearts Friday.  Is that a good omen?  It is good for the recipients but as I understand the situation it doesn't mean anything to my 1-A status.  If a matching donor heart is found, I'm told I get a call.

There are hiccups in the process.  The call comes to the 1-A person when UNOS's computers and statisticians declare a match for transplant.  At the same time a heart transplant team is dispatched to obtain the donated heart, assess it in person, and return with it to the U of MN hospital in Minneapolis.  The 1-A beats feet for the hospital.  Since I live in Fargo, 240 miles from Minneapolis, the air ambulance service is pre-arranged as my transport mode. It will be me my LVAD equipment and my wife.

Because the transplant isn't a go until the heart transplant recovery team obtains the donated heart and I am prepped for surgery, the operation could be scrubbed at any time until the heart surgeon begins opening my chest.  When a transplant operation is scrubbed, it gets chalked up to experience as a dry run.

Having been in the military, I accept the notion of "hurry up and wait."