My Life at 9200 rpm's: Another dry run but alas the donor heart was unacceptable

It was only a 35 minute trip to Minneapolis from Detroit Lakes by air ambulance.  We landed at an airfield at Blaine and went by ground ambulance to the U of MN medical center. Tension was high.

After a frenetic 2 1/2 hours, I was wheeled to the operating room theater. The LVAD coordinator on call met me and the anesthesiology team and said the U of MN surgeon on site to assess the donor heart determined it to be unacceptable, and the operation was called off.  We were told to stand down.

We learned that the donor's heart was deemed unacceptable by the inspecting surgeon.  Reasons are rare, if given at all, for these kinds of decisions.

The LVAD coordinator said that while frustrating not to have undergone the transplant, any organ can be rejected by the harvesting surgical team or the transplant team until the operation is underway.  Unacceptable donor hearts apparently are more common than I understood them to be.  The LVAD coordinator with lots of experience said that problems with the donated organ are typically magnified once the transplant is accomplished.  I am fortunate to have been offered a heart.  That things didn't work out is a fact.  

It simply was not my time.  I remain good to go and am getting practice for the next alert, if, as, and when it comes along.  UNOS is at the helm.  Two offers of a heart in three months is a lot.

Meanwhile, my HeartMate II is serving me well.  What a luxury it is to have such an option.  Without it, I wouldn't be here to write this post.  I am grateful.