My Life at 9200 rpm's: Third call for a donor heart but alas no hat trick

Waiting on an organ transplant list has its ups and downs. Nothing new about that. My comrades and I joked in the military about hurrying up to wait. It was true more often than not.  But if you missed a troop movement or your ship sailed without you, the potential for a court martial stared back at you.

So far I have remained in readiness as a candidate on the heart transplant waiting list at the University of Minnesota since Hallowe'en 2011or about 18 months.  Since the number of donor hearts has been shrinking slightly each year, the waiting time is necessarily longer.

But still, I keep my cell phone charged and at the ready in case "the call" comes.  So far, I've had three calls, but none resulted in a transplant.  I'm calling it a reverse hat trick.  A hat trick is three scores in a sporting event like ice hockey by one player in one game.  For those who remember Gordie Howe, "Mr. Hockey," of the Detroit Red Wings, his version of a hat trick was to score, get an assist, and get into a fight in the same game. But I digress.

The first time I got "the call," I was told to stand down within 20 minutes.  Twenty minutes is enough time to upset anyone's applecart.  That time I did not get airborne.  The plan is to be flown by air ambulance from Fargo to Minneapolis.

The next time I got "the call" I was in Detroit Lakes, MN, about 50 miles east of Fargo. It was also a dry run. The weather was snowy, foggy, and winter like. DL was pre-approved as a launch point because it is closer to Minneapolis. My wife and I met the air ambulance at the Detroit Lakes Municipal Airport, watched the landing lights illuminate based on a radio transmission from the aircraft, and were whisked to the University of Minnesota Medical Center at Fairview.

I was fully prepped for surgery, which means ingestion of an array of medications including anti-rejection, immune system suppressants and others.  About 20 different, doctors and medical personnel talked with me about the "procedure" during the three hours I spent in "pre-op."

When my appointed time to meet with the transplant surgical team arrived, an LVAD coordinator told me the transplant investigative team called off the operation.  Better to find as suitable a donor heart as possible before hand than to risk problems after transplant,  I was told.  I agree.

Trying to fix something after installation can result in a whole set of problems that no one could have anticipated.  So there I was, along with my faithful wing woman, at the brink of the transplant operation when we were told to stand down, get dressed, and leave the facility.  

We repaired to a nearby hotel for the night and returned to Fargo by car the next day.

The third time I got "the call" was last week.  It came about supper time and the call was from my cardiologist.  After talking about the donor heart, which was described as "strong," I agreed to accept it.

Within about 30 minutes, the cardiologist called back and told me to stand down.  The investigative cardiology transplant team examined the donor heart in person and found that it would not be suitable for me after all.

So I've been through a "reverse hat trick." No heart but my faith and hope are strong.  Every day I am thankful that my LVAD, a HeartMate II, allows me to wait for a suitable donor heart.