Three years with a new heart and counting

Another year in the life of a heart transplant recipient is a milestone. I received a new heart three years ago today. 

A friend calls those heart birthdays--"heart-iversaries."

The wait with an LVAD was 1,164 days.  In fact the LVAD was developing issues including potentially fatal blood clots and it would likely not have lasted too much longer. 

The LVAD gave me the opportunity to wait on the transplant list until a suitable donor heart became available.

Now, I've had six additional years of life--no small gift.  I got the LVAD March 1, 2010, and had it for three years, two months, and six plus days.

I turned 69 years young the week before the transplant operation. It came as a shock because the transplant information is closely guarded until the last possible minute.

I got a call about 7:30 a.m. June 7, 2013, with the question:  Are you still interested in a heart?  That in itself was a surprise because I'd never expressed a sentiment or hinted in any way that I did not want to be transplanted.

At any rate the transplant coordinator instructed me to be at the local airport in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota in 30 minutes because an air ambulance was en route from Fargo as we spoke.  I had a "false start" before where a heart was offered and later (after the flight from Fargo to Minneapolis and after all pre-op preparation) the heart was withdrawn as "not suitable."

My wife and I were literally turned out in the cold of a Minneapolis winter night after the heart was withdrawn.  Fortunately, LVAD patients are instructed to carry all of their equipment when going away from home overnight.  

As a compliant patient, I carried my "stuff"--eight spare 14 volt lithium ion batteries for the LVAD, a specialized battery charger, a step down transformer and computer that I plugged into at night, miscellaneous electric cords and connections along with wound dressing supplies, and the like to Minneapolis.  I needed all of that when the transplant trip became a "false start." 

You don't have a clue that a transplant mission could be a dry run. But once the heart was withdrawn, we were on our own to return to Fargo as best we could.

Meanwhile, we've been to Arizona again for a few months over the winter.  A desert paradise. Reminder:  Every day is a gift.

Note:  I just found this in drafts.  Better late than....