Category: heart transplant

We have learned from the doctors at Duke that there are 150,000 people in the U.S. who are sick enough for a heart transplant each year. There are about 5,000 hearts that become available.
John is one of those 150,000. Because there are so few hearts and so many people who need them, unfortunately doctors have to find reasons why some people receive a heart and some people don’t. This usually comes down to factors such as age, other health problems, and the likelihood that the recipient will use the heart to be a productive citizen.
So far John is proving to be an ideal candidate. No other health issues, such as damage to his other organs, have been detected through the tests he has gone through. He is young, has a great outlook and attitude, and can tell you exactly what he plans to do with the new heart he gets.
All of this, however, is an overwhelming blessing from God, and we can’t forget that. John is no different than any other person in being worthy enough for a heart. We have done nothing to deserve this gift. There is nothing we could do. We are too broken and sinful to even attempt to earn this blessing. It is a complete gift of grace. “‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:35-36
Each of those 150,000 people are very special and loved by God just like John is loved. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16My prayer is that we show humility and gratitude for this extra special gift of life on earth that John will receive.

www.donatelife.net

Since the weekend John continued to have rough days and very restless nights. We didn’t go anywhere over the weekend including to church. On Monday and Tuesday he came home utterly exhausted to the point that his lips were blue from walking from his truck into the house. Tuesday night he hardly slept at all. It was the worse I had seen him. He was up several times, couldn’t lay down, had restless leg, and minor aches.

On Wednesday morning he woke up, but didn’t go to work. This is when I knew that he was getting even worse. To put it in perspective, when we saw John’s new doctor at Duke two and a half weeks ago, he was shocked that John is still working at all. John doesn’t stay out of work unless his very sick.

That morning I called the transplant department to find out where they were in scheduling the heart evaluation. I had received a phone call the day before that the insurance contract had been worked out, and now it was on to the scheduling phase. However, the transplant department had not received any information on John to schedule him yet. I thought that if they had not even received the information about him yet, then it would probably be into next week before it got scheduled.

At that point I called the nurse and told him John’s symptoms and that basically we were going to have to come in for the evaluation or we were going to have to come to the hospital. After talking to the doctor, they told us to come on in.

We got ready immediately early Wednesday afternoon and headed to Duke for John to be admitted into the hospital.

We have been here ever since.

You wouldn’t believe the looks John has gotten since we arrived at the hospital.

After we checked in, we waited for someone to come and get him to take him to his room. The waiting room was packed with people, but they were holding the room for us as we made our way to Durham. After about five minutes a lady with a wheelchair rounds the corner and passes right by John. We were standing up because there was nowhere to sit. She looked at him, but just kept going. I heard her ask for Mr. Rodgers, and the lady at the desk pointed to John. John took a seat in the wheelchair, and the lady said, “You look so young.” That was o.k. because I hear how young John looks all the time. But I didn’t expect her to say the next thing. She says, “Is he your son?” MY SON!!! Really? Well, I just tell myself that I’m glad I have a young, healthy looking husband.

So later when we were settled in the room, someone came in to get John to take him for a pulmonary test. The man came in and said, “Are you ready to go?” John was laying on the bed in his hospital gown and jumped right up out of the bed and said, “Yep.” The man just chuckled and said, “You’re ready to walk, aren’t you? You’re not walking. I’m rolling you down there.” John just said, “Oh, o.k. and laid back down.” I just laughed and said, “That’s my Boby.” He’s never going to accept that he’s so sick. He’s always ready to go.

Throughout the past two days John’s had several different nurses – day nurses and night nurses. Every time a new nurse comes on and meets John for the first time we hear, “You look too good to be here. Are you sure you’re supposed to be here?”

Well, John is remarkable! He may not look sick or act sick most of the time, but that’s just because he’s a fighter. And the doctors have seen that the past few days. Based on the tests they’ve run they have determined that John is “very, very sick.” We have heard over and over again that, “He’s in the right place” and “We can’t believe he’s done as well as he has” and “He has a huge heart”.

An average heart size is 6 centimeters. John’s heart is 10 centimeters. His heart only pumps at a 6% ejection fraction. A healthy heart pumps at about a 60% ejection fraction.

Today we thought they might let John go home over the weekend and come back on Monday to do the rest of the evaluation outpatient. John was determined to show them how good he’s doing so that he could go home. He got a sleeping pill last night, so when he woke up he felt much, much better. He got up, got dressed in real clothes, took two laps around the floor, and insisted on standing up when the doctors came in. He didn’t fool them, but they were impressed with his stubbornness, drive to be “normal”, and just overall vigor.

All of this is a wonderful gift from God in the midst of all the madness, and it gives us tremendous confidence that John is going to beat this with his new heart! He is a fighter, and even though he’s supposed to be here now, it won’t be for long!

I recently came across this painting by Nathan Greene on another blog of a man who had a heart transplant, and I just love it. Every time John goes to the doctor I pray for the doctors and nurses who will be helping him. This painting is a wonderful reminder for us that Jesus is the great Healer. He will be guiding this whole process, and His ultimate will of healing John, however He sees fit, will be accomplished.

“As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one.” Luke 4:40

Watching John each day I am reminded of all of the gifts from God I take for granted and don’t even realize I’m taken them for granted. The most obvious being a heart that pumps blood to all of my organs and throughout my body allowing me to do ordinary things like walk up the stairs, talk without getting winded, laugh out loud, and sleep without waking up constantly. Each time my heart beats my God needs to be praised.

Then I was running the other day, and I thought of all the people in world without functioning legs. I have legs that allow me to run and run strong. I immediately thanked God for my legs. Each time I take a step my God needs to be praised.

There’s a teacher at my school who is probably about my age, and someone told me recently that she has had multiple eye surgeries. She might go blind. I didn’t even realize that people still go blind. I remember growing up watching Little House on the Prairie and Mary went blind. I guess I still think of blindness as something that used to happen a long time ago. Each time I open my eyes and can see my God needs to be praised.
It is fascinating to me that there are people who don’t believe in God. I can’t mentally comprehend that thought when I think of all the miracles I experience each day with a beating heart, running legs, seeing eyes. I think of the verse, “I will praise you, O Lord, with all of my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.” Psalm 9:1

Everything I experience each day is a wonder from God. It is a gift. When I feel like complaining, demanding my rights, wanting more, I need to remember that until my last breath I will have something to praise God for. If I have nothing more, if I am stripped of everything, I will have that last breath. And that is a wonderous gift from God.