Heart of the Family

Here it is!!!!!  It's finally available online!

London Health Sciences Centre marks 600th transplant

To watch the 600th heart transplant video click here: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2012/02/02/19331361.html#/news/london/2012/02/02/pf-19331406.html

A heart sits in a cooler in a Boston hospital.

A travel-weary Dr. Neil Mackenzie picks up the package after a long day in surgery, only to face another when he returns to London.

It’s 1983 and the multi-organ transplant program at London Health Sciences Centre is in its infancy.

Then age 23, Ken Gaston is flown to London from his home in Calgary, anticipating the arrival of his new heart. Fluids are pooling in his hands and feet, his liver is failing, and his skin is yellow.

Fast-forward to Oct. 21, 2011.

A heart sits in the hands of Dr. Mackenzie Quantz.

For the 600th time, surgeons at the LHSC program are about to replace a damaged heart with a healthy one, offering patient Desmond Dias an extension on his life.

The family man will be given another summer to golf with his children.

Fast-forward again to Thursday.

A heart sits in the chest of Mark Cronk.

The 69-year-old, who waited months for a new heart, underwent a successful transplant nine days ago.

And now he sits in a room with both Gaston and Dias, as LHSC celebrates a 30-year-old program that has performed the most heart transplants of any centre in Canada. A program that has given renewed life to more than 600 patients who otherwise would not have survived.

A heart sits in the next donor who’s unaware of the chance they will give a stranger.

By CRAIG GLOVER, THE LONDON FREE PRESS

Doctors successfully transplant heart dropped in street while being rushed to hospital

By: The Associated Press

Posted: 01/24/2012 7:43 PM | Last Modified: 01/24/2012 11:02 PM

Erika Hernandez, 28, waves from inside an ambulance after being discharged from the hospital where she had a heart transplant in Mexico City, Tuesday Jan. 24, 2012. Hernandez made national news on Jan. 11 when her new heart was accidentally dropped while being transported to the hospital where she was waiting for surgery. Mexico City police said they used a helicopter to deliver the heart in "a rapid, precision maneuver." But after exiting the chopper, a medic stumbled and the plastic-wrapped heart tumbled out of a cooler onto the street. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

MEXICO CITY - A heart that was dropped on the ground while being transported to a hospital has been successfully transplanted into a 28-year-old hair stylist.

Dr. Jaime Saldivar says Erika Hernandez doesn't yet know that her new heart made national news when a medic stumbled and the plastic-wrapped heart tumbled out of a cooler onto the street two weeks ago.

Saldivar says it will be up to the family to tell her.

A rosy-cheeked Hernandez spoke briefly with reporters on Tuesday and thanked the donor's family, saying "I have no words to express what I'm feeling right now."

Hernandez was born with a congenital heart defect. She received the heart of a man who died in a car accident.

Here are some photos of the heart being dropped:

The heart arrives!

Oops!

Five second rule...keep calm & carry on

Sarah Burke's Gift of Life in Death

Sarah Burke's death is truly a tragedy.  As per her wishes, Sarah's organs and tissues were donated.  Please read the article below highlighting her many accomplishments...

On January 19, 2012, the snow industry lost an icon. Sarah Burke, freeskiing pioneer, six-time X Games gold medalist, beloved wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend passed away.

Sarah was truly a legendary athlete, role model and an inspiration. She was everything so many of us aspire to be.

Female athletes everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to Sarah's passionate trailblazing efforts over the last 15 years. As the first competitive female freeskier, she successfully lobbied the Winter X Games to include women in freeskiing events on equal standing. It is because of Sarah's efforts that female winter athletes are some of the only athletes in the world to receive equal prize purses to that of men.

Sarah brought worldwide recognition and validation to the sport she so loved. Every ski athlete chosen to represent his or her country at the 2014 Sochi Olympics will feel her influence. Without her, the sport of freeskiing would not be included.

Sarah is a pioneer of her generation. Her life and legacy embody the true spirit of action sports; a movement of individuals driven to innovate, master and explore the frontier of physical possibility. Sarah's love of skiing took her life to amazing places.

Her accomplishments on skis continue to inspire girls everywhere to believe in themselves and follow their hearts. Her passing is not a cause to pack up our skis, but rather a reason to step-in and ski for Sarah and the dreams that inspired her star to shine.

In accordance with Sarah's wishes, her organs and tissues were donated to help save the lives of others.

Sarah did so much for females and winter sports during her time with us.

Taken from: http://www2.giveforward.com/sarahburke.html

Man with two hearts survives double heart attack

Doctors managed to save the life of a 71-year-old man with two hearts who suffered dueling heart attacks. "We haven't ever seen anything similar to this case before," Dr. Giacomo Mugnai said in an interview with MSNBC.

X-ray from an Italian man with two functioning hearts

At first, doctors thought they had a typical case of cardiac arrest until they examined the patient more closely and noticed his unusual medical condition. It turns out that the man actually wasn't born with two hearts. His second heart arrived after an earlier medical procedure on his original heart.

The procedure, a heterotopic transplant, is done to pair a new, healthy organ with a diseased one.

"We see this in cardiac patients or kidney patients, sometimes," Dr. Rade Vukmir, professor of emergency medicine at Temple University and a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians, told MSNBC. "Surgeons might leave a kidney in place if it's too much trouble to take out, or if there is hope for recovery of a kidney, or a heart, after a period of time" of being helped by the new organ.

By Eric Pfeiffer

Read more at: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/man-two-hearts-survives-double-heart-attack-223043465.html

Never Too Old For A New Heart

Here it is!  The February, 2012 issue of Reader's Digest which has a fantastic story on my dad & brother's heart transplant journeys called Heart of the Family.  It is very appropriately their "heart" issue!  Author, Chris Powell, really did a wonderful job of piecing together the various details and documenting their transplants as well as emphasizing the importance of organ donation.

Here is the first paragraph as a teaser:

"A plot had been set aside, the will signed, the last rites performed by the family minister.  On May 6, 1997, all the preparations for John McBride's death were complete.  Exactly 68 years, 9 months and 15 days earlier he had been born in Toronto, the last of five children.  Now he was in end-stage heart failure.  He would need a miracle to survive the night."

Be sure to pick up a copy to read the entire article which also quotes Dr. Vivek Rao & Dr. Heather Ross.  

Helicopter crash kills 3, puts transplant on hold

The crash was deep in a forested, isolated area in Florida

A huge number of people are involved in an organ transplant - not just the transplant team in the OR.  The night of my brother's transplant, the heart was flown in from another city in Ontario.  Take off was delayed by several hours due to a terrible storm that evening.  I often think of the staff involved in transporting his organ, essentially risking their lives because they flew in a storm.  

Yesterday, a helicopter crashed killing transplant surgeon, Dr. Luis Bonilla, procurement technician, David Hines of the Mayo Clinic, and the pilot. They were enroute to pickup the donor heart in Gainesville, Florida.

The Mayo Clinic is quoted as saying "As we mourn this tragic event, we will remember the selfless and intense dedication they brought to making a difference in the lives of our patients," John Noseworthy, Mayo Clinic president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "We recognize the commitment transplant teams make every day in helping patients at Mayo Clinic and beyond. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/27/helicopter-crash-kills-3-puts-transplant-on-hold-1715423382/#ixzz1hkqO2sS0