From the heart: The tale of a three-time transplant recipient

Playing youth hockey and Little League in the spring of 1988, I started to become easily fatigued. I became very weak and could no longer run around. By May, a visit to my pediatrician resulted in a trip to the Boston Children’s Hospital Cardiology Clinic on Fegan 6 and the first of many cardiac catheterizations I would receive in my life. The results of that first procedure were shared in my corner room across from the nurses’ station on 6 East (the cardiac step-down at the time): I would need a heart transplant for cardiomyopathy. It was Friday the 13th. I was 10 years old. Tim, before he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy The first of two heart transplants In July 1988, I had the seventh heart transplant ever performed at Boston Children’s. Dr. Mayer was my surgeon. Incredibly, a friend, who was waiting for a heart at the same time, had received the sixth heart transplant the night before. Up until this point, aside from asthma, I was a healthy, athletic kid. As I adjusted to my new reality, I noticed that many other heart patients at Boston Children’s had been born with congenital heart problems and had been going to the hospital their entire lives. It was a humbling observation and made an impression on me — these other kids had been sick for a lot longer and likely had it a lot tougher, so I made the decision not to take a “woe is me” attitude. That is not to say I haven’t had difficult or stressful times over the last 30 years, but I’ve tried to ke...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Our Patients’ Stories cardiac catheterization cardiomyopathy heart transplant Heart transplant program kidney transplant Pediatric Transplant Center (PTC) Source Type: news