Heartlinks/stories


	“Going from perfectly healthy to having a Heart Transplant in approximately 10 days!” On November 21^st and 22^nd, 2005, my wife Marge & I went for our daily morning walks of approximately 4 miles. On November 23^rd, 2005 Marge & I together with a couple of friends attended Prairie Theatre Exchange in the evening. A cough had started and I was concerned about disturbing other patrons at the theatre. My cough was not bad and I did not disrupt the production. By November 24^th and 25^th, 2005, I started to have symptoms of a flu—cough, tiredness, and a slight fever. On November 26^th, 2005, Marge & I rented a movie for the evening and I watched most of it with my head in my hands. After the movie I told Marge that this was the strangest flu that I had ever had in that I was “sucking” for air when I climbed our stairs. She immediately told me she was taking me to a Hospital Emergency Department. I called Health Links, who after listening to my symptoms, told me to get to an Emergency ASAP or call for an Ambulance. I arrived at the Grace General Hospital Emergency at approximately 11:00 pm on Saturday, November 26^th 2005. At the Emergency I was registered and immediately placed into an examining room. During my wait for a medical examination, nurses came in regularly to check on me. After several hours I was seen by a physician. I believe that my initial diagnosis was that of dehydration and was immediately started on IV fluids. The second diagnosis was double pneumonia and the third diagnosis was a heart attack. I was started on appropriate treatments for these conditions. I was not responding to treatment, and was referred to the St Boniface General Hospital for an EKG. I was originally scheduled for Tuesday November 29^th but bumped to Wednesday, November 3 The EKG indicated that my arteries were 100% clear and functioning fine, but that my heart muscle had been compromised. I was subsequently informed that my heart was functioning at approximately 10% of its capacity and diagnosed with “Cardiomyopathy” (a flu virus had attacked my heart muscle). On Friday December 2^nd I was sent back to the St. Boniface Hospital for further testing, but since I was coughing too much, proper imaging could not occur. Dr Easton, at the Grace General Hospital, contacted Marge to ask for her support to medivac me to Edmonton for treatment. While it was originally thought that I would be sent to Edmonton on Saturday or Sunday, Dr Easton and Dr. Lalond (Cardiologist on call at the University Hospital in Edmonton) arranged to have me sent ASAP. Marge had 2 hours notice and we were medivacted at approximately 6:30 pm on Friday December 2^nd. arrived in Edmonton at approximately 9:00pm, was admitted and examined. On Saturday December 3^rd after numerous tests & scans, staff became increasingly concerned about the functioning of my heart and other internal organs and by mid-afternoon was placed on the heart transplant list as a Class 4. By 11:30 pm, I was put on a balloon pump (1/2 of my heart was dead). At approximately 5:20 am on Sunday December 4^th, Marge was informed by a cardiologist that they had located a matching donor heart. At 9:00 am on Sunday morning, I was placed onto an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine (my whole heart was dead). On December 4^th at 8:30 pm, I was wheeled into surgery and received a heart transplant. I spent 10 days in ICU and a total of approximately 21 days as an inpatient in University Hospital in Edmonton. Upon discharge, I attended the Heart Transplant Outpatient Program 5 days a week until February 24, 2006. My wife and I returned home on February 26^th, 2006 and have resumed an active semi-retired life since then. On December 4th,2007 my wife and I celebrated my 2^nd birthday!!!!! My wife and I would like to thank the staff at the Grace General Hospital, the staff at the University of Alberta Hospital Heart Transplant Program, and the staff at the St Boniface Hospital Heart Transplant Clinic for their professional and supportive interventions. We would also like to express our gratitude to the individual and their family who made a conscious decision to become a heart transplant donor. Neil Koop