An N.J. father of 5 needed a new heart. He got one just in time for Fathers Day. – nj.com

Derrick Bakers heart was failing, and he didnt have much time.

He thought of his wife, Tameka. He thought of his five kids: ages 4, 9, 11, 14 and 17. Without a new heart, he wouldnt get to see them grow up.

I dont want to die, he said. I need to take care of my family. I need to take care of my kids. I dont want nothing to happen to them. And I just was scared.

The 34-year-old Newark man was hospitalized in December at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, where he was told he had inexplicably gone into heart failure.

His heart was functioning at only 5% and deteriorating rapidly. He needed a heart transplant.

Baker was put on the waiting list in March, after winding his way through the lengthy approval process, Tameka Reed said. Once on it, all they could do was wait.

It was agonizing not knowing how long it would take. Not knowing if a heart would become available in time to save him.

That was the biggest issue waiting, said Reed, 33.

Then their prayers were answered.

On Memorial Day, Baker finally received a new heart. And this Fathers Day weekend, he is home with his family, having been discharged Tuesday from the hospital.

Reed, his wife of eight years, was by his side through the ordeal. But even she admitted she feared the worst.

A lot of praying. A lot of tears. A lot of stress. A lot of anxiety. A lot of worry, Reed said. Because you dont know its just a waiting process. Like you dont know when its coming. Or if its coming. They tell you, Its going to come. Were going to get it. But its like, How long?

And how long is the heart that he has going to hold up to keep him living? I dont want to lose my husband. My kids need him. We need him. I need him.

Baker was given a second chance.

But not before a seemingly healthy young man had to confront his own mortality. Not before he suffered a stroke that temporarily robbed him of his speech. Not before his kidneys and liver function deteriorated and he needed a series of trips to the emergency department just to keep his weakening heart beating.

It was very stressful, Reed said. The emotions, that I can tell you is beyond stress, hurt, scary, nervous, worried. Its so many different emotions because you dont know whats next. You dont know whats going to happen.

Derrick Baker, 34, of Newark, with three of his five children at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.

The whole episode was baffling from the start.

Baker had no history of heart disease. He had never suffered a major illness, let alone a cardiac issue.

But in mid-December, his breathing became labored. He had stomach pains.

I was feeling weak. Short of breath. I was throwing up, said the soft-spoken Baker, who is currently unemployed. And I didnt know what was wrong.

Reed drove him to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in the citys South Ward, not far from where Baker and his family live.

I figured he had a stomach virus, and they were going to figure it out and send him home, Reed said. And then they called and said he had heart failure. And since that day, Ive been so scared and worried worried about our family and worried about his well-being.

Baker was stunned. He was a young man too young for his heart to be failing, or so he thought.

But it turns out he likely had undetected heart issues for years.

People his age who need (a) transplant actually have a really bad heart for years, but they tolerate it because theyre young and theyre physically fit, said Dr. Margarita Camacho, surgical director of heart transplant at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, who ultimately performed the procedure. And they walk around looking like everybody else, while their hearts are barely working.

While the team of doctors could diagnose Bakers heart problem, the underlying cause remains a mystery.

Heart failure in young people defies explanation most of the time, according to Camacho.

It could be genetic, she said. And in a few cases, because we do biopsies beforehand heart biopsies we can diagnose genetic causes, gene mutations, etc. But those are not common. I mean, most of the time, (we) dont know what caused the heart failure in younger people.

What she and other doctors did know was Bakers heart was weakening. He needed a transplant.

He was discharged a few days before Christmas about 10 days after he first went to the emergency department. But once home, more problems arose.

He came home for about an hour, had a stroke (and) back to the hospital, Reed said.

She was out Christmas shopping when she got a text message from her husband: Somethings wrong.

Baker suddenly couldnt speak.

I was talking to the kids, and then I couldnt talk anymore, he said.

When Reed got home, he was finally able to utter a few words. The first thing he said?

He told his wife he loved her.

Baker would be in the hospital for another week. He would recover his speech, but the incident was a frightening warning.

The clock was ticking.

Derrick Baker after receiving his new heart at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.

Baker was constantly in and out of the hospital from January to mid-April.

The medication doctors prescribed was working. It allowed him to stay home while he waited for a new heart. But fluid would build in his lungs a condition called fluid overload that required him to be readmitted for weeks at a time.

Back and forth, on and off, every two weeks, in and out the hospital, Reed said.

He (would) stay there for two weeks, then come home and be OK, and then have to go back for two weeks again, because he wasnt feeling good again fluid overloads, the heart function going down further, she added.

Everything changed in April. Still waiting for a heart, Bakers condition began to rapidly decline.

The heart wasnt pumping enough blood to the body, Reed said.

On April 19, doctors decided he needed to be readmitted this time, indefinitely and receive special treatment. His condition was too severe to allow him to return home.

It was at this point, it was no more coming home and waiting, said Reed, who is unemployed. It was like: He needs to stay now, because hes not getting any better. He needs to stay here where we can watch him and monitor him.

Reed was petrified.

All I did was pray, she said.

Their children were scared, doing a lot of crying, she added.

In mid-May, a month into his latest stay at the hospital, doctors thought they had located a new heart. But it fell through, something not uncommon in the transplant world, Camacho said.

So when a call came about another available heart, Reed tempered her optimism.

We were just so nervous and scared and excited and happy and anxious, she said. It was so many different feelings and emotions going through our heads.

I didnt know to believe it or dont believe it, Baker said.

But this was no false alarm.

One of the doctors treating Baker called Reed and told her the good news: We found a heart, and its a strong heart.

Derrick Baker returning home after receiving a new heart.

The surgery began at about 6:30 a.m. on Memorial Day.

Reed was at her sisters house, trying to keep busy.

The surgery would take nine hours. So she sat in the backyard as her five kids played and tried to focus on anything but the transplant.

I was so nervous and scared, Reed said.

Baker was scared too, worrying that I was going to die, lose my family, he said.

The kids seemed calm. A social worker made a picture book for the younger ones so they could understand the procedure.

Baker would become Camachos 650th heart transplant a number reached by only 1% of transplant doctors in the U.S., according to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.

Scrubbing up, Camacho thought about Baker and his family. The surgery might be routine for her. But each person, and their backstory, is always unique, she said.

Whats unusual about every case is the story involved with a patient, Camacho said. Because, I mean I know this may sound corny, but the fact that every person is a mother or a daughter or a sister, or when you think of what would have happened if this person didnt get a heart transplant, the impact it would have on not just that person, but their families and their friends... Its just overwhelming.

But Bakers family need not worry. The surgery was a success.

When Baker woke up, he first noticed the tube down his throat. But it wasnt long before he was walking. Within a day or two, he started to feel himself again.

I felt normal. I felt like before I got sick, he said.

Reed visited him in the hospital. And then over the next few days, they talked over video calls.

I love you, Baker told her.

It was emotional, and I was still nervous, Reed said.

Baker and Reed do not know who the heart donor was or the circumstances that led to the organs availability. It was a bittersweet moment for the family, knowing someone had to die in order to save Derrick.

Derrick felt really bad about it, like Oh man, Reed said. He doesnt really want to find out.

Reed also does not know the cost of the surgery, although the average heart transplant comes with a price tag of nearly $1.4 million, according to consulting firm Milliman. Insurance covered the cost, she said.

When Baker returned home June 15, his kids Tierrah, 17, Derrick Jr., 14, Tamia, 11, Tanaya, 9, and Damari, 4 were anxiously waiting for him.

They hugged me. They had balloons for me, he recalled.

On Sunday, he will celebrate his first Fathers Day with a new heart.

Baker continues to recover, but he has been given a clean bill of health. Once he regains his strength, he will not face any restrictions.

Reed said its made her husband want to spend more time with the family.

The soft-spoken man simply agreed.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com.

Visit link:
An N.J. father of 5 needed a new heart. He got one just in time for Fathers Day. - nj.com