St. Lucie County Man Is 100th To Receive a New Heart At Cleveland Clinic Florida – WQCS

Click to LISTEN as Tania Ortega-Cowan chats with Gary Pettit and Dr. Cedric Sheffield about Pettit's heart transplant.

The human bodys most vital function is one we basically never think of

(Heartbeat)

Until it stops working.

(Flatline)

GP: Im just the luckiest person there is, thats all! (laughter)

Thats St Lucie County resident Gary Pettit. He is 72. In September, he was the 100th transplant patient to receive a healthy heart at Cleveland Clinic in the Weston/Ft Lauderdale-Miami area. We spoke to him by phone.

GP: You know I was ready to die. Because, you know, I was either gonna get a heart or I wasnt going to be around.

For 11 years, Pettit lived with a heart condition called Cardiomyopathy.

GP: With cardiomyopathy, exercise doesnt help your heart. Your heart just keeps getting bigger.

And now?

GP: I feel great. I mean, its one solid heart, Ill tell you. I feel like a million dollars. I cant believe. I mean the scar down my chest when it heals you wont even see it. Thats how good a surgeon that Dr Sheffield is!

CS: My name is Cedric Sheffield. Im a cardiac surgeon and I am the surgical director of the Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program at Cleveland Clinic Florida.

We ask him to describe the risks involved in such a procedure. He points out that one thing to note about patients who need heart transplants

CS: They have risks before the procedure. This risk of not having heart transplant is very high. So, there is a tremendous risk of their underlying disease process. As a matter of fact, it is one of the highest risks for death diagnosis that there are; higher risk than for many cancers.

Pettit was first referred by his cardiologist and

CS: underwent a very detailed evaluation utilizing our multidisciplinary team.

That evaluation is designed to answer a number of questions

CS: but most important is what is the risk of heart transplantation for this patient compared to other therapies such as medicine or conventional surgery

So, it was determined that Pettit

CS: was a candidate for heart transplant. He would benefit and that his risk was acceptable.

And, he went on the wait list.

CS: And began the process of waiting to see when and whether a heart would become available. In the meantime, he as many patients do, became sicker and sicker.

He was admitted to the hospital, because he was

CS: deteriorating and could no longer wait at home.

Finally, a heart became available. Which is nothing short of a miracle in itself because it cant just be any heart

CS: The blood type has to be compatible and size is an issue as well. And for a patient like this who is a very tall man, it can be challenging to find a donor heart that has the size that he needs.

Timing is critical too. From the time the donor heart stops to the time it starts again in the patient...

CS: Our target is to keep that time 4 hours or less.

Once they knew the heart was coming, they were able to get him prepped, and Pettits complete surgery itself took about 4 hours.

Sheffield stresses the need for people to become organ donors.

CS: One single organ donor can save the lives of 8 people. And transplantation of tissues, enhance the lives of as many of 75 people. Organ donation drives everything that we do. Thats the key for our patients including this one; having a chance to live a longer life, to live a better life.

He says nationally

CS: We still have 4000 people waiting for transplants, for hearts alone. And almost 115,000 people waiting for other kinds of solid organ transplants.

Heres Gary Pettit again:

GP: Thinking that somebody was gracious enough to give their heart to somebody else that just blows me away. I feel really bad for the family but as the same time the heart didnt go to waste you know. It saved my life.

Learn more here: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/florida/departments/transplant/depts/heart

Here is the original post:

St. Lucie County Man Is 100th To Receive a New Heart At Cleveland Clinic Florida - WQCS