Two Connecticut heart transplant recipients urge organ donation as American Heart Month ends
As the month of February comes to a close, so does American Heart Month, an initiative to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease and the need for more organ donors.
NBC Connecticut caught up with two heart transplant recipients, who have now dedicated their lives to raising awareness for others.
Derrick Wallace of Rocky Hill underwent a heart transplant almost two years ago.
“I kept having these strokes, and we couldn’t figure out what was causing this. So, they did more tests, because you can’t keep having strokes like that. It’s like rolling the dice. So, they told me, you know, ‘we got to check some things out.’ And they found out that my heart was only working at 20 percent,” Wallace said.
Wallace said he initially had his reservations about getting the surgery, but knew he needed it to have a better chance of survival.
“We offer heart transplantation to people who, as far as we can predict, have about a 50/50 chance of living through the next year. So, transplantation, there’s a 95% chance they’re going to be alive, in a year. So those kinds of statistics are compelling,” said Dr. Jonathan Hammond, who performed the surgery on Wallace.
“Talking to the doctors over time, asking questions, them answering questions, I got a little bit more comfortable,” Wallace said.
More relief came when Wallace met Dennis Thomas, also of Rocky Hill, who had been through the same thing 16 years earlier at just 30 years old.
“I was eating Sunday dinner with my family, and my mom says ‘something doesn’t look right about you,’” Thomas said. “My left side of my heart was pretty much gone, so I had to have a consultation and talk about having a heart transplant.”
Thomas now dedicates his life to helping others through similar journeys. He volunteers for Donate Life, visits the hospital to talk to patients, and he even collaborated on a book called “Matters of the Heart.”
“It’s all about getting the word out there and getting an education and making sure you go to the doctor and taking the precautions that you have to check yourself,” Thomas said.
Both Thomas and Wallace said their symptoms came on suddenly, despite routinely checking in on their health. Their surgeon said they both suffered from advanced congestive heart failure caused by cardiomyopathy.
“Cardiomyopathy is a fancy word that simply means there’s something wrong with the heart muscle,” Dr. Hammond said.
Hammond said sometimes there are signs of heart failure. Other times, it is caused by a sudden infection. In some cases, the patient feels fine. That’s why he stresses that people pay attention to their bodies.
“If you find that one day you’re able to climb a flight of stairs easily, and the next day you’re not. If you’re finding that you can’t lie down flat at night, if you’re finding that your hands and your feet are swelling up, if you find that you’re getting dizzy or lightheaded or experiencing palpitations, you need to seek medical attention for that,” Dr. Hammond said.
If it comes down to a transplant, Hammond said there could be a long wait for a heart because of a drop in organ donors.
“There’s just not enough hearts to go around. It’s estimated that 80,000 to 100,000 people a year in the United States could benefit from a transplant,” Dr. Hammond said. “The entire explanation for the discrepancy between the number of patients getting hearts and the number of patients who need hearts is related to organ donation. And I can’t emphasize the importance of donor awareness enough.”
Wallace and Thomas are now sharing their stories in hopes that it will influence others to take a second look at organ donation and consider putting the red heart on their license.
“Just that little heart on the back of your driver’s license can help somebody one day,” Thomas said.
Hammond said there are currently about 7,500 people on the transplant list waiting for a heart in the U.S. He said for the sickest of patients, the wait for a heart could be weeks or even months.
For more information on organ donation, click here.
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