Reading "Heart to Heart"

My doctors said my health is stable which is good since transplants are down 29% in the region. It's going to take some time. As long as I'm feeling some strength I don't mind waiting. But, when I don't feel good I'm hoping the surgery won't be too far off. Nevertheless, life is wonderful. My wife and daughter are angels and I love each day with them! My extended family is incredibly supportive and have sacrificed much in our behalf. I'm constantly in awe of the goodness of God and his rich blessings that pour down upon us.

(Picture: My musician friend Josh Waldron checking in on me when I was at the hospital for several days in 2008.)

I should admit though that with all of the medications I'm taking, including my shots and internal IV, I get anxious. I have to stay busy even though I'm extremely tired and usually sitting around. You should know, for those of you at work, or trying to keep up with kids, there is no good television during the day (except for The Price is Right), and all the new movies Hollywood produces make me feel like I'm wasting precious time. So, I have found great happiness doing many other things. When I'm not being entertained by my beautiful 3 year old or enjoying conversation with my angel of a wife I am doing quite a bit of reading, listening to music or great speeches & sermons, answering e-mails, writing notes, running my small record label, and blogging, which I am now addicted too, having just created another blog http://hope4things.blogspot.com

I've been deeply inspired reading the autobiography "Heart to Heart" by one of my spiritual heroes Russell M. Nelson. He is a great leader and teacher in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In his earlier life he was a heart surgeon. He’s world renown for his contribution in helping the team of interns and doctors create the first artificial heart lung machine (cardiopulmonary bypass) which makes open heart surgery possible. This machine made it possible for blood to bypass my heart in order for surgeons to remove endocarditis from me in 1986 and receive the Fontan procedure in 1987. This amazing machine will be a major part of my heart transplant and has saved millions of lives. In "Heart to Heart" there is a beautiful description of the body and how it works. He speaks about the heart and how powerful of an organ it is. Listen to Russell M. Nelson's description of a normal heart.

READ THE FULL TEXT
LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE SERMON

YOUR HEART vs. MY HEART

So what is normal?

To the right is a a picture of a normal heart and an imperfect version of my own. (You can make it bigger by clicking on it).

You'll notice I have no right ventricle. Oh well. So to my understanding, the non-oxygenated blood comes from the body into the homemade right atrium. The non-oxygenated blood swirls around like a round about and goes and flows, hopefully, into the left ventricle. (There are usually two valves or doors for the blood to flow in but my "tricuspid valve" is not there.) Thus, my congenital heart defect properly titled, "Tricuspid Atresia." Oh yea, my main arteries were reversed at birth giving me the other titled, "Transposition of the greater arteries or TGA."

WEEK 5
Since I was listed I had been feeling ok, laying around, most of the time. Last week doctors turned up my pacemaker, upped my dose of synthroid, and gave me a large dose of Steroids. It was like night and day. I felt great for a few days and had a lot of strength. Plus, I watch more baseball. But, the side effect now is more swelling in my legs and stomach.

THANKS
I want to thank everyone for all their prayers and fasting on my behalf. I can literally feel the arms of God around me through your prayers, service, and love. There is great power in prayer and they are answered. I'm overwhelmed by the support we have received. We love you all!