Milestones only mean as much as each mile traveled to get to them. Intermountain Health has 600 reasons to celebrate as they mark a record 600 heart transplants at their facilities.
For now, a transplant involves two people – one patient suffering heart failure fighting to stay alive.
“We know those patients for a long time, we know where they are not able to do activities to come up to the hospital often,” said Intermountain cardiologist Dr. Rami Alharethi.
This year the U.S. has seen 2,250 heart transplants. More than 3,000 people are still waiting.
Alharethi said, “You look at the patient going through those challenges, how they handle it gives you a different perspective of life.”
We said two people. Something sudden has happened to the other person…their death, a shock. Loved ones suddenly presented with a choice.
“They made a decision about donating their organ, to our patient to have better life and longer at a time they just lost a loved one,” said Dr. Alharethi.
For the heart patient, that act of grace marks the line between before and after.
Their monotony gives way to the rapid choreography of one of the nation’s most experienced transplant teams. Dr. Rami Alharethi leads Intermountain Health’s Heart Transplant program. A village, he calls it.
“We have a really very good village of people who are dedicated their expertise to take care of our patients.”
From 1985 to today…from LDS Hospital to Intermountain Medical Center…600 heart transplants. Dr. Alharethi lights up with the stories patients bring back.
“We're always looking for those very nice Christmas cards for their family, grandkids and for all the trips and hikes. We have patients who went for a hike, like more than 5-10 miles within two months of having transplantation…and we have a patient who is able to run for the first time in years,” said Dr. Alharethi.
Each story is different. Not all are triumphs. But all involve a rebirth of hope at the least, and a long life at the best. And the stories have multiplied – a tree of life growing out of Utah.
Dr. Alhareth said, “This program trained more than 100 cardiologists in advanced heart failure transplant. So that's allowed us to spread the knowledge across United States and most of those cardiologists, right now, they're providing this care across the nation, and they came from Utah.”
What we can all do along with supporting organ donation is pay attention to our own heart health. Early intervention can prevent many cases of heart failure before they ever get serious enough to require a new organ.
