Memories linger for Fort Dodge teen who spent last holiday season needing a new heart

The tree and trimmings were set.

All that remained was the arrival of Christmas itself, a much anticipated event for Mike and Ann Garvey and their 16-year-old son, Patrick Hines.

A small glitch had clouded the picture. Patrick had been diagnosed with bronchitis, but he was taking antibiotics and everyone expected he would recover soon.

By Christmas Eve, quite the opposite was true. Patrick was only getting sicker … so much so that his parents took him to the emergency room at Trinity Regional Hospital in their hometown of Fort Dodge, Iowa.

A chest X-ray ruled out pneumonia. Instead, the films showed a heart swollen to three times its normal size. There was no Christmas joy that night as Patrick was transferred to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, arriving shortly before Midnight.

"Of all the Christmas presents we could ever have …," Ann says.

At least Patrick was in good hands. In fact, his health seemed to improve during a two-week hospital stay. But the diagnosis was serious: dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle that causes the heart to enlarge and to pump less strongly. The lungs eventually become congested, resulting in heart failure and the need for a transplant.

Until then, Patrick could take medications and remain under close observation.

After returning home in early January, however, he weakened and struggled to breathe&emdash;clear indications of left heart failure. Patrick's cardiologist at Mercy Medical Center, Basaviah Chandramouli, M.D., transferred him immediately to the heart transplant program at University of Iowa Children's Hospital, located at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

University of Iowa Children's Hospital is the only pediatric heart transplant center in the state. Several successful pediatric heart transplants are performed here each year, placing the program in the upper third of all pediatric heart transplant centers in North America. In addition, Children's Hospital of Iowa has an extensive ventricular assist device program offering life-saving therapy when a heart is not immediately available.

During a three-month stay in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit prior to transplant, Patrick remained under the very capable care of specially trained nurses and pediatric heart specialists Larry Mahoney, M.D., and Heather Bartlett, M.D., as well as heart transplant surgeon Harold Burkhart, M.D.

Still, Patrick's weakened heart posed a serious threat. Knowing a donor heart might not become available immediately, Burkhart helped give Patrick's heart a much-needed temporary boost by surgically implanting a left ventricular assist device into his chest. LVADs are mechanical devices that help the heart pump blood.

Patrick's anxious wait ended at 2 a.m. on March 23 when he learned that, through someone else's misfortune, a donor heart was available. Feeling both excited and scared, he notified his parents, who quickly drove to Iowa City to be with their son.

Hours later, Patrick had a new heart and was on the fast track to recovery. Remarkably, after three days, he went on a walk outside the hospital. After two weeks he went home.

Since then, Patrick has resumed an active life that includes tennis and swimming. After graduation from high school, he looks forward to a career in real estate.

Meanwhile, he and his family respect and appreciate all the caregivers who made his transplant possible, including Drs. Chandramouli, Burkhart, Mahoney, Bartlett, and everyone in the PICU who provided a home for him while he awaited the transplant.

"Awesome," Ann says. "Those people were with him every hour of every day. They loved him as much as we do. They work together so well as a team … I commend them all!"

It Takes a Team
The multidisciplinary team for Patrick Hines's heart transplant included, from left; pediatrician Larry Mahoney, M.D.; nurse clinical specialist Laura Felderman, R.N.; pediatricians Heather Bartlett, M.D.; social work specialist Kelly Nissen; and transplant surgeon Harld Burkhart, M.D.