Transplant Recipient Shares Life-Restoring Experience
2/15/2022
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Feb. 15, 2022) – After being told in Spring 2021 he would likely die within a year without a new heart, today Randy Hines feels like a new man with strength and energy levels he had not enjoyed in the past decade.
Hines, 67, spent his career as an elementary school physical education teacher for Fort Wayne Community Schools, so health and fitness had always been important to him. But in his mid-50s he noticed his heart racing, and he was short of breath from physical activities he once completed without issue.
“I used to jog with my dog five miles a day,” he said. “Along with teaching, I was mowing lawns, painting houses and delivering furniture. All of a sudden everything started going downhill. I went golfing and would start huffing and puffing from the first swing struggling to finish nine holes. I knew things weren’t good.”
Hines’ symptoms finally led him to a cardiologist at Lutheran Hospital and a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy and premature ventricular contractions (PVC). Cardiomyopathy is a disease that makes it hard for the heart to pump blood to the body and can lead to heart failure, and PVC are extra heartbeats that disrupt the heart’s regular rhythm.
After years of managing his conditions with medications, procedures, treatments and devices, Hines' health eventually worsened to the point he was told during a visit with his heart care team in the spring of 2021 he was in “end-stage heart failure.”
Patients with heart failure are frequently hospitalized, have a reduced quality of life and face a higher risk of premature death. When medications and therapies are no longer effective in treating advanced heart failure, like in Hines’ case, the next step may be a heart transplant.
“When someone is end-stage, it means their one-year survival rate is only 20 percent,” says Dr. Asim Mohammed, medical director of heart transplant services at Lutheran Hospital. “Hines was truly at end-stage heart failure. It was crucial that he was referred to our center at the right time by his primary cardiologist.”
At that point, Hines decided to see if he qualified for the heart transplant program. The process included a number of tests and consultations before being placed on a waiting list for a new heart. Hines was approved, but because of his declining health he spent nine weeks waiting in the ICU at Lutheran Hospital. Finally a matching donor heart was found and transplanted during a 15-hour surgery by the Lutheran Hospital heart transplant team.
“Lutheran Hospital is the only hospital providing heart transplant services in Northern Indiana,” said Mohammed. “We are proud we could play a part in Randy’s journey back to good health so close to his home.”
Hines said his new heart has enabled him to be the same active man he was before his health issues began. He started playing golf just three months after his transplant and is looking forward to warmer weather to get on the course again. He also walks two to five miles each day, works on regular strength training at home, has a woodworking hobby and grandchildren who keep him active.
“I can do anything now.” Hines said. “I have my life, my children and grandchildren to see and help raise. The operation has given me my life back. It’s a tremendous gift, and I am truly grateful.”
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