{"id":5441,"date":"2019-02-06T08:00:01","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T14:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=5441"},"modified":"2022-02-09T21:36:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T03:36:23","slug":"heart-transplant-a-second-chance-at-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/heart-transplant-a-second-chance-at-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Heart transplant: A second chance at life"},"content":{"rendered":"

A heart transplant is, for most patients, a last chance at life when all other treatments have failed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeart failure happens after years and years. It\u2019s a disease that slowly takes over your life,\u201d said Dr. Emmanuel Amulraj<\/a>, a cardiac surgeon who specializes in heart transplant.<\/p>\n

Heart failure<\/a> can make you feel fatigued and short of breath, making it difficult for some people to work. If they can\u2019t keep their job, they may be draining their financial resources as their health continues to deteriorate.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy end-stage heart failure, you\u2019ve lost a lot. You\u2019re burnt out, and you need a lot of help,\u201d Dr. Amulraj said.<\/p>\n

This year, OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center<\/a> in Peoria will re-establish its heart transplant program<\/a>, offering a life-saving treatment as heart failure diagnoses are expected to rise in the coming decades.<\/p>\n

New hope for families<\/h2>\n

\"seniorWhen a patient is considered for a transplant, they have reached end-stage heart failure, meaning their heart is weak and struggling to pump blood through the body. At this stage of disease, doctors have very few treatment options.<\/p>\n

Along with heart transplants<\/a>, the surgical team led by Dr. Amulraj also plans to begin performing LVAD procedures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While a heart transplant replaces the entire heart, the left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, is a mechanical pump that is implanted into a person\u2019s chest alongside a weakened heart to help pump blood.<\/p>\n

For some patients in end-stage heart failure, an LVAD procedure can help keep their heart working as they wait for a donor heart to become available.<\/p>\n

While an LVAD procedure can add precious months or years to a person\u2019s life, a heart transplant could lengthen someone\u2019s life expectancy from one or two years to 10, 20 or even 30 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is giving them a second chance at life,\u201d Dr. Amulraj said. \u201cAnd a lot of them get to do everything they want to do. When you hear these testimonials, you know you\u2019re doing the right thing. You know you did something good when you give them a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

A hometown approach<\/h2>\n

When OSF Saint Francis re-establishes its heart transplant program this year, it will become the only medical center in downstate Illinois to offer this life-saving treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a big void of an area where this service isn\u2019t available unless you go to a big city. It\u2019s hard on families,\u201d said Dr. Barry Clemson<\/a>, who oversees heart failure treatment throughout OSF HealthCare<\/a>. \u201cThey have expenses. Maybe they don\u2019t know anybody. If they\u2019re from a small town, they might be very uncomfortable in a big city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon those families will have the option to receive this care in Central Illinois in a city much closer to home, both geographically and culturally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a community of caregivers,\u201d said Sister Diane Marie McGrew, O.S.F., president of OSF HealthCare. \u201cOur specialists in Peoria are in a perfect position to work with primary care providers and cardiologists throughout our Ministry to provide the highest quality of care to our patients where they need it most \u2013 close to home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gift of organ donation<\/h2>\n

No transplant<\/a> would be possible if it weren\u2019t for organ donation.<\/p>\n

In order for a failing, diseased heart to be transplanted, it must be replaced by a healthy heart from a deceased donor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have children, and I would never wish that decision on any other parent, but at the same time this person\u2019s death was not in vain,\u201d Dr. Amulraj said.<\/p>\n

Each time a surgical team recovers a donor heart, Dr. Amulraj said, the operation is begun with a moment of silence to recognize the sacrifice made by the donor\u2019s family in order to make the transplant possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in death, there is life. When somebody passes on, I get to carry that gift along,\u201d Dr. Amulraj said.\u00a0 \u201cThere is no greater privilege than that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A heart transplant is, for most patients, a last chance at life when all other treatments have failed. \u201cHeart failure happens after years and years. It\u2019s a disease that slowly takes over your life,\u201d said Dr. Emmanuel Amulraj, a cardiac surgeon who specializes in heart transplant. Heart failure can make you feel fatigued and short […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":5549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[193,593,655,1029],"coauthors":[757],"class_list":["post-5441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardiovascular","tag-heart-surgery","tag-organ-donation","tag-osf-cardiovascular-institute","tag-transplant"],"yoast_head":"\nHeart transplant: A second chance at life | OSF HealthCare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The heart transplant program at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center offers life-saving treatment amid rising rates of heart failure.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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