Getting it right

This article ran a week ago in the News-Times. But through human and technological errors there was a massive mistake. The second two paragraphs were left completely out, so I wanted to publish it as it should have appeared. So, here it is.

By JOHN WORTHEN
News-Times Staff
Jerry and Betty Bauman have driven to Houston so many times that they’ve worn out two vehicles and have grown to hate the sight of green mile marker signs.

But it isn’t a love of America’s fourth largest city that has drawn this El Dorado couple there over the years — it’s where Jerry Bauman, 69, received a life-saving heart transplant more than a decade ago.

Just 50 percent of heart transplant patients survive 10 years after their transplants, said Dr. William R. Wilson, a heart surgeon at the Medical Center of South Arkansas, making Jerry’s case a true success story. A vast array of complications can contribute to a low post-transplant life expectancy, Wilson said.

“The major problems we see with heart transplant patients is the risk of infections,” he said. “Most transplant patients do well after one year, and 90 percent survive that first year. But there is always a risk of rejection.”

Further risks come from powerful anti-rejection medications like Cyclosporine and Prednisone that can damage vital organs
if used too long. Jerry, a retired El Dorado firefighter, is on a minimal dose of anti-rejection medications today, as his doctors have weaned him off over the years.

Unlike most transplant patients, Jerry didn’t know he even needed a new heart until his second bypass surgery in 1995. He traveled to Houston’s Methodist Hospital to have the routine procedure, thinking it would mean just a few hours in the operating room and a short recovery stay.

But when doctors tried to restart his heart after the surgery, nothing happened. Immediately, Jerry was hooked up to a life-saving heart-lung machine; his name was put at the top of the transplant list several days later with hopes a heart could be immediately located.

The wait was agonizing, and every day Jerry remained on the heart-lung machine meant he was one day closer to death. Patients tethered to heart-lung machines for several days typically develop brain damage and other complications.

After 11 days on the machine, doctors predicted that even if they found a heart, Jerry would end up in a vegetative state.
Jerry had other plans, though. Just four days after appearing on the transplant list, a heart was found and successfully transplanted, allowing him to begin the long road to recovery.

“The Lord really provided for him,” said Betty Bauman, Jerry’s wife of 49 years. “His case was very unusual in that he got (a new heart) so quickly. And they tell us when we go back to the hospital that he is the sickest person they ever doctored who lived.”

Jerry’s new heart came from an 18-year-old Asian male who had been killed in a drive-by shooting during Jerry’s hospital stay. The victim’s heart matched Jerry’s chest cavity to the millimeter, and the blood types matched perfectly as well.
Jerry believes the timing of the match was an act of God.

“There is no doubt in my mind that this is God’s work,” Jerry said. “There could have been 50 hearts out there and none of them fit me, but they found this one so quick. It was a perfect match.”

After the transplant, Jerry had to learn to live his life over again — he couldn’t walk or talk, and everything that had been second nature to him was now foreign. He began a physical therapy regime that literally took him step by step through his recovery. Jerry’s goal was simple: Walk one step farther than the day before until he could walk normally again.

And just one year later he was at an Arkansas Razorback game, standing in the bleachers calling the Hogs. Jerry also resumed work around his home, mowing his lawn, raking leaves and fishing just about every day.

“He really is a miracle,” Betty said, smiling. “He is so active today and does just about whatever he wants to do. It really is a miracle.”

This week the Baumans are visiting Houston again so doctors can monitor Jerry’s body for rejection, which could happen at any time. But Jerry doesn’t spend time questioning how long he will live, he just considers himself “blessed by God” and is thankful to be alive today.

“The reason I’m sitting here today is the power of prayer,” he said. “And I feel great.”
In 2004, more than 2,000 heart transplants were performed in the United States, according to the American Heart Association’s latest statistics.

In the United States, 72.6 percent of heart transplant patients are male, 70.4 percent are white and 20 percent are between the ages of 35 and 49. Forty-six percent are between the ages of 50 and 64.