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A Shelton man has undergone a heart transplant on Valentine’s Day, finding out about his life-saving surgery just a few hours before it actually happened.
60-year old John Pesavento survived a heart attack approximately three decades ago, when he was just 29, and ever since that medical emergency his cardiovascular health was even more severely affected than before, the patient being eventually diagnosed with end-stage congestive heart failure.
Eventually, Pesavanto had no choice but to give up his career as a logistics manager because he had grown too weak to work as before. And yet he remained brave in the face of all his health issues, never giving up his golfing and being determined to remain as lively and active as his medical condition permitted him to be.
For the last year and a half, he relied on a ventricular assist device which allowed his left ventricle to pump blood continuously through the aorta, and transport that flow throughout the body, in order to maintain vital organs fully functional.
The patient had also required an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), to maintain his heart rhythm at a normal rate and therefore prevent an imminent cardiac arrest.
Given the fact that these were just temporary solutions for his declining health, for the last year, the middle-aged man had been waiting for a heart transplant, after being placed on the National Waiting List coordinated by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).
Finally, on Valentine’s Day, Pesavento was presented with the most precious gift that he could’ve ever hoped for: a heart transplant, capable of offering him a new lease on life.
The organ, which perfectly matched his blood type and was similar in size to his own faulty heart, had been donated by someone from North England, whose identity hasn’t been disclosed yet.
The heart transplant occurred on Sunday evening, at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, the complex medical procedure extending across six hours.
Pesavento’s wife Ruth and his daughter Kristen eagerly awaited for news that the surgery had been a success, filled with gratitude towards the donor’s family, and at the same time distressed that someone’s loss had turned into their salvation.
As revealed by Dr. Pramod Bonde, the chief surgeon that led the team of medical practitioners during Pesavento’s heart transplant, the high-stake procedure did indeed go well, without any complications or mishaps.
By the following day, Pesavento was already capable of breathing unassisted, and appeared to be doing quite well. The organ recipient will likely remain under medical supervision at the Yale-New Haven Hospital for a couple more weeks, and afterwards his lengthy rehabilitation process will continue at home.
Tests will have be conducted on a regular basis, so as to confirm that Pesavento’s body isn’t rejecting the new graft and is recovering as expected, even in the absence of his defibrillator and ventricular assist device.
Even though Pesavento’s plans of taking his wife out for dinner on Valentine’s Day may have had to be discarded this year, at least now there is time to build more happy memories together, thanks to a new heart that came when it was least expected, and yet when it was needed the most, at the perfect moment.
Image Source: La Kabylie
