Russ Hinman

My journey to transplantation began in 1981.  I had not been to a doctor in 10 or more years, so I thought a physical would be in order.  The check up included a treadmill test.  The cardiologist met me at the hospital (in those days that was about the only place you could have a stress test). 

The test began and the next thing I remember is the doctor trying to get a nitroglycerin tablet under my tongue.  I had passed out 30 seconds into the test and fallen off the treadmill.

                                                                                                                                                                                After three weeks of hospitalization and several procedures, the conclusion was that I needed a quadruple bypass.  I was thirty-seven years old.

In the ensuing eighteen years, I had four heart attacks, balloons, stints and several dopamine treatments.  I progressed from coronary artery disease to congestive heart failure.  One day I was scheduled for what had become frequent visits to my cardiologist.  This day would prove dramatically different.  I was shown to the exam room; the difference this time was my wife was waiting for me.  The doctor came in and told me that he no more tricks in his little black bag and without a heart transplant he figured that I had about twenty-four months to live. 

I transferred to St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital where I was accepted to their transplant program.  I waited twenty-one months and received my heart on July 13, 1999.  The donor was a fourteen old boy, who at this writing has given me five more years of life.  I hope to be able to continue on much further into the future cherishing his gift every day.