“This is Dr. Alexis from UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital. We think we have a heart for you. Would you like to accept it?” These are words that patients waiting for a heart transplant hope to hear each time the phone rings. For Frank Pluta, the call came on the eve of Thanksgiving, 2015.
Frank’s story began in October 2010 when, after experiencing sudden heart failure at a Buffalo area hospital, he was transferred to Strong Memorial Hospital to receive care from UR Medicine’s Heart & Vascular team.
With his wife, Nancy, waiting terrified and anxious nearby, Frank underwent a procedure to receive a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) which would keep his heart pumping, something it could no longer do on its own. After 28 days in the hospital, Frank was able to return home, but having the LVAD meant he could no longer work, and could never be left alone in case the device failed.
“We had our LVAD babysitters,” Nancy remembers – close friends and family who were trained in how to operate the LVAD if ever necessary and were constantly by Frank’s side. With their help, Frank says, “I lived a full LVAD life,” which even included the occasional round of golf – but he had lost his independence.
So, Frank and Nancy consulted with their team at Strong Memorial Hospital. After undergoing testing to ensure he was a candidate, Frank was put on the heart transplant list. After much anticipation, Frank received the life-changing call about a potential match.
“Although the doctors couldn’t be sure if the heart was truly a match, I was so at peace with whatever was going to happen,” shares Frank. Thankfully, through the work of his expert surgical team, the transplant was successful, and Frank woke up from surgery without his LVAD, and with a new, healthy heart.
Four days later, Frank walked himself from the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit to his new room in the hospital. “Those nurses and doctors deserved to see me make that walk down the hall. They are reason I was able to do this.”