Thriving after heart and liver transplant
Open Heart Surgery with Boots · Boots Knighton
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (podcasts.captivate.fm) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
On March 4, 1976, Jason Crutchley was born with 4 congenital heart defects: Atrial Septal Defect, Transposition of the Great Vessels, Sub-Aortic Stenosis and Pulmonary Atresia. In layman terms, he was born with 1 chamber of my heart working, not 4! All four defects individually are very common in males, but to have all 4 in 1 is extremely rare. At six weeks old, he underwent his first surgery called a Pulmonary banding. At that time, the doctors gave him a life expectancy of 3 years. At 6 years old, he underwent (as the first child at UCLA) the classic Fontan procedure.
At the time he turned 21, he would need a revision (the lateral-tunnel conversion fontan). At age 23, his son was born perfectly healthy and then Jason promptly underwent 3 pacemaker surgeries.
Jason thrived for the next 17 years working in radio and as a wine tour specialist in Napa. In 2017, after loosing his mother, he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and was in need of both a heart & liver transplant and began evaluation. By February 2018, he was fully listed on the transplant list and on 1/28/19, he was the only the 19th heart and liver transplant Stanford had performed.
Now, 4 years later, Jason is thriving as a maintenance tech working in Virginia. His transplant continues to be successful with no rejection.
Website: The Heart Chamber (theheartchamberpodcast.com)
Transcript: Joyful Beat | The Heart Chamber (theheartchamberpodcast.com)
The Heart Chamber (@theheartchamberpodcast)
Thanks to Michael Moeri for being my right hand man. Michael Moeri - Audio Editor, Podcast Producer and Marketing Director