John Michael' s Story - Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant

It's not uncommon for teenagers to stay up all night playing video games or surfing the internet. But that's not why 15-year-old John Michael wouldn't go to sleep: he was just afraid he might never wake up.

John Michael had been a linebacker for the Hondo Owls football team and was in training during the off-season when he developed flu-like symptoms. At first, his symptoms were dismissed as a cold or allergies.

When John Michael failed to improve, however, doctors at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, discovered his heart was functioning at only ten to fifteen percent. John Michael had a rare form of heart disease known as non-compaction of the left ventricle–a condition he had been born with, but does not typically result in symptoms until later in life. That condition can leave the heart too weak to supply blood to the rest of his body.

Velinda, John Michael's mother, said, "I thought he was going to die. He was in the ICU and I just kept praying with my sisters and our pastors. His doctors told me there was no hope for him other than a heart transplant."

The first cardiologist John Michael saw referred him to Drs. Michael Kwan and Chandra Kunavarapu, board-certified heart failure and transplant cardiologists with Texas Transplant Physician Group in San Antonio, Texas. Velinda was initially nervous. "I was already comfortable with John Michael's cardiologist, but he told me Dr. Kwan was his number one recommendation for heart transplants. Then we met him and Dr. Kunavarapu and they were both excellent doctors. They were always explaining everything to me and to John Michael. They were very patient with him. And they always returned my calls really quickly. They always had an answer for me. When I had to take John Michael to the ER, they already knew he was coming and we didn't have to wait. They were both so good, so nice. And I appreciated it."

John Michael was able to go home on intravenous medications used to improve his heart function, but was frequently back in the hospital as his symptoms worsened. It was a very difficult time-;and John Michael was convinced he was going to die. "I just kept telling him, ‘Don't give up! Just hope and pray!'" says Velinda.

On March 22, 2010, at 8:35pm Velinda got a phone call from the transplant coordinator. "She said, ‘We've got a heart.'" Despite the good news, John Michael was terrified. "He said, ‘Mom, I'm so scared.' I said, ‘I know-;but God's gonna be there for you and your doctors are gonna be there for you.'"

When they got to the hospital, Velinda and her family and friends learned they would spend about six hours in the waiting room while John Michael was in surgery. Velinda was a wreck. "He was taking Coumadin to thin his blood and I kept thinking he's gonna bleed to death in there!"

At 2:25am a nurse came in to say John Michael had been prepared for surgery and the donor heart would arrive in two minutes. "We started praying. Everyone was gathered together and we kept praying. It seemed like we just sat down after our prayer when the nurse came back in and said they were done and John Michael was in recovery," Velinda says. "Dr. Zorrilla, his surgeon, came in and he said he did John Michael's surgery, and he did it without a blood transfusion."

John Michael is doing remarkably well. He recently spent the day with his church group at Fiesta Texas, a theme park in San Antonio, where, as a child, he had always been too afraid to go on rides. But, now, with his new heart and a new fearless attitude, he finally did-;he rode three different rides and loved every minute of it.

For the July 4th weekend, John Michael will be heading to church camp for four days. Velinda is both excited and anxious about the trip. "I'm happy to see him going, especially after not being able to do anything for five months, but I already know I'll cry every day he's gone," says Velinda.

Dr. Michael Kwan, Medical Director, and Dr. Chandra Kunavarapu, Associate Medical Director, are independent practitioners with Texas Transplant Physician Group serving patients at Texas Transplant Institute's Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Program on the campus of Methodist Heart Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Leopoldo Zorrilla is Surgical Co-Director, Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Program at Texas Transplant Institute. He is an independent practitioner with South Texas Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgical Associates in San Antonio, Texas.