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People get paper and silver and other things for their wedding anniversaries.
We got the news that he was added to the heart transplant list.
People in their 20s don't expect to hear the
news that one of the partners is on death's door.
It was shocking, upsetting news.
It totally turned our world upside down.
>> I came down with a disease called
cardiomyopathy, which is a disease of the heart.
It's a virus and it causes your heart to swell and beat very weakly.
They told me that my heart had degenerated to a point
where the only real solution for me was a heart transplant.
So from there I was transferred into Hopkins.
I had lost a lot of weight and I lost a lot of heart function.
[COUGH] near the end I had lost a total of 92% of my heart function.
Not really even be able to brush my teeth.
That was about the most athletic thing I could do was brush my teeth.
Back in those days while patients were
waiting for transplants there were no devices
in existence that would allow patients to wait at home and assist their hearts.
So I spent the whole time in the hospital.
>> We found out Orlando was officially added to the heart
transplant list on July 28th, which was our fourth wedding anniversary.
And when we found out a few days later that the
heart had come, had become available, it was just astounding news.
When they told me about, the heart being available, at
that point in time, I was very positive about it.
I believed that, okay now all this misery is gonna end.
I'm gonna get a new heart.
I'm gonna be healthy and I can go on living my life.
>> Orlando and his wife, Pam were pioneers.
Pioneers at a time when this was not an easy thing to do.
Much, much easier today than back then.
Heart transplants have changed dramatically in 30 years.
When Orlando was originally considered for a
heart transplant, there were upper age limits.
You, you didn't a suitable recipient was less that 50 years old.
These days we do people in their 60s.
The immunosuppressive drugs are different, the doses are different.
The other thing that's palpably different is that back in those days,
when a heart transplant was occurring in the hospital, everybody knew about it.
It was almost as if the institution had a certain vibration, and you
sensed it, when something as special as a heart transplant was being performed.
These days heart transplantation is still something special, but
it's not quite as special as it once was.
And that's because we've just simply gotten better at doing it.
These skin cancers are certainly related to the dose of
immunosuppressants that he received early on after his heart transplant.
Back in those days, 30 years ago, we used
really high doses, doses that we currently don't use anymore.
Prior to those issues, he had problems with kidney failure,
also an issue of the immunosuppressants drugs are used early on,
following the transplant and that necessitated a kidney transplant, so
Orlando has both a heart and a kidney from different people.
>> I've made sure that all of my docs are associated one
way or another with Hopkins, either at the hospital or as a practice.
And what that allows is continuity of care.
They're able to coordinate with one another, they're able to see
each other's notes on the computer, and that's an important thing.
>> As you can imagine, when you've got someone who's complicated
like Orlando, it's great to have multiple minds thinking about this person.
And all around the bedside, around Orlando, offering him support
and the kind of expertise that only Johns Hopkins can provide.
>> I look back with a lot
of gratefulness for the family who donated their
daughter's heart to me, and for my trans,
living donor who donated their kidney to me.
They are wonderful gifts and I try to remember that every day of
my life while I am doing the things that I do and enjoying life.
I think that it is just a tremendous gift, and I'll always be grateful to them.
>> Orlando said to me a long time ago, he sent a card to me a long time ago and
he said in the card from the guy who can
say he has truly loved you with both of his hearts.
We have loved each other through this journey and I am grateful for it.
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