Adam Bradshaw's Heart TransplantFnd
Donation protected
Healthy 29 year old to heart transplant patient in 9 months
In March Adam came down with a bug that seemed to have been going around the shop that he worked at. As usual, he toughed it out until the flu-like symptoms subsided. He thought he beat it, like everyone else in the shop, but several weeks later it became harder and harder to get a good deep breath. Adam didn't (and still doesn't!!!) have insurance. It wasn’t until June 10, 2016 when he couldn’t get a deep breath without yawning and found speckles of blood in his saliva when he coughed that he finally decided it might be time to see a doctor. Typical Man! He told the nurse his symptoms which consisted of, shortness of breath, chest pain and blood in his saliva. They did an EKG and advised him to go directly to the ER. Still not realizing the severity of his current health situation, Adam left the Urgent Care clinic and went to the Feed store for some chicken feed, ran by the bank and then finally called his dad and asked him to go to the Tampa General ER with him. Go figure! Once he arrived at the ER he told the nurse his symptoms and advised them that he had come from the Urgent Care clinic where they directed him to immediately go to the ER. He was taken back immediately, of course, and there began the start of the never ending tests and questions.
Another EKG was done which revealed an alarming amount of PVC’s (Premature Ventricular Contractions) in a short span of time. He was having an extra heart beat every 3rd heartbeat. Next a cardiac echocardiogram was done which revealed thinning the walls around his septum, an enlarged heart and an Ejection Fraction of 30-35% in the left ventricle (the hearts main pumping chamber). The ejection fraction (EF) refers to the amount, or percentage, of blood that is pumped (ejected) out of the ventricles with each contraction. The average healthy heart has an EF of 50-75%. As you can imagine, this was pretty alarming to the health care providers involved in treating Adam in the ER. Here they have a healthy looking 29 year old man with an 80 year old heart with heart disease (to put the situation into perspective)! Naturally, even more questions and tests were to follow. An MRI revealed significant scar tissue on Adam’s septum and severe congestion in his lungs. The doctors gave him a water pill which immediately relieved him of his growing uncomfortable pain and congestion.
Adam was feeling great (compared to how he’s been feeling the last couple of months) and was ready to go home but the doctors insisted on keeping him for more tests and observation. Five days later on June 15, 2016 he was to be released with blood pressure medication, medication for chronic heart failure, a restricted diet, liquid restriction of 1-1.5 liters per day, a Life Vest (an external defibrillator which is worn as a precautionary measure for patients at high risk of Sudden Cardiac Death), a diagnosis of Myocarditis/Acute Congestive Heart Failure and advised to follow-up with a Cardiologist as soon as possible. How in the world did this happen!?!? The doctors suspect that it was the virus that he contracted in March that attacked his heart and weakened his heart muscle which lead to the Myocarditis. Adam also has a lengthy family history of heart failure in several male family members on his mother’s side which they now believe did not help matters for Adam. It is still unclear if Adam’s heart failure is strictly genetic, caused by the virus or a combination of both. He was told by his cardiologist to follow-up with him in 3 months for another cardiac echocardiogram. After a couple of weeks off of work, he returned to work, lived an almost normal life following the doctors strict orders, felt relatively healthy and normal and even met a girl!!!! Life is good. Better even.
In most cases where Myocarditis strikes as a result of a virus (especially in young otherwise healthy adults) their heart will heal on its own within a few months of these restrictions that the doctors directed Adam to follow and medication. Despite Adam’s diligence in following these orders over those 3 months, another cardiac echocardiogram done on September 16, 2016 revealed a decrease of 10% in his EF. He was functioning at only 20-25% now. As the doctor relayed the results he went on to discuss what treatment options will come next. Then he muttered those terrifying words, “First we will probably give you an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and get rid of that Life Vest and you will likely need a heart transplant later down the road.” Wait, what?!?! Meanwhile, to the doctors surprise, Adam still doesn’t feel all that bad and has had only a couple symptoms of heart failure sporadically come about in the last week or so. He has even been working since he got out of the hospital in June. However, it is becoming harder and harder to get through an entire day without frequent breaks, more help from fellow colleagues to complete tasks and utter exhaustion by the end of the day. His cardiologist referred him to an Electro Physiologist (EP) to discuss the procedure for the ICD. Adam quit his job about a week later and applied for Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicaid (Yes, at this point he still does not have insurance that covers his heart condition. That issue is a nightmare in itself!).
At the appointment with his EP, everyone is educated more about Adam’s condition and focusing mostly on his PVC’s because the doctor says that they are not certain whether the heart failure is causing his PVC’s or if the PVC’s are causing his heart failure. Therefore, he wants to tackle the PVC’s and see if that brings his EF up. He suggests doing a Cardiac Catheter Ablation (a procedure used to selectively destroy areas of the heart that are causing heart rhythm problems using a catheter that is inserted through the veins in the groin and/or neck to the heart). This procedure has a high success rate of getting rid of PVC’s. Hope is again restored!!!! In the meantime Adam is continuing to wear the LifeVest. The Cardiac Ablation took over 7 hours. Adam was awake the entire time while they prodded around and cauterized some of the tissue on his heart!! Can you imagine!? Later that day, the doctor gave us the grim news that it was an unsuccessful procedure. Despite all of his efforts he was not able to get to the root cause of the heart rhythm problem, the scar tissue on his septum.
Adam’s follow-up appointment with the EP less than a week later revealed an EKG with significantly less PVC’s on it. The EP wants to wait a little longer before implanting the ICD and starting Adam on arrhythmia medications to see if the less frequent PVC’s result in an increase in his EF. Hope is restored, AGAIN!!!! His EP had him wear a Holter Monitor for 9 days (along with the Life Vest, UGH) to monitor his PVC’s over a longer length of time than the EKG shows and told him to see his Cardiologist for another echocardiogram in about 4 weeks. The week after the ablation was pretty rough but the week after that Adam felt GREAT! Then suddenly over the next 4 weeks he would gradually feel worse and worse. The symptoms of his heart failure began bombarding him all at once. He had more bad days than good and the good days weren’t anything like they used to be. Adam often became winded after walking only a couple of yards; shortness of breath throughout the day and at night while sleeping; his cough caused by the heart failure getting worse and more frequent; he is down to only being able to have 1 liter of liquid per day to avoid it building up in his lungs and around his liver; he’s having to take 2 and 3 naps a day due to extreme exhaustion and fatigue; bouts of nausea several times per day; loss of appetite; frequent headaches. It was no surprise that his next echocardiogram showed another decrease in his EF. Now, on November 30, 2016 he is at a 15% EF.
That conversation about likely needing a heart transplant in the future only 2 months ago is now a present time harsh reality. Adam’s cardiologist advised that he would speak with his EP about getting Adam scheduled to have his ICD implanted as soon as possible and stated that we needed to begin talking to the Heart Failure specialists at the Tampa General Transplant Center to get the transplant process and work-up started. Another harsh reality comes to light when the doctor says he can't implant the defibrillator and the Transplant Center cannot schedule an appointment for Adam until Medicaid is approved. Well, Medicaid says they will not approve Adam for coverage until Social Security approves his disability and Disability has yet to make a decision and has until the end of January to make the decision. To say that the last 6 months have been stressful and an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement.
Adam has been out of work since September 28, 2016 and there is a 5 month waiting period before he begins receiving disability checks, assuming there are no issues with getting Disability approved. Adam's mom Jannie has been helping a lot when and where she can financially and goes along to all of his appointments despite still working full time. His girlfriend and care taker Aubree works but her income has been effected by the amount of time missed at work for appointments as well. Adam and Aubree are fortunate enough to be living in the paid off house his Angel of a Grandmother left him when she passed away only 1 year ago but the other house bills and maintenance is a burden for them. All the while they both still have other bills that have to be paid to include the never ending medical bills Adam receives from not having insurance yet. It's been such a hard journey and its only just begun......
In March Adam came down with a bug that seemed to have been going around the shop that he worked at. As usual, he toughed it out until the flu-like symptoms subsided. He thought he beat it, like everyone else in the shop, but several weeks later it became harder and harder to get a good deep breath. Adam didn't (and still doesn't!!!) have insurance. It wasn’t until June 10, 2016 when he couldn’t get a deep breath without yawning and found speckles of blood in his saliva when he coughed that he finally decided it might be time to see a doctor. Typical Man! He told the nurse his symptoms which consisted of, shortness of breath, chest pain and blood in his saliva. They did an EKG and advised him to go directly to the ER. Still not realizing the severity of his current health situation, Adam left the Urgent Care clinic and went to the Feed store for some chicken feed, ran by the bank and then finally called his dad and asked him to go to the Tampa General ER with him. Go figure! Once he arrived at the ER he told the nurse his symptoms and advised them that he had come from the Urgent Care clinic where they directed him to immediately go to the ER. He was taken back immediately, of course, and there began the start of the never ending tests and questions.
Another EKG was done which revealed an alarming amount of PVC’s (Premature Ventricular Contractions) in a short span of time. He was having an extra heart beat every 3rd heartbeat. Next a cardiac echocardiogram was done which revealed thinning the walls around his septum, an enlarged heart and an Ejection Fraction of 30-35% in the left ventricle (the hearts main pumping chamber). The ejection fraction (EF) refers to the amount, or percentage, of blood that is pumped (ejected) out of the ventricles with each contraction. The average healthy heart has an EF of 50-75%. As you can imagine, this was pretty alarming to the health care providers involved in treating Adam in the ER. Here they have a healthy looking 29 year old man with an 80 year old heart with heart disease (to put the situation into perspective)! Naturally, even more questions and tests were to follow. An MRI revealed significant scar tissue on Adam’s septum and severe congestion in his lungs. The doctors gave him a water pill which immediately relieved him of his growing uncomfortable pain and congestion.
Adam was feeling great (compared to how he’s been feeling the last couple of months) and was ready to go home but the doctors insisted on keeping him for more tests and observation. Five days later on June 15, 2016 he was to be released with blood pressure medication, medication for chronic heart failure, a restricted diet, liquid restriction of 1-1.5 liters per day, a Life Vest (an external defibrillator which is worn as a precautionary measure for patients at high risk of Sudden Cardiac Death), a diagnosis of Myocarditis/Acute Congestive Heart Failure and advised to follow-up with a Cardiologist as soon as possible. How in the world did this happen!?!? The doctors suspect that it was the virus that he contracted in March that attacked his heart and weakened his heart muscle which lead to the Myocarditis. Adam also has a lengthy family history of heart failure in several male family members on his mother’s side which they now believe did not help matters for Adam. It is still unclear if Adam’s heart failure is strictly genetic, caused by the virus or a combination of both. He was told by his cardiologist to follow-up with him in 3 months for another cardiac echocardiogram. After a couple of weeks off of work, he returned to work, lived an almost normal life following the doctors strict orders, felt relatively healthy and normal and even met a girl!!!! Life is good. Better even.
In most cases where Myocarditis strikes as a result of a virus (especially in young otherwise healthy adults) their heart will heal on its own within a few months of these restrictions that the doctors directed Adam to follow and medication. Despite Adam’s diligence in following these orders over those 3 months, another cardiac echocardiogram done on September 16, 2016 revealed a decrease of 10% in his EF. He was functioning at only 20-25% now. As the doctor relayed the results he went on to discuss what treatment options will come next. Then he muttered those terrifying words, “First we will probably give you an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and get rid of that Life Vest and you will likely need a heart transplant later down the road.” Wait, what?!?! Meanwhile, to the doctors surprise, Adam still doesn’t feel all that bad and has had only a couple symptoms of heart failure sporadically come about in the last week or so. He has even been working since he got out of the hospital in June. However, it is becoming harder and harder to get through an entire day without frequent breaks, more help from fellow colleagues to complete tasks and utter exhaustion by the end of the day. His cardiologist referred him to an Electro Physiologist (EP) to discuss the procedure for the ICD. Adam quit his job about a week later and applied for Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicaid (Yes, at this point he still does not have insurance that covers his heart condition. That issue is a nightmare in itself!).
At the appointment with his EP, everyone is educated more about Adam’s condition and focusing mostly on his PVC’s because the doctor says that they are not certain whether the heart failure is causing his PVC’s or if the PVC’s are causing his heart failure. Therefore, he wants to tackle the PVC’s and see if that brings his EF up. He suggests doing a Cardiac Catheter Ablation (a procedure used to selectively destroy areas of the heart that are causing heart rhythm problems using a catheter that is inserted through the veins in the groin and/or neck to the heart). This procedure has a high success rate of getting rid of PVC’s. Hope is again restored!!!! In the meantime Adam is continuing to wear the LifeVest. The Cardiac Ablation took over 7 hours. Adam was awake the entire time while they prodded around and cauterized some of the tissue on his heart!! Can you imagine!? Later that day, the doctor gave us the grim news that it was an unsuccessful procedure. Despite all of his efforts he was not able to get to the root cause of the heart rhythm problem, the scar tissue on his septum.
Adam’s follow-up appointment with the EP less than a week later revealed an EKG with significantly less PVC’s on it. The EP wants to wait a little longer before implanting the ICD and starting Adam on arrhythmia medications to see if the less frequent PVC’s result in an increase in his EF. Hope is restored, AGAIN!!!! His EP had him wear a Holter Monitor for 9 days (along with the Life Vest, UGH) to monitor his PVC’s over a longer length of time than the EKG shows and told him to see his Cardiologist for another echocardiogram in about 4 weeks. The week after the ablation was pretty rough but the week after that Adam felt GREAT! Then suddenly over the next 4 weeks he would gradually feel worse and worse. The symptoms of his heart failure began bombarding him all at once. He had more bad days than good and the good days weren’t anything like they used to be. Adam often became winded after walking only a couple of yards; shortness of breath throughout the day and at night while sleeping; his cough caused by the heart failure getting worse and more frequent; he is down to only being able to have 1 liter of liquid per day to avoid it building up in his lungs and around his liver; he’s having to take 2 and 3 naps a day due to extreme exhaustion and fatigue; bouts of nausea several times per day; loss of appetite; frequent headaches. It was no surprise that his next echocardiogram showed another decrease in his EF. Now, on November 30, 2016 he is at a 15% EF.
That conversation about likely needing a heart transplant in the future only 2 months ago is now a present time harsh reality. Adam’s cardiologist advised that he would speak with his EP about getting Adam scheduled to have his ICD implanted as soon as possible and stated that we needed to begin talking to the Heart Failure specialists at the Tampa General Transplant Center to get the transplant process and work-up started. Another harsh reality comes to light when the doctor says he can't implant the defibrillator and the Transplant Center cannot schedule an appointment for Adam until Medicaid is approved. Well, Medicaid says they will not approve Adam for coverage until Social Security approves his disability and Disability has yet to make a decision and has until the end of January to make the decision. To say that the last 6 months have been stressful and an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement.
Adam has been out of work since September 28, 2016 and there is a 5 month waiting period before he begins receiving disability checks, assuming there are no issues with getting Disability approved. Adam's mom Jannie has been helping a lot when and where she can financially and goes along to all of his appointments despite still working full time. His girlfriend and care taker Aubree works but her income has been effected by the amount of time missed at work for appointments as well. Adam and Aubree are fortunate enough to be living in the paid off house his Angel of a Grandmother left him when she passed away only 1 year ago but the other house bills and maintenance is a burden for them. All the while they both still have other bills that have to be paid to include the never ending medical bills Adam receives from not having insurance yet. It's been such a hard journey and its only just begun......
Organizer and beneficiary
Sam Bradshaw
Organizer
Apopka, FL
Adam Bradshaw
Beneficiary