Date: Fri 03-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Rich-Rauner-heart-transplant

Full Text:

Observations From Rich Rauner-- Waiting For Hearts: Life On The Seventh Floor

BY KAAREN VALENTA

While Newtown prepares for a blood drive dedicated to Richard Rauner on

Wednesday, July 8, the retired postal clerk spends his days in Temple

University Hospital in Philadelphia, waiting for a heart transplant.

"I call this Life on the Seventh Floor, Mr Rauner, 57, said in a series of

vignettes he has written about the patients he has come to know in the eight

weeks he has spent in the heart transplant unit at the hospital.

Life on the seventh floor can be very sad, as on the recent day when a

28-year-old woman, the mother of 14-month-old twins, died after a second heart

transplant surgery. But often life there is joyous. Last year 82 heart

transplants were performed on adult patients at Temple and 87 percent of them

were successful.

Currently there are 20 patients waiting for a heart transplant at Temple.

Following are excerpts from sketches Mr Rauner has written about some of them:

Waiting Five Months

Pat is 45 years old, married and has two boys. He is a quiet, thinking man and

is "president" of the heart patients -- the patient waiting the longest for a

transplant becomes president. Pat has been waiting five months.

Pat has had heart problems since the age of four and because of so many heart

surgeries and blood transfusions, his blood has a high level of antibodies

which can cause rejection problems. Currently the doctors at Temple are trying

new drugs to stop the antibodies in his blood from reproducing.

Pat has truly become medically knowledgeable about his heart problems and

understands how hard is to be ready when the proper heart for him arrives. His

patience is a quality to be admired by all.

The Youngest Patient

Jason is 32 and single but heart disease is no stranger to him or to his

family. Looking at Jason, you would think he is healthy. He is slight of

build, with long hair, an earring and an elf-like smile which can go from ear

to ear. At times he can get upset and look very sad. It is not easy for a man

this young to be on the Seventh Floor.

Jason's family has a long history of heart problems. He is one of 17 children,

only eight of whom are still alive. His mother and nine children have died of

heart disease.

"I've spent a lot of time with Jason," Mr Rauner said. "He is looking forward

to a new life and learning a career that would allow him to work again -- thus

using his brain and not his brawn."

Heart Friend Vinny

Vinny is a 60, a volunteer firefighter in Ridgeway, N.J., and a training

officer for 27 years. He is a complicated man whose highs are extremely loud

and joyful. He is married, with grown children and several grandchildren.

Vinnie has had 17 heart attacks and several heart surgeries.

Vinny's heart problems go back many years -- too many -- and his daily pain,

because of the oversized diseased heart, at times seems impossible to live

with.

A diseased heart keeps getting larger and larger in size as it fails. At times

the heart will press against the inner walls of your body and heavy pain

results. Medicine is needed to help a man like Vinny. He is looking for a more

enjoyable life with a new heart. ["Aren't we all," Mr Rauner added in an

aside.]

A Jehovah's Witness

Bob is 49, married with two children and one grandson. He is a man of deep

religious belief -- a Jehovah's Witness -- who does not believe in blood

transfusions. Transfusions are usually required in heart transplant surgery

but to respect his beliefs, a treatment known as Epogen is being used while he

is waiting for a new heart. Epogen stimulates bone marrow to produce more

blood cells.

Major problems started for Bob in 1989 when he developed congenital heart

failure. He experienced serious incidents of heart failure about every six

months in the mid 1990s. Bob finally went to St Luke's Hospital in Texas in

August 1996 and underwent a heart procedure called the Batista Treatment which

reshapes the heart by taking part of the heart muscle out of the body. In

February 1997, he had to have the surgery again. Each time the heart was

reduced in size by about two inches. In April 1997, more problems developed

and a V-Tach defibulator was inserted into his body to break ventricular

tachycardia and shock the heart back into normal rhythm.

Four months ago Bob was admitted to Temple's Seventh Floor. His patience,

bright smile and wisdom give all "heart friends" daily encouragement, Mr

Rauner said.

Seventh Floor Socialite

"And then there is me , the seventh floor socialite, up and down the hallways

meeting everyone and talking about their ups and downs," Mr Rauner said.

"Emotions run extremely high here on the Seventh Floor, fun one day, sad and

depressed the next day, but oh so hopefully sitting on the teeter-totter of

life or death.

"We have become a `heart family.' Like it or not, each of us is here until God

finds us the heart that fits us perfectly and will give us a new life. A new

life with a new first birthday, to go forward as we had before or to rejoice

and go out and change our lives to do for others, to help and give comfort

where needed, for we surely know the miracle gift of the heart we have

received. We must use this miracle gift to be an example of belief in hope,

prayer, kindness, patience, surely as God intended."

Blood Drive

The blood drive for Rich Rauner will be held at Edmond Town Hall on July 8

from 8:30 am to 7 pm. According to Elaine Woody of the Blood Services

Department of the Western Connecticut Chapter of the American Red Cross, 150

to 200 pints of blood must be set aside for a heart transplant surgery.

The summer blood drive comes at a time when blood supplies are traditionally

critically low.

Mr Rauner, who retired from the Newtown post office in March, has been in

Temple University Hospital since May 4, waiting for a heart to become

available through the nationwide United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)

program. Each year about 14,000 people nationwide become eligible for heart

transplants, but only about 2,500 transplants are performed because of the

limits of the organ donor pool.

While Mr Rauner waits, receiving intravenous medication to keep his weakened

heart pumping, his friends in Newtown and surrounding towns have been trying

to help with his other needs, since he has been receiving only $135 a month in

income until his Social Security disability payments begin in September.

Contributions can be sent to the Richard Rauner Fund, Box 111, Newtown, 06470,

or to the fund in care of Mary Herbert at Fleet Bank, 6 Queen Street, Newtown,

06470.

Mr Rauner's friend, Barbara Nelson of Southbury, has been organizing much of

the local fund-raising. She also has been busy collecting t-shirts and other

items with insignia from local fire companies to give to Mr Rauner's roommate,

Vinny, the volunteer firefighter from New Jersey.

Cards and letters may be sent to Mr Rauner at Temple University Hospital,

Parkenson Building, Room 701, Broad and Ontario Streets, Philadelphia, Penn.,

19140.