Heart Away From Home (part 1)

We’re back to hearts this week with Heather Lannon, Outreach Coordinator for the Centre for Living Organ Donation, PhD candidate and caregiver. Heather recounts her transplant experience which began when her and her husband Jamie relocated from St. John’s Newfoundland to Toronto in the hopes of receiving a new heart for Jamie. With an unbeatable sense of humour, Heather offers an in depth look at the caregiver experience. From honeymooning in Toronto General to welcoming an LVAD into the family, Heather’s story is a unique reminder of human resilience. 

In this episode:

Transposition of the great arteries (TGA) is a serious but rare heart defect present at birth (congenital), in which the two main arteries leaving the heart are reversed (transposed). Read more. 

The Mustard and Senning repair are two similar operations for TGA. Each is named for the surgeon who first performed the operation. In both, the surgeon creates a two-way baffle in the top part of the heart. This baffle serves as a bridge between the two sides of the heart. In a Senning procedure, the surgeon uses the patient’s own tissue to create the baffle. In the Mustard procedure, a synthetic material is used. Both are called “atrial switch procedures” because there is a baffle through the heart’s top part, or atria, which allows the blood to reach the ventricles. Read more.

VAD: A ventricular assist device (VAD) — also known as a mechanical circulatory support device — is an implantable mechanical pump that helps pump blood from the lower chambers of your heart (the ventricles) to the rest of your body. A VAD is used in people who have weakened hearts or heart failure. Read more. 

Jamie, Heather and Lennon