Issue 2 - Summer - Providence Washington - Providence Health ...

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Today, after receiving his new heart from a generous family, Masin is healthy and happy. CLEARING THE FOG Masin Hawkins was an active 14-year-old who loved basketball and riding bikes. One day, he’d been playing football with friends at Post Falls Middle School, and when he went inside, he told a teacher that he felt dizzy. It’s the last thing he remembers before a school nurse performed CPR to restart his heart and an ambulance whisked him away. Later at Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital, pediatric cardiologist Carl Garabedian, MD, diagnosed him with cardiomyopathy—a condition that causes the heart to enlarge and prevents it from pumping well. Masin also started having ventricular tachycardia—a super-fast heartbeat—and had to have an implantable cardiac defibrillator to regulate the heartbeat. In September 2011, Masin’s mom, Cindy, became concerned with his decreasing energy and scheduled another appointment at Sacred Heart. “We were told what we knew we may hear but didn’t want to—that Masin needed a heart transplant,” Cindy recalls. Masin’s heart function had decreased to just 15 percent of its normal capacity. He was placed onto the national transplant list and for three long months, he remained at Sacred Heart. “I was very concerned and afraid,” Cindy says, “but I didn’t want to ever walk into his room and have him see me upset. Our whole family helped us get through this unbearable time, and [also] hospital staff members who were always positive and helped to keep him occupied. I could at least leave the hospital and get a break from the 20 ● Summer 2012 Heart Beat PHOTOGRAPH BY GARY MATOSO
“I wish I could put into words what it’s like to have my son. I am sad when I think of the loss another family had and hope it helps them to know that they saved my son’s life.” situation, but Masin had no choice and was there every single day and night, just waiting. He is an amazing child.” Ask Masin how he coped and he’ll say that in addition to having staff members take him outside or up on the roof to meet a MedStar helicopter pilot, he played video games—a lot. “It helped me escape,” he says. Barely Holding On As often happens with patients awaiting transplant, Masin experienced a false alarm, a call to prepare for surgery, only to hear that the donor’s heart was not a great fit. That was “providential” as people of Providence say when lifechanging coincidences occur. “His condition was so tenuous, it wouldn’t have been a good time to proceed with surgery,” says Beth Dullanty, RN, coordinator of congenital heart services. A few weeks later, the Hawkins family prepared again for the lifesaving transplant Masin so desperately needed. It was a Friday morning in mid-December and Sacred Heart transplant surgeon Timothy Icenogle, MD, was ready to fly to the location where a heart for Masin could be retrieved from a donor who was on life support. “Spokane was completely fogged in,” remembers Dullanty. “There were no flights going in or out.” The days prior had been sunny, without a cloud in the sky. “I couldn’t understand why this was happening,” Cindy says. The surgery was called off again and staff encouraged Masin to go to the cafeteria for his favorite menu item, orange chicken. He was about to take their advice when he experienced his longest run of “V-tach” (the super-fast heartbeat) and was sent straight to bed. Perhaps there was fog for a reason. At home on Saturday, Dullanty put on her “Heart for Hawkins” T-shirt and prayed for a miracle. That evening, Dr. Icenogle drove to Coeur d’Alene’s small municipal airport where the fog had lifted and planes were cleared for takeoff. At 9 p.m., Masin’s new heart was in place and working fine. “It was an act of God,” Dullanty says of the event. Thank You to the Family That Saved Him Days after his transplant, Cindy learned of her acceptance into North Idaho College’s nursing program. She was fearful of committing to it with Masin at home recuperating, but he reminded her she’d wanted to be a nurse for a long time. “Go to school, Mom,” he said. “I will be OK.” And he is. He’s been enjoying his favorite activities again—dirt bike riding, snowboarding and shooting hoops with friends. He’s also taking driver’s ed classes to prepare for his next exciting journey. “I wish I could put into words what it’s like to have my son,” Cindy says. “I am sad when I think of the loss another family had and hope it helps them to know that they saved my son’s life.” Sensitive work “Making organ and tissue donation possible takes an incredible amount of teamwork among multiple health care providers and other partners— and it requires great sensitivity toward all the people involved,” says Timothy Stevens, RN, director of Transplant Services at Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital. The team includes caregivers, chaplains, patients and families. Each member of the team has emotional and spiritual needs that must be respected. “Caregivers working in intensive care units put up a good fight for their patients’ lives and when those efforts don’t have the intended outcome, it’s hard,” he says. “Then they switch gears and begin the difficult conversation about whether this patient could be a donor.” “These are seasoned nurses, physicians and chaplains who face death regularly, but losses take their toll,” Stevens says. Providence takes seriously the task of caring for the caregiver. Debriefing sessions help the staff express their feelings and celebrate their role in being there for families. In addition, Sacred Heart has a Donation Champions Committee that includes hospital staff as well as representatives from LifeCenter Northwest and SightLife (organ and tissue procurement agencies) to address the complex world of donation, which includes special counseling and care for families of patients who decide to donate during those last few hours of life, and live donors who require a special kind of care. “We know Sacred Heart takes excellent care of the patients receiving organ transplants,” Stevens says. “This committee is about taking care of the people who do the donating.” It’s sensitive and challenging work. But every person who becomes a donor has the potential to save or change lives. And that makes it all worthwhile. Summer 2012 Heart Beat ● 21
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Page 27 and 28: {HISTORY} The Beat Goes On Celebrat
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Issue 2 - Summer - Providence Washington - Providence Health ...

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