Sunderland resting comfortably after successful transplant surgery

UPDATE 6:30 p.m.

The following is a message from Amy Sunderland, Nate’s wife:

The surgery is OVER!!!!!! He is being moved into his ICU room where his parents and I will be able to see him soon; probably about 30 minutes.

The surgeon and the profusionist both said the surgery went really well. In the words of the surgeon, “The new heart is great. You’re going to love it!!”

The surgeon is such a great, jolly guy! He came out from the surgery and gave me a big hug. This was the third time in a month he’s been inside Nathan’s chest, so we’re practically family now! 😉

So good news today! Now for recovery!!

UPDATE 4:45 p.m.

The following is a message from Amy Sunderland, Nate’s wife:

The most recent update is that he’s still doing well. They are finishing up the last of the sewing and the heart has started to pump! The nurse I spoke with said the heart is a really amazing organ. Once it’s placed back in a body, it knows just what to do.

Once the sewing is complete, they’ll monitor the heart and how well it’s pumping before they close him up. Apparently it’ll still be a couple hours.

The heart was removed from the donor at 1:06 this afternoon and the heart was placed into Nathan and the sewing began about 1:47. So it was only on ice for 41 minutes.

UPDATE 4:00 p.m.

Nate’s wife, Amy, says he went in for surgery around 10 a.m. and doctors are currently sewing in the new heart. They say he is doing well and things are progressing smoothly.

We will post an update when Nate is out of surgery.

ORIGINAL STORY

SALT LAKE CITY – Late Saturday, as Nate Sunderland prepared for another night’s sleep at Intermountain Medical Center, his doctors walked in with some stunning news.

“There’s a heart available,” the doctors said. “Do you want it?”

The announcement was surreal. Nate, the managing editor of EastIdahoNews.com, had heard stories of heart failure patients waiting years for a transplant. Now, after only five months, he was being presented with a new lease on life.

He called his wife, who had left the hospital a few hours earlier to return to their children in Rexburg. She was putting their youngest son to bed around 8:30 p.m. and noticed a missed call from her husband.

“As I looked at the phone, I received a text from Nate that said, ‘Get on the phone now,’” Amy recalls. “It’s been a whirlwind 12 hours full of all sorts of emotions. Ours heads are spinning.”

Amy is now on her way to Salt Lake City with her boys as Nate prepares for the transplant operation. He’s had a series of tests and doctors say, as far as they can tell, his body is a good match for the donor heart.

“All I know is it came from a male who has my same blood type and weight,” Nate says. “The person is on life support as the doctors harvest his organs, but his heart is healthy and all the tests have come back fine.”

The Sunderlands know very little about the donor. He could be anywhere in the Western United States, and a team of medical professionals will soon be on their way to retrieve his heart.

Once the organ is removed from the donor’s body, doctors have about four hours to place it inside Nate’s chest.

“I will already be on the operating room table with my chest open before my new heart is even in the building,” Nate says. “They rush it in, put it in my chest, and we go from there.”

The Sunderlands and Nate’s doctors didn’t think he would need a transplant so soon. As he wrote last month, he appeared fine after an LVAD machine was attached to his dying heart.

It was meant to temporarily restore him to full health for at least a few years, but a few weeks after the LVAD was installed, some complications arose.

“I’ve had some dangerous heart rhythms and serious complications,” Nate says. “It’s been a rollercoaster.”

Nate had been placed toward the bottom of the heart transplant list, but the seriousness of his condition allowed the doctors to move him up on the list. On Friday, he learned he was number one on the list for people in his age range and weight category.

“As my condition worsens, I’ve been wondering all week how I’m supposed to pray for someone to die,” Nate says. “I’ve been avoiding it. I’ve been avoiding those prayers and then this opportunity comes. I don’t have words other than I’m very grateful.”

If all goes well, Nate should be recovering from his transplant by this evening and out of the hospital by Halloween.

But for now, he’s focused on the next few hours. And, as he’s being wheeled into the operating room for a surgery that will literally save his life, he’ll be thinking of the man who died to make it all possible.

“I’m very grateful that donors exist and you realize how much he’s giving after he died,” Nate says. “That’s a true gift and the people willing to do that are special kind of people.”

EastIdahoNews.com will post updates on Nate’s procedure throughout the day.