When he learned he wouldn’t need a single transplant but multiple organ transplants, this patient traveled nearly 900 miles from his home state.
By IU Health Senior Journalist, TJ Banes, tfender1@iuhealth.org
For the first time in her life, Christy Heath felt warmth. Curiously, she spent her third winter in Indiana. Her entire life has been lived in Dallas, Tx. where the temperature can climb over 100 degrees.
“It’s not unusual for me to be wrapped in fluffy socks, sweat-wicking clothes and an electric blanket. Heath, who turns 50 this month, said a 110-degree summer in Texas has been great for me. When she spoke, her southern accent was pronounced and her words expressed affection for her new home in Hoosier.
“I can’t say enough about IU Health – the fact that they were willing to take my case when other places might have turned me down. They are a safety net for those of us who have these unique conditions. They are not afraid to take on challenges,” Heath said.
For her, the challenge was that she needed a multi-organ transplant.
“I had no choice but to have surgery. It’s risky but not having it is risky,” said Heath, who has been married to her husband, Phillip for 20 years. She is also the mother of a son, 26 years old.
Looking back, Heath believes her health began to decline in her late 20s. At the age of 28, she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She was treated with 8 rounds of chemotherapy and 8 rounds of radiation at a hospital near her home in Texas. She also underwent genetic testing to see if there was a genetic mutation. It came back negative.
As a middle school teacher, she has returned to work and is considered “cancer-free”. For a second relapse 15 years later, Heath again underwent several rounds of chemotherapy.
“We have no family history of any type of cancer. I was the first,” she said. “The hindsight is 20/20 and my blood has an auto-immune disorder caused by chemotherapy. A few years before being diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time, she began to experience severe gastrointestinal bleeding.
Heath said: “The bleeding was so frequent that emergency doctors knew me. After a routine colonoscopy and colonoscopy, doctors discovered a polyp. A follow-up biopsy revealed she had stage 4 lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system – the body’s disease-fighting system. As she underwent chemotherapy, Heath’s liver enzyme levels increased, indicating that her liver was inflamed or damaged. She has stopped chemotherapy and hopes for the best. Her scans and blood tests showed that her lymphoma was in remission and her breast cancer was gone.
She opted for a double mastectomy as an extra precaution. Nine hours after the reconstructive surgery, she returned to the operating room due to excessive bleeding. In total, she underwent seven surgeries in six days.
“It was not until 2020, when I returned to the hospital with gastrointestinal bleeding, that a team of liver transplant doctors in Texas saw my film and determined that I had a blood clot all over my abdomen. Basically, my body built pathways around the larger clots for blood transfusion. That’s when they said I needed a multi-organ transplant,” Heath said.
Her team in Texas ranked only the top three hospitals in the United States known for their multi-organ transplants. Heath said they put IU’s health first.
Heath said: “I knew I needed a transplant and because of the severity of the transplant, I knew I needed to be within reach of the hospital. After doing some research, she chose IU Health, where she was in charge of Dr. Richard Mangus.
“We know there is a team that knows what to do and what not to do. Upon returning home, our church family cleaned the house for a day, and within three weeks I was in the car with the dog for an 18-hour drive ready to move in, “Heath said. It was December 2020. Her husband stayed at the house and then came to her just before Christmas. It all comes down to COVID as Heath undergoes extensive testing and goes public in January 2021.
“I’ve heard enough to know I’ll be on the waiting list for a while, but I also know that the team at IU Health realized I needed to be put on the list ASAP. I was most likely a few months away from Hospice when I got the call at midnight on October 9, 2022, Heath said.
Over two days – October 9 and 10, Heath received a liver, pancreas, stomach, large intestine and small intestine transplant.
Heath said: “When I woke up and clear, I started to evaluate myself and immediately I felt different. “The first thing that hit my eyes was the first time I felt warm in almost 5 years. The transplant team at IU Health overcame a difficult surgery; I got over it and every day feels better.
She was discharged from the hospital a month later. Heath said: “I progressed so quickly that they couldn’t find any medical reason to keep me. She celebrated the first part of December by attending a concert with a friend. “I said, ‘I’m ready. Get dressed and go outside.
