Organ Transplant Patient Returns Home After Operation

Tim Johnson

Staff Writer

A Council Bluffs woman is one of those who have received the gift of life in the form of a donated organ.

Phyllis Schendel, 47, received a heart transplant Feb. 12 at Abbot Northwest Hospital in Minneapolis. She returned home March 14 after eight days in the hospital and several weeks of follow-up care.

It wasn't long before Schendel could feel a difference, she said.

"I felt different about three days after surgery - I felt better," she said. "I can actually feel my heart beating now. Before, I would just tremble."

Like other transplant patients, Schendel was saved by someone she doesn't even know.

"I don't know anything about my donor, except he was male, he was an accident victim and he was a little younger than I am," she said.

Schendel suffered a heart attack seven years ago and struggled with congestive heart failure until her transplant operation, she said. Tests showed that one of her arteries was 100 percent blocked and others had a smaller amount of blockage.

"When I had the actual attack, they had to restart my heart three times," she said.

There was some history of heart trouble in Schendel's family. Her father died from a massive heart attack in 1976 at the age of 59.

Ironically, she sought medical attention twice during the days preceding her heart attack, but doctors failed to detect a heart problem, she said.

First, she saw her primary physician, who said she had a cold. A couple days later, she went to the emergency room but was told she had pneumonia.

"They're a little more convinced now that women can have heart attacks at age 40," she said.

After the heart attack, Schendel had to give up her job as a bookkeeper at an Omaha legal firm. She slept most of the time and could not even carry groceries. She wore a defibrillator for almost four years.

"If my heart ever went into a bad rhythm, it would shock me," she said. "I also had a pacemaker in case my heart rate got too slow. I took probably anywhere from 23 to 25 prescriptions a day."

Meanwhile, Schendel's heart continued to deteriorate.

"My heart just continued to grow larger, because my left ventricle was dead," she said.

Fearing Schendel's days might be numbered, her daughter, Heather, moved back to the area from Iowa City in 1999, Heather said.

"I went to college at the University of Iowa, and we moved back here just to be close," she said. "We wanted her to get to know (grandson) Jacob."

Schendel's husband, Robert, got a second job to help pay the bills, she said.

"It's been hard on everybody," she said. "A lot of it has fallen on my husband's shoulders, and he has been wonderful."

In October 2001, Schendel began tests to see if she was a good candidate for a heart transplant. However, her addition to a waiting list was delayed because of another problem that was found.

"I had some lymph nodes in my chest that were abnormal," she said.

After tests confirmed that they were not cancerous, she was finally placed on the transplant list in May 2002.

Then Schendel was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, meaning the pressure in her lungs was too high.

"They had to put me on an IV drug," she said.

She received the medication 24 hours a day for seven months and was on oxygen when she slept. Her husband had to flush out the IV tubes daily.

That disease may have saved Schendel's life, she believes. If she hadn't developed pulmonary hypertension and moved up on the list, she might not have gotten her new heart in time.

After the transplant, she learned more about her former heart.

"They autopsied my old heart, and they said it was twice the normal size," she said.

The experience opened Schendel's eyes to the importance of donating organs.

"It's very, very important that people work on letting their families know they want to be an organ donor so they can give someone another chance at life," she said. "They say only 20 percent of the people waiting for organs actually get them. Eighty percent die before they get them."

The Schendel family is accepting monetary donations to help with her mounting medical bills. Contributions may be sent to the Phyllis Schendel Heart Fund, Centris Federal Credit Union, 11718 M Circle, Omaha, NE 68135.

Copyright © 2003 Daily Nonpareil.

This article posted April 13, 2003.