Reader's Digest - USA (2019-08)

Making a Difference

hospital’sshelves,DrRobertswould

sometimestakea curiouspatient

tovisithisorheroldticker.Butthe

doctordiscoveredthatthevisits

couldprovidea kindofteachable

moment.“Manyofthepatientsare

overweight,andI showthemthefat

ontheheart,”hesays.“Somepeople

havesomuchfatontheirheartsthat

theyfloatina containerofwater.”

There’sa larger,almostexistential

lessontoo.“Itrytostresstothese

peoplethattheyareverylucky.They

areoneofthefewthatgeta heart,”

DrRobertssays.

Bellhadsuffered 25 yearsof

heartproblems,beginningwith

triple-bypasssurgeryattheage

of50.Then,inMarch2014,he

underwenttransplantationbecause

ofcongestiveheartfailure,inwhich

theheartisunabletosufficiently

circulateoxygenatedblood

throughoutthebody.While

recovering,heaskedif he

couldviewa videoofthe

operation.Bellwasevenmore

thrilledtofindouthecould

seehisoldorganinperson.

Heremembersholdinghis

heartinfrontofhischestat

approximatelythesameplace

it hadlivedjust 12 daysprior,

thoughit hadsincebeen

slicedintopiecesaspartof

theoperationandforfurther

study.Hewasexpecting

somethingmoreakintoa red

heart you’d see in a valentine,

hesays.Instead,thefleshwasa pale

grey.Thewholeorganwascoveredin

yellowadiposetissue,orfat.

Bellwasshowntheoriginalvein

andarterygraftsfromthebypass

surgeryhe’dhadin 1993 andhow

twograftswerecarryingtheloadof

a thirdthathadnotworkedproperly

fromthestart.Hisfamilymembers

alsogottoseehisheart,andthe

experiencehada dramaticimpacton

hisson,whovowedtostartmaking

healthierchoices.Bellhada similar

reaction.Henowexercisesasmuch

ashisageallowsandmaintainsan

almostvegandiet.Holdinghisheart

alsogavehimmuch-neededclosure.

“Ithadcausedsomuchpainand

misery,”hesays.“IguessI just

wantedtogeta lastlook at it and

s ay,‘He y,I won .’”

ATLASOBSCURA.COM(FEBRUARY17, 2017),

© 2017 BYATL ASOBSCUR AINC.

PHOTOGR APH BY MAT THEW COHEN COURTESY BAYLOR SCOT T & WHITE HE ALTH

John Bell, far left, with other transplant patients