A long waiting list
Have you ever known anyone who had a heart transplant? If you have, I’m sure you understand what a difficult process that is. First they will continue to work on your heart to keep it going, which may take several surgeries, until there is nothing left they can do but search for a new one. Then you get put on the list, and the list is a long one. They go by your blood type, your height, and weight. Of course this is a very condensed list compared to the criteria’s you must meet in order to receive a new heart. Then they go by a radius from where you live, to the donor hospital. A transplant heart only has a 4-6 hour window to be used, therefore the radius of the donor hospital and where you live must be within those parameters. They also consider the size of the donor organ, and if it is comparable to your weight, and body size. They found that matching not only blood types etc. but size helps both heart and recipient.
If you are one of the fortunate ones who matched blood types, height, weight, etc., and received a new heart, it is only the beginning. From that time on you must take an anti-rejection medicine, infection prevention medicine, you must watch your blood pressure, lipid agents, watch for fluctuating sugar, pain or rise in temperature. You have a relatively strict diet stay to on and, no drinking, no smoking, and you are required to get a certain amount of exercise and rest to maintain the heart you were just given, to keep it healthy. Even with all this there are no guarantees of how long this new heart will last. Then of course there are some psychological issues that occur during this long laborious process. The longest surviving person with a transplanted heart passed away in 2016 after living with his new heart for 33 years. Up until this point the average lifespan has been 10 years, but advancements in medication, and anti-rejection drugs are making great strides in lengthening the expected time of life. I am amazed what the medical profession can do with organ transplants, giving people a new lease on life that was otherwise hopeless. I also have great respect and admiration for the young lady I know that received a new heart. She is in an amazing young woman, who traveled a very long road, and has a wonderful attitude toward life, living it with gusto, and appreciating every minute of it.
I do have some good news about getting a new heart that will last more than 33 years. Not only that, but medications are not necessary after receiving this new heart and there is no waiting list. I know a GREAT PHYSICIAN who can place a new heart in you that will never fail. It does require a specific blood type, only the blood found at the foot of the cross on Calvary will do. The heart does do better when anti-rejection methods are put into place: read the owner’s manual on a daily basis, and associate with like-minded people. This new heart comes with a lifetime guarantee and beyond. I am sure by now you have recognized the Great Physician being Jesus Christ, and the blood at the foot of the cross, is the blood that Jesus Christ shed for the redemption of sin. The anti-rejection method is reading the Bible on a daily basis, and associating yourself with like-minded people as in church, Bible study, etc. Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; People go through a tremendous amount of pain and suffering to receive a new earthly heart, but Jesus went through all the pain and suffering for us so we could receive a new heart as a gift.
As parents the last thing we want to see, is our child suffering, but on the other hand we want to have as much time with them as we can, and are grateful for the advancements in medicine that can give us that additional time. But it is also our responsibility to give them a lifetime and more, by knowing Jesus Christ as their Savior, and have eternity given to them, in the form of a new redeemed heart. We all need to read God’s Word to keep our new hearts healthy, and beating for Jesus.
We as authors can only touch the surface of what heart recipients and their families go through with our writings, unless we experience it ourselves. So many things are involved, and so many emotions are triggered. A doctor can only do so much, but with the Great Physician nothing is impossible. Isn’t it time you did a heart inspection for yourself?
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalms 51:10
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Proverbs 21:2
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:8