Key points from today’s guests:

Eddie Taylor, heart transplant recipient

• Eddie had five major medical issues in just three months, and three of those involved his heart. It meant his doctors would work as a team to save his life.
• After a prostate cancer diagnosis and surgery to remove his prostate, three months later, he had a heart attack, stroke, and a heart transplant.
• He was airlifted from one hospital to The University of Kansas Health System, but doesn’t remember anything about the ride, and he woke up with a new heart.
• He had no prior family history of heart issues and had been going to regular checkups, so the heart issues were a complete surprise.
• Eddie credits his mom for his positive attitude to help him get through all of this.
• He said he feels like a million bucks today and his friends nicknamed him “Miracle.”

Dr. William Parker, urologic oncologist, The University of Kansas Health System

• Before his heart attack, Eddie had a prostate cancer that required treatment. It was aggressive enough that we needed to do something, and if left untreated, it would have hurt him in the long run.
• Eddie's treatment plan was to remove his prostate, and specifically to do surgery to take out the prostate, take out the lymph nodes and try and preserve as much of his functional recovery as possible.
• Anytime we do surgery, we do some preliminary checks on somebody's fitness to undergo the procedure. That can be simple, things like can you climb flights of stairs without getting short of breath functional assessment.
• It surprised me that Eddie had the heart issue he had after the prostate surgery, because we put him through a stress test that he passed.
• Organs are a limited resource, so in order for him to receive a heart transplant, we had to be sure he was recovered from cancer.
• Given his surgery and prognosis for cancer recovery, we felt good that he would be an ideal heart transplant recipient.

Dr. Matt Danter, thoracic surgeon, The University of Kansas Health System

• In Eddie's situation, he was on an ECMO machine and it's basically a heart-lung machine at the bedside that takes over the role of the lungs and the heart to provide a circulation for the person who requires it.
• It's basically the most amount of support a person can be on and still kind of technically be alive.
• The type of heart attack he had was pretty dramatic and that would not be something that typically shows up on a screening.
• It was an entire team effort to save Eddie’s life. We wanted to give him the best possible care and a chance for recovery and a normal life.
• Being on the ECMO machine put him on a priority list for a new heart.

Friday, Sept. 6 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. With students going back to school, learn more about the impacts on mental health for students.

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