St. Paul's heart surgeon swaps out four hearts in a record 60 hours for a transplant marathon
Credit to Author: Susan Lazaruk| Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2020 18:00:55 +0000
It was a birthday gift Prem Sagar wasn’t expecting, and one he will never forget.
On Aug. 29, the day he turned 68, the Surrey grandfather received a new heart, a day after he joined the donor list, for which the wait is on average six months in B.C., according to B.C. Transplant.
But Sagar, who had suffered with virus-related heart problems for nine years and was about to get a mechanical heart, qualified because he was “critically ill” with about 25 per cent capacity, and the heart matched.
“My heart was ticking away and anytime it could just stop,” said Sagar.
At the home he shares with his wife, Nisa, and one of three daughters, Sagar gets emotional when he tries to put into words the gratitude he feels for a stranger.
“I sent the family a letter,” said Sagar. “It was two weeks before Christmas. I thanked them for the heart.”
He got an immediate reply. “I found out it was a son. She was a single mom and she told me he saved six people by donating other organs, his eyes, kidney, lungs, and she said you should celebrate his passing,” said Sagar. “It was something quite emotional.”
His heart transplant was special for a couple of other reasons: It was one of a record 30 transplants done last year in B.C., and more remarkably, it was the first of four transplants Dr. Anson Cheung at St. Paul’s Hospital would do over the next 60 hours.
Cheung, one of two heart surgeons at St. Paul’s, where all adult heart transplants have been done since 1996, said he knew when he began Sagar’s operation there were two others on deck. He done three in succession before, in 2016.
Dr. Anson Cheung of St. Paul’s Hospital performed four heart transplants in 60 hours last fall.
He later became aware of the fourth donor and knew he would perform that surgery, too, since the other surgeon was away.
“We would never turn someone away, we wouldn’t pass on the opportunity like this for the patient,” he said.
Cheung said he would eat and nap when he could over the 2.5 days and take breaks by going out for fresh air.
“I even did open heart surgeries during that time,” he said modestly, adding that he did more than one.
There has been a “steady increase” in the number of heart transplants done over the past five years because of more available organs, thanks to the increased education by B.C. Transplant, and, sadly, the number of healthy, young hearts donated by those killed by drug overdoses, he said.
Plus, there is no longer an age cutoff for donors as there has been in the past because studies show that the health of the organs is more important than their age, said Cheung.
In 2011, there were 14 heart transplants, and the numbers increased each year, up to 28 in 2016, down to 19 in 2017 and back up to 28 in 2018, according to B.C. Transplant. B.C. celebrated its 500th heart transplant in 2018, performed by Cheung, 30 years after the first.
As of Dec. 2, there were 14 patients waiting for a heart, and Sagar hopes his story will encourage others to sign their cards.
He said he is grateful for the chance to enjoy his retirement from the oil field and be a husband, a father to his three grown daughters, and a grandfather to his four-year-old granddaughter.
“I’m blessed,” said Sagar. “I don’t really believe in spirituality, but I do think there is somebody taking care of everybody.”
Nisa said her husband has changed from macho guy to more sensitive, someone who cries over TV shows.
“I pray to God every day” in thanks, she said.