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Heart Transplant the Best Christmas Gift Ever
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (January 5, 2004) - Matthew Callison received his best
Christmas present a couple of days late, but he's not complaining. The
gift is likely to improve the quality of his life for many years.
An elementary school teacher attending New Hope Covenant Church in
Oakland, Callison was the recipient of a new heart on December 29,
thanks to a transplant performed at the University of California-San
Francisco Medical Center. Callison's heart came from a man who died
following a brain injury. Another patient at the Medical Center received
a pair of lungs from the same donor.
Callison, who lives in Oakland, was diagnosed with idiopathic dilated
cardiomyopathy on his 28th birthday, October 4. Within a few weeks,
other physical problems occurred that made it clear that things were far
more serious than he had imagined. According to a January 1 article in
the San Francisco Chronicle, Callison was advised that in a
best-case scenario, his condition would improve in six months using
medication alone. A worst-case scenario would require a heart transplant.
As it turned out, the heart transplant was necessary. However, rather
than enduring a lengthy wait, it was only six weeks from the time he
entered the hospital until he received the good news that a heart was
available. Amazingly, it was only three hours from the time that doctors
removed the heart from the donor that Callison had a new heart beating
in his own body - the operation required seven hours overall.
Pastor Dan Schmitz says that Callison should be released from the
hospital in the near future. He talks to Callison regularly and reports
that he is in good spirits. The church has encouraged a number of
individuals to care for Callison, his fiancée and his parents. New Hope
Covenant members provided a party in a hospital waiting room on December
22.
More information about Callison and his condition will be posted to this
online Covenant news report as it becomes available. The church and
family request prayer as the recovery process continues.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
