On April 8, 2004 I suffered a spontaneous dissection of my coronary artery, I spent two months in the ICU at Hahnemann University Hospital, and on December 25, 2004 I received a heart transplant. I started this blog to help women heart transplant recipients communicate with each other as well as their families. During my time of waiting for a transplant any information that was shared from other recipients was a great help to me and my family, when other recipients shared their stories with me it put me to ease, however, I started to notice most of the individuals sharing their stories where men. I thought it would be nice to have a way for women to communicate with each other as mothers, wives, daughters, we have many questions, concerns, fears, that we sometime would much rather share/communicate with other women. So here we are, ask away or comment! Please check out some very important web sites that I have listed United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), Go Red for Women.
Posted by: kellyalpert | April 21, 2009
Kelly Alpert, Heart Transplant Recipient, December 25, 2004
Posted in Heart Tansplant, Women Heart Tranplant | Tags: heart transplant, Support Group, Womens Heart Transplant
Women's Heart Transplant Support Group 
Hi Kel,
Great to see you started this blog. I will send the link out to Mr. and Mrs. C.
Looks Great!
Deb
By: Deb Cotto on May 6, 2009
at 4:42 pm
Hi Deb,
Great seeing you and Karson. Thanks for looking over the blog, hope to see your comments in the future.
Love Ya
Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 17, 2009
at 10:26 pm
This blog is a great idea. I had a heart transplant 17.5 years ago, and there definitely aren’t too many young women who’ve been through that. (I was 21 then and 38 now.)
By: weinribk on May 7, 2009
at 8:30 am
Hi Kelly,
You have a great Blog here. Women with heart problems have been in the background of the news too many years. I have followed the news about hearts for many years since I rec’d my own heart transplant over 18yrs ago. I plan to come back and visit your Blog quite often.
Ol’ Bob
By: Bob P on May 7, 2009
at 3:27 pm
Thank you so much for your response. It is fabulous that you are 17.5 years out with your heart tranplant, when I hear from recipients that far out it always make me feel wonderful. Sharing this information, will be so helpful to recent recipent’s. I hope you will be able to follow this blog and share your story and insights that have helped you over the years. The best advise I received from another recipient was to make sure I always take my medication and to stay on a schedule. Looking forward to hearing from you again and thanks for sharing. Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 7, 2009
at 3:58 pm
Hi Biob,
Thank you for visiting and sharing. Sharing that you had your transplant 18 years ago will help so many recipients that have just received a transplant or that are a few years out like myself. Even though I have been very healthy and I’m in my 5th year, I always feel much better when I hear from other recipients that have many years with their transplant, so thank you for sharing you have made my day. Hope to hear from you again! Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 7, 2009
at 4:05 pm
Thank you Kelly for starting this needed means of communication for women. This is year 7 for me and I feel very good. Stage 4 heart failure put me on the transplant list in 2002. I am so grateful to my donor family (whomever they are) for the opportunity to live.
I am curious about the years to come. I have to be honest and admit I wonder about kidney failure and skin cancer happening. But I know I’ll meet those challenges head-on. Talk again soon.
By: SueAnnMiller on May 7, 2009
at 4:31 pm
This site is amazing and I think if my daughter would talk to more transplanted people it would be easier for her.
I am asking everyone to please take a few minutes to send a card to an amazing girl. My daughter Krista McArdle. She has had two heart transplants and many other surgeries. She recently got the H1N1 virus which ended up with pneumonia and rejection. She turned sweet 16 on January 20th. She could not have a birthday party nor even attend school. I have not even been able to buy her gift yet. Thank god, income tax time is here. We are shooting for a party in March. I had some people put some post out their to send some cards. She runs to the mailbox waiting for the mail. It as made her so happy to read all these beautiful cards from people we do not even know. She is full of spirit and so happy again. Such a little thing bring such an impact on her life. She is overjoyed seeing how many people care. For years we have been writing cards for people on whish upon a hero. I never really realized what an impact these cards really make. So please send her a card. It can be any kind of card, I love seeing her giant smiles. Thank you all whom have sent them you truly are all angels. You are making a giant impact on once a child who was feeling isolated and unhappy really happy and excited. She is hoping she gets them from every where.
Florida and Texas are in the lead (HA HA) Please, help. PLEASE FORWARD THIS OR LET OTHERS KNOW. For contact information go to myspace.com/mandi.mcardle The info is in the blog cards for Krista
By: kristasheart on January 30, 2010
at 7:40 am
Hello Sue,
I’m so happy to hear from you and thank you for sharing, I too have the same concern with regard to kidney failure and skin cancer. I just completed my 6 month exams with my dermotologist and he has scheduled me for yearly visits now, however, I will always be checking my skin and continue to wear sun screen year round. Thank you again for sharing and I have a good feeling with all of us sharing our stories and our concerns this blog will help all of us in some way. Have a great day and I’m looking forward to hearing from you and I hope we can have some family members get nvolved as I’m sure they have some concerns and this would be a great way for them to communicate as well. Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 7, 2009
at 5:11 pm
Hey, Kelly! Great idea, this blog! I’m 10 1/2 years out now, and doing great! I feel like I’m half my real age! I have had issues with skin cancer (all was removed and I’ve had no recurrence) and kidney failure (caused by medication reaction), but have been able to bounce back from every issue, thank God. I have great support from my transplant team, family and friends and feel so lucky to be here. I wish I could meet my donor family to personally express my gratitude for their selfless gift. Hope to share more in the future. Gail
By: Gail on May 7, 2009
at 5:55 pm
Hi Gail,
Thanks so much for checking out this blog. Congratulation of being out 10 1/2 years that is fantastic. Glad to hear of no recurrence from skin cancer, after my transplant I was taken back when they told me I had to maintain appoitnments with the dermotologist, that was one thing I hadn’t thought about was skin cancer totally forgetting all of the affects of having my immune supressed. Glad to hear you also bounced back from the kidney failure you sure have been through alot, I’m your comments will help others that are looking at some of the same issues. Looking forward to hearing from you again! Its a good life. Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 7, 2009
at 11:13 pm
I received my heart on November 5th 2001. My cousin had her transplant 10 years ago. This blog will be very important to share information, experiences, and concerns. Regarding kidney issues, I am 7 1/2 out and I do have stage III kidney disease. My kidneys are operating about 50% of normal. But I feel fine and am asymptomatic. I am on cyclosporin and cellcept. My cousin was moved to prograf and has no kidney problems. I tried prograf but had an allergic reaction to it, so back to cyclosporin.
By: Barbara Hoffman on May 7, 2009
at 7:30 pm
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for visiting and leaving your comment on the blog. Glad to hear you are feeling fine. I have also had some allergic reaction to the different medications. Please keep us posted on how you are doing, looking forward to hearing from you. Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 7, 2009
at 11:20 pm
Hi again Kelly,
You and your heart/lung transplant pals might want to visit a website with over 2,000 organ recipients from all over the world. Transplantbuddies.org
Hope you don’t mind me posting this but you can obtain many new friends worldwide. My username is “Happy2Bhere” on this wonderful site.
Hugs from Texas
By: Bob P on May 7, 2009
at 9:56 pm
Hello Bob,
I don’t mind your posting this information at all. I will also check it out. Thanks for the information. Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 7, 2009
at 11:36 pm
What a wonderful site! I had my heart transplant on Nov. 20, 2006. I had gone into the hospital for a knee replacement and was given the wrong medicine which caused a massive heart attack resulting in the death of the bottom part of my heart. I am currently in rejection for the 3rd time. I take 4000 mg Cellcept, 400 mg Cyclosporine, 1 mg Rapamune and 5 mg Prednizone per day.
By: Fran Miller on May 8, 2009
at 12:14 pm
Dear Fran,
I’m so sorry to hear what you had to go through, what a shock this must have been for you.to go in for knee surgery and never have any type of heart condition. I hope that some readers of this blog can talk to you about rejection, I had two rejections in my first year. The left side of my heart essential died after I had a spontaneous disection of my coronary artery, I had a left ventrical assist device to help pump my heart until I could receive a heart transplant did you have any type of device to help you prior to transplant? I am always amazed on how the end result is a heart transplant but all of our stories on how we got to that result are all so different. Thank you for sharing your story, I hope to hear more from you. Wishing you well! Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 8, 2009
at 4:33 pm
Kelly,
We are still waiting to see you visit our transplantbuddies.org site. Come on over for awhile and share a few comments. OK?
Ol’ Bob in Texas
By: Bob P on May 8, 2009
at 6:45 pm
Thank you Kelly for starting this blog. I am just a little year out with my transplant. I was pregnant and having difficulty breathing and upper abdominal pain, the physicians thought it was my gallbladder, they scheduled me for surgery, surgery went fine but coming out of anastetic, i went into congestive heart failure, unfortunately, i lost my daughter 3 days after going into CHF. I only had a 20% ejection factor ultimately after different options to see if my heart would heal on its own, i was on 24/7 IV meds just to keep me going so to speak. I was placed on the transplant list March 3, 2008 and received my transplant on March 29th. Im feeling wonderful and it really helps to hear stories of others who are doing so well. Thank you very much!
By: Dianne on May 8, 2009
at 7:33 pm
Hi Dianne,
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am so sorry for the loss of your daughter and to hear of all that you had to endure. I’m so glad to hear you are feeling wonderful, and thank you for sharing your story. I am so very excited that other women are sharing their stories, and I’m hoping that family members will jump on as well especially the caregivers. As I mentioned in one of my comments it always amazes me to hear of other people situations that lead them to a heart tranplant. I’m going to try to give more detail as to what happened to me on my next post, I think one of the shocking things for me after my husband told me I would need a heart transplant, was when the doctors came in and also explained I would have to do chemo therapy, not because I had cancer but because my immune system was off the charts and they would need to suppress it before I could receive my transplant. I had alot to take in that day as I’m sure most of us did the day it sunk in for most of us what we were facing. Thank you again for sharing your story and I look forward to hearing from you again! Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 8, 2009
at 8:33 pm
Kelly,
You finally made it happen, a support group for woman! One of the questions/concerns that I have is about menopause. Do woman heart transplant recipients experience anything different than the normal “hot flashes, mood swings…”? Do we need to be cautious about anything in particular concerning menopause? By the way it was awesome to see you and your husband at the dinner dance. You looked very beautiful and happy. I didn’t realize your tx date was Christmas Day! What a gift! Mine was close to Thanksgiving in 2006. It actually falls on thanksgiving this year, 11/26!
By: Joanne Clemens on May 9, 2009
at 11:46 am
Hi Joanne, It was so nice seeing you and your family at the dinner dance, you have such a beautiful family and you looked fantastic, you all looked like you were having a fabulous time, your children are beautiful. So about your questions regarding menopause, I could not believe after everything I was through to then find out after my transplant I was in menopause, the doctors told me tht my body had been through so much shock that it just sped up the process. My symptoms seemed to mimic the same as my mothers, the hot flashes and mood swings. Well I’m not sure this helped much, hopefully some other recipients will comment. I hope to talk to you soon! Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 10, 2009
at 9:21 am
Hello Everyone,
I hope all of you Moms out their had a very nice mothers day! For me I had a great day, even though it is somewhat of a bitter sweet day, I’m always so greateful for my donor family for giving me these extra years with my family and at the same time I feel for them for the loss of their loved one. It is also difficult for me since the loss of my mother to lung cancer two years ago. I do fee very blessed, as my mother was able to see me very well for 2 years before she died and for that I am so greatful. I hope this message finds everyone well and if anyone has any questions or stories to share please let us hear from you. Kelly
By: Kelly Alpert on May 13, 2009
at 2:59 am
Hi Kel,
Had a great weekend. Thanks for hooking me up to the blog, will be checking it out during the week.
Love ya,
Deb
By: whtsg on May 17, 2009
at 10:21 pm
Hi Kelly,
My transplant anniversary date is coming up (May 31). Every year I select a special card to send to my donor family with a handwritten note of thanks. I recently learned that some transplant recipients don’t write to their donor families. I recommend we all take the time to say thank you to the family that made the decision or supported their loved one’s decision to give life. It’s the right thing to do. If folks are having a difficult time finding the right words, Gift of Life has some sample letters available and I’m happy to share what I’ve written.
Sue Ann
By: SueAnnMiller on May 18, 2009
at 7:17 am
Hi SueAnne,
I contacted the Gift of Life regarding sample letters to view prior to recipients sending a letter to their donor family, I was told they do no have sample letters, however, they has a page on their website that has tips for writting to donor families. I have included this page of our blog. Thanks for bringing this to everyone’s attention.
Kelly
By: kellyalpert on May 21, 2009
at 10:10 am
Hi SueAnn,
I was not aware that the Gift of Life had sample letters thanks for bringing this to everyone’s attention. I remember when I sat down to write my first letter, I was so torn on what to say and how to say it. I will contact Gift of Life and see if we can post a sample letter and if not I can get the contact information so recipients can have a name and number to call for a copy of the letters. Congratulation on your upcomming anniversary! Kelly
By: Kelly Alpert on May 18, 2009
at 7:55 pm
Hi SueAnn,
Just wanted to let you know I contacted the Gift of Life and asked if we could post some of their sample letters, they mentioned that they do not have sample letter, however they have a section on their web site that offers tips for writing to donor families, so I have posted the Gift of Life’s tips on the blog. Thanks again for bringing this to everyone’s attention and I’m sure the tips will be helpful. Kelly
By: Kelly Alpert on May 28, 2009
at 8:54 am
Hi Kelly…am trying out your website. This is fantastic to have one that deals just for us women! Contradulations on your Christmas Day heart transplant! Exactly 2 years after yours….I had a kidney transplant on 12-25-06! What a blessing for both of us!. I also had a heart transplant 9-15-’98. While on neoral for the heart transplant….my kidneys were affected and shut down…that’s why the need for the transplant. I was switched to Prograf and have been doing fine. Also while in the hospital, (on the News) there was another man at a near by hospital who also had a kidney transplant the same time I had mine. Life is sure full of surprises! Joan
By: Joan Bannon on May 30, 2009
at 2:04 am
Hi Joan,
Glad to hear you are doing well. It’s a shame that you also had to go through a kidney transplant. You are right we are very blessed. I just had my six month checkup and all is well except my tryglisorides were a little high, so I will be working on that, as well as losing wait. So not so bad. Thanks so much for sharing your story and pass the word along! Kelly
By: Kelly Alpert on May 31, 2009
at 6:26 am
Kelly
I was reading all the blogs. I look forward to reading more. I”m glad you started this and you can share your story. We love you very much keep up the good work sis.
Love Debbie
By: DEbbie on May 31, 2009
at 10:17 am
OMG!!
Kelly, I once corresponded with Joan Bannon, the lady in the above post. I have wondered about her quite often.
Kelly, I hope you have been doing just fine, lit’l lady. God Bless
By: Bob Pitcock on May 31, 2009
at 11:26 am
Hi to Bob Pitcock and Kelly—-Yes, all is going well. Next week I have my 3 mo. check with Cardiology. So far, all seems to go well.Tests and labs good or staying the same. My family doctor did send me to an endocronoligist as my thyroid was elevated….seem to have no problems though…The specialist thought it could be from the prednisone….we’re just keeping check on it.
Kelly — think we all need a spell-check for our medical terms when we blog!!! Joan
By: Joan Bannon on June 10, 2009
at 1:54 am
Hi Joan,
Thanks for the update and with your test and labs, glad to hear all is well there. That can help in so many ways and at the same time mess around with us. I will see if I can add a spell check, it is frustrating typing medical terms and trying to see if they are spelled correctly without spell check. So glad to hear from you, if you have a chance, give us an update after your checkup! Kelly
By: kellyalpert on June 10, 2009
at 9:41 am
Hi Bob,
All is well with me and my family, just had a checkup all was well, working on getting my tryglisoride level down. How are things with you?
By: Kelly Alpert on June 1, 2009
at 8:10 am
Hi Kelly,
I am doing fantastic for an ol’ 18yr survivor of heart transplant. Had a birthday celebration recently. Big ol’ “70” coming up next year, by golly. Ol’ St Peter just keeps on dusting off my “Welcome Mat”. Hugs to you from Texas xxx
By: Bob Pitcock on June 1, 2009
at 8:56 am
Just checking in and reading all the posts. Wow, we sure have been through alot! We all need a big HUG!!;) I feel so lucky to have gone through this huge life-altering experience, I truly do. Because I have been able to meet such wonderful people! I wish I could have been blessed with meeting my donor family, but they have moved from their last address and my mail can’t be forwarded.
In addition to the skin cancer and kidney failure, I also had some “female” issues and had to have a partial hysterectomy just a year post-transplant. I’ve only recently experienced some menopausal symptoms, though. My biggest problem was post-transplant depression. It took me a long time to acknowledge I was having a problem and to seek treatment. Boy, am I glad I did! I’ve been feeling so much better since then! I tend to be a “stork” when it comes to seeing my own problems. Just hoping they go away doesn’t work, but it takes me a long time sometimes to get that through my head.
Kelly – I recently started taking fish oil 1200 mg to lower my bad cholesterol and triglycerides and it’s been working. if you aren’t already taking some, maybe you can talk to your docs about that. Hope all is well!
By: Gail on June 3, 2009
at 2:58 am
Hello Gail,
You certainly have been through a lot, so glad that you are doing well. I remember when I was told that I needed a heart transplant if that wasn’t enough to take in, a few days later I was told I would have to do chemo therepy because my immune system was off the charts and they need to keep lowering it up until I had my transplant and then after the transplant I went right in to menopause, as this was a lot to take in I felt the only thing to do was to remain positive, especially for my family, as much as this was difficult on me I felt they were suffering more than I was. Plus the thought of a donor and their family that made it easy for me to remain positive and to look forward. You sound like a very strong individual and I’m sure you comment is truly helping other individuals, as women we do not always take care of ourselves first, glad you took action and sought treatment. Thanks for the tip on the fish oil, I will check with the Doc’s to make sure I can take it. Take care, please keep in touch and give us more updates! Kelly
By: kellyalpert on June 8, 2009
at 7:41 pm
Hello Kelly,
I’m hoping someone can give me some information. A recent blood test I had shows an elevation in the LDH. The LDH is an enzyme that’s released when there is tissue or organ damage. The additional blood tests that were done didn’t show any organ or tissued damaged so . . . it’s a bit confusing. Has anyone experienced this? My only sympton is I’m more tired than usual.
Thanks all.
By: SueAnnMiller on August 18, 2009
at 4:03 am
Hi SueAnne,
I’m sorry to hear of the difficulty you are having. I’m hoping you will receive some responses. Kelly
By: Kelly Alpert on August 18, 2009
at 5:21 am