Update on Kori

This morning I read an encouraging update about my friend Kori who, as many of you know, is awaiting a heart transplant in Salt Lake City. I covet your continued prayers for her and her family! ~Resa

Dec. 9 (6:45 p.m. Mountain time)

Posted 14 hours ago

This is Kori's dad. I arrived yesterday in a snow storm. Kori and Brenda met me at the airport. Kori and I went directly to her physical therapy appointment and Brenda stayed at the airport to catch her flight to Denver.

Kori very much enjoyed having Brenda here. See cleaned everything throughly and even prepared food and froze it. She must have known that I know nothing about cooking and was concerned about Kori's well being with me in charge of food service. That was very thoughtful of her; and accurate.

Kori and I had a full day today. T-Ann, one of the Lvad coordinators, had Kori visit with a 13 year old boy who has very severe congestive heart failure and has had an Lvad device implanted. He was feeling pretty low. We went on a tour of the medical air transport facility and even went outside, with the young man in a wheelchair. I think Kori improved his outlook. Alot of the people in surgical ICU that worked with Kori were amazed at how well she is doing and how good she looked. I can see a great improvement in her vision and mobility since the last time I saw her. We were in a room with a technician and 3 Doctors while Kori was having an echocardiogram and Erin, the other Lvad coordinator, came in. Kori said to her, "You got a haircut, I really like it." The Doctors were amazed that she could see that.

After the echocardiogram, the three Doctors met in private and then Dr. Selzman (Kori's cardiac surgeon) spoke with Kori and me. He said they are excited about how much her heart has improved. The damaged area is now scar tissue, but the remainder of her heart is "squeezing" very strongly. Next month, they will re-admit her to the hospital and see if her heart can function without the Lvad. Dr. Selzman said he didn't want to get our hopes up, but that this was worth exploring. If it turns out to be a 50-50 proposition, they will still recommend a transplant. They don't want to do this unless they feel there is an 80-90% chance of success. They will try to repair the damaged area and let her heart take over. Even if this is successful, he said she might only get 2-5 years out of her heart, but that would still be a benefit. If the Lvad is successfully removed, it should also help her antibody count. Do miracles really happen?