Starting over
Young heart transplant patients lead new lives.
HOLLYWOOD — Estefano Reano, a lively teenager with a love for poprock bands and Star Wars, was born with a heart not meant to last.
At 12, he learned he would die without a transplant.
Hewas stillwaiting by the time he turned 14. Tiny for his age, Estefano blew out his birthday candles and made a big wish for a new heart. Thirty minutes later, the phone rang. A heart was available.
Since the surgery, Estefano has gained 15 pounds, shot up 2 inches and has more energy than ever.
“I can run now,” he said from the Weston home he shares with his mother, stepfather and 8-year-old brother. “I can ride my bike. I can swim.”
On Nov. 11, Estefano became the 30th patient at Joe Di Maggio Children’s Hospital to receive a new heart. Ana Martinez, 19, was the second. The Sun Sentinel published stories on both teens last year and checked back to see how their lives have changed since getting their new hearts. The hospital’s doctors have performed 33 heart transplants since December 2010. The youngest transplant
patient was a boy who was only 56 days old, hospital officials say.
Ana, who was born with a heart defect, found out she needed a new heart when shewas 13.
“I saw it in a notebook my mom had written,” said Ana, an Immokalee native.
Ana got her new heart aweek later, on Feb. 16, 2011. Now a student at Florida Southwestern State College in Fort Myers, she plans to become a
doctor.
“When I see the doctors here, it inspires me to be one,” said Ana, whohas transitioned to adult care atMemorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood. “Maybe I can pay it forward.”
The heart that beats in Ana once belonged to Elmer Lopez, an athletic teen from Coral Springs who died after suffering a brain aneurysm at school. Hewas 14.
After learning the identity of her donor, Ana quickly befriended his family.
Maria Alberto, Elmer’s mom, says she felt a close connection with Ana on the day they met. The two now stay in touch on Facebook, text weekly and get together at least once a year.
“She said she wanted to have a relationship with us, and I wanted the same thing,” Alberto said. “She’s a good girl. I feel happy when I’mwith her.”
To keep her body from rejecting her new heart, Ana takes 12 pills in the morning and 10 more at night. Every month, she travels from Fort Myers to Hollywood for checkups with her doctor.
Missing meds can lead to dire consequences for heart transplant recipients.
“They develop rejection and heart failure and their heart stops working,” said Dr. Ioana Dumitru, Ana’s physician.
Like other transplant recipients, Estefano will have to be on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life and closely monitored by doctors.
Both Estefano and Ana may need a second transplant at some point, since hearts transplanted in pediatric patients last an average of 14 years.
Estefano’s new heart will grow with him, his doctor says.
“He has a second chance,” said Estefano’s doctor, Maryanne Chrisant.“Themedications he will be on forever will protect his heart from being rejected by his body. And that threat never really goes away.”
A nightstand in Estefano’s room holds three high-priority items: an angel candle, a framed picture of Jesus and his medication.
His alarm goes off twice a day, at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., alerting him to take his antirejection
drugs.
Estefano and his family say they are grateful a donor heartwas found, but also feel great sympathy for the family that lost a loved one.
They think they know who the donor is based on news reports of a local boy who died in a car crash on Estefano’s 14th birthday. But they are awaiting confirmation, said Estefano’s mother, Roxana Fergusson.
Both families have to agree to meet, said Cynthia Smith, a spokeswoman for the Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency at the University of Miami. A sixmonthwaiting period is usually required to make sure the recipient’s body does not reject the donated organ, Smith said.
Estefano says he hopes to meet his donor’s family one day, if they are willing.
He’s not sure yet what the future holds, but one thing he does know: He’s going to live a long time.
“I’m going to live 100 years,” he said with a smile that lit up the room. “A century.”