Imagine listening to your own heart beat in someone else’s body—tammy did just that!
Tammy did just that!
Cystic fibrosis left Tammy Griffin in need of a lung and heart transplant, but in a rare “domino” procedure, her healthy heart went on to save another life!
Settling into her airplane seat, 51-year-old Tammy Griffin’s heart flooded with excitement. I can’t believe
this is finally happening, the Portland, Oregon, native thought, adjusting her oxygen tank beside her. Tammy had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 9 months old, but now her lungs had gotten so bad that she used oxygen constantly and barely had the energy to shower. But that morning she’d received a call from Stanford University Hospital in California that had changed everything. After two and a half years, they’d found a donor. But as the plane took off, Tammy’s stomach rolled with anxious anticipation… after all, she wasn’t just about to get her second chance at life—she was about to save another’s life too.
A life-changing idea
A few months earlier, Tammy’s doctor had given her unexpected news. “Your right lung has shrunk in size due to
“I feel blessed to have been able to help someone enjoy life again. It truly is a miracle!”
infection,” he’d explained. “To compensate, the left lung has expanded, pushing your heart up toward your shoulder—we can’t perform a traditional lung transplant with your heart in this position.”
Tammy would need to undergo a much riskier lung and heart transplant. Terror gripped her, but she trusted her doctors.
“I’ll do the surgery,” she told her husband, Jim. “But my heart is healthy—i don’t want to just throw it away!”
In a flash, the organ in question started to pump quickly as Tammy had an idea. “I want to donate it!” she excitedly told her family. “Maybe my heart could save someone else’s life!”
Her doctor in Stanford agreed it was a great idea, explaining they could try a “domino” transplant, which meant as soon as Tammy’s donor became available, her healthy heart would go to the next person on the heart transplant list who was the right match.
And on February 1, 2016, doctors finally performed the surgery by removing Tammy’s lungs and heart and replacing them with a set from a recently deceased donor. When she awoke hours later, there were only questions on Tammy’s mind: Where did my heart end up? Did the procedure work? Did it give someone the second chance at life that I just got?
Two hearts transformed
A few days later, Tammy overheard nurses whispering about her in the halls of the intensive care unit. “A domino transplant,” one said. “She donated her own heart.” “That’s incredible!” another responded. “You know what’s even more amazing? Her heart could have been matched with anyone in the country, but the woman who got it is right here in this hospital!” Tammy could hardly believe her ears. “Is it true?” she later asked her doctor. “Yes,” he said, smiling. “Would you like to meet her?” “Very much,” Tammy said. After six weeks of recuperation, Tammy’s doctor brought her to the cardiac unit to meet Linda, a woman who’d had a congenital heart defect and had received Tammy’s heart. When the two women saw each other, they embraced, tears running down their cheeks. Someone saved my life, and I got to save Linda’s in return, Tammy thought.
“Usually, it takes an organ some time to work properly after it has been transplanted,” the doctor explained, holding out a stethoscope to Tammy. “But in this case, your heart started right up… like it was meant to be there.”
And as Tammy heard the steady thump of her own heart in Linda’s chest, she was overwhelmed with a joy and gratitude unlike anything she’d ever known.
Today, Tammy is breathing better than ever and enjoying a full life with her family. No longer tethered to an oxygen tank, she walks for miles each day with her dogs, and even accompanies Jim on long hikes and wonderful new adventures.
Tammy and Linda still keep in touch, exchanging stories of how their lives have beautifully transformed after surgery.
“My heart beats on in someone else’s body—and I’m still alive,” Tammy laughs. “That’s not something everyone can say! I am so grateful and feel so blessed to have been part of such a miracle!”