Christi Carson, Warren Area High School grad and registered nurse at UPMC Chautauqua, gives a smile and two thumbs up after her heart transplant surgery last weekend. Submitted photo

It’s been a long road, but Christi Carson has a new heart.

A year ago, Carson, a 2002 graduate of Warren Area High School and nurse at UPMC Chautauqua, started having heart problems as her due date for delivering twins approached.

Her heart wasn’t doing the work — it was pumping at 10 to 15 percent of normal.

She was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy.

The twins were delivered by C-section and Carson had pumps — LVADs (left ventricular assist devices) — installed to help her heart. She was the only person in the nation with two LVADs, her step-father, Mark Woody, of Warren, said.

To get rid of the 20 pounds of LVADs, she would need a new heart. She was put on the transplant list.

Finding a heart that matched would not be enough. She had to be ready. Carson had to be clear of antibodies that might cause a rejection.

This month, she was heading into her second round of plasmapheresis and chemotherapy and was expected to be ready in June.

Then, surprisingly good new arrived. Two days before her husband Dan’s birthday, they were notified that there was a heart for her.

“Last Friday afternoon, at 4 p.m. they were notified that they had an immunologically perfect heart,” Woody said. “It matched antibodies and the specific proteins.”

“Her surgeon said he had never seen a more perfect match,” Woody said.

Because it was a match down to the antibodies, she didn’t have to undergo as much treatment. A low level of antibodies would be enough.

“Saturday, she was prepped and in the operating room at 12:30 p.m. awaiting the arrival of the heart,” Woody said.

The heart arrived and was accepted by the medical team.

The equipment that had been keeping Carson alive was in the way. “The first issue was to remove all the LVAD equipment,” Woody said. “Once that was removed, which went quicker than they thought, they went ahead with the surgery.’

Surgery started at 3:30 p.m. “At 10:30 that night the surgeon came out and told us that the heart was beating on its own and that she would be going to the recovery room and then up to the cardiothoracic ICU,” Woody said.

Woody, a nurse himself, had a request — he wanted to hear and feel Carson’s pulse.

“I went in and said, ‘I need a stethoscope… I want to hear the heart,'” he said. “It was the first time in 11 months that I felt her pulse.”

“The LVADs are like a water pump and they are continuously running,” he said. “There is no contraction of the ventricles.”

Carson’s recovery is going well.

“She was taken off the ventilator Tuesday,” Woody said. “Chest tubes have now been removed.”

“She is alert, taking clear liquids, and is walking,” he said.

“Next, she will go to the step-down floor then to rehab,” Woody said. “We don’t know how long she’ll have to stay in Pittsburgh. We don’t know how close she has to be. We don’t know when she will be able to come home to Jamestown.”

But, she has a heart. And her children are doing well.

“Isla and Arabella are going to be a year old next month and are thriving,” Woody said.

Their mother can’t visit in person with them due to the risk of infection, but they see and visit with mom. “They do video multiple times a day,” Woody said.

Carson, her husband Dan, and Mark and Jill Woody, are thankful. “God is good,” he said.

“The entire family would like to thank everyone for thoughts, support and prayers,” Woody said. “We cannot thank the community and the nation enough for all their prayers and support.”

“Thanks to Dr. Kaczorowski and his entire surgical and support team of UPMC Presbyterian,” he said.

“We especially thank the donor and the donor’s family,” he said. “They gave our daughter the greatest gift she could ever receive.”

That gift would not have been possible without their willingness. Woody urged that people “sign your donor card” so that, out of other tragedies there might be similar gifts.

“We are truly beyond blessed.”