KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ronnie Metsker was healthy enough to keep up with his active grandchildren, but within the span of six months, he was confined to a hospital bed.
“I was a healthy person my whole life until I was 67, and that's when I entered the heart arena as a heart patient,” said Metsker, heart transplant recipient.
Saint Luke's cardiologist Dr. Tim Fendler explained Metsker developed cardiac sarcoidosis, a disease where unhealthy tissue or cells take over the heart.
“Because of that, the heart isn't able to squeeze as effectively anymore,” Fendler said.
Metsker's condition was life or death.
“When they found cardiac sarcoidosis — because, usually, they told me, 'We only find cardiac sarcoidosis if and when there's an autopsy' — it [was] very sobering," Metsker said.
A heart transplant was necessary for his survival, so Metsker said, “We prayed for a miracle."
He got his heart in eight days, and a team at Saint Luke’s performed the rare transplant.
“When we talk about transplants per year, a program like ours that does around 40 transplants a year is considered a pretty large volume transplant center,” Fendler said.
Metsker said he is grateful to be one of the 1,000 heart transplants completed at Saint Luke’s.
“Every day I wake up is a gift from God,” Metsker said.
He even had the rare opportunity to hold his old heart.
“That's me holding my heart, and I gave it a speech. I said, 'Thank you for serving me so well through all these years. We have a new heart now, so we're going to say goodbye,'" Metsker recalled.
Fendler said every transplant is "special."
“... Every single transplant feels like a miracle in front of your eyes happening,” Fendler said.
Even though Metsker's case was rare, it’s a reminder that heart disease isn’t.
“It's definitely a good reminder that heart disease is the most common cause of sickness and death in this country,” Fendler said. “Anything that we can do to make sure and lower the risk that we develop heart-related problems, we should do.”
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KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.
