Alaska man who missed his transplant surgery in December has received a new heart

A North Pole man who drew national attention in December when he missed out on a heart transplant due to weather-related travel problems has received a new heart.

Patrick Holland was called in for transplant surgery at University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle on Thursday. It was the fifth time he had been notified a heart had been matched to him. A donor heart was ultimately found to be not suitable for transplantation on three occasions after Holland relocated to Seattle in January to be nearer to the hospital.

“He got a great heart and he’s doing as would be expected this close after surgery,” said Dr. Claudius Mahr, Holland’s cardiologist.

Mahr said Holland remains closely monitored in intensive care, but no longer needs a ventilator to breathe. Medication to support his blood pressure has also been recently reduced. Both are good early signs, he said.

[A state of waiting: Patrick Holland of North Pole relocated to Seattle after missing out on a heart transplant due to the weather. Since then, it’s been a bumpy road.]

“Every heartbeat, every lab, all of that stuff, gets documented and tracked on a minute-by-minute ratio,” Mahr said.

“Generally speaking, we’re encouraged about how he’s progressing,” he said.

No information about the organ donor is made available, due to the privacy policy of United Network for Organ Sharing and out of respect for the donor’s family, Mahr said.

Haley Holland, Patrick’s wife, flew to Seattle with their four children while surgery, performed by Dr. Maziar Khorsandi, was underway. She said Patrick is tired, but conversational and sometimes jokes with staff. He seems to be doing better each day, she said.

“Every little improvement is huge, in the long run,” Haley Holland said.

Mahr said heart transplant recipients typically remain hospitalized for a couple weeks and work with respiratory, physical and occupational therapists during the early stages of recovery. Cardiac rehabilitation then continues on an outpatient basis later on.

“With heart failure it’s not just the heart, but it’s the whole body that’s deprived of oxygen, nutrients,” Mahr said. “And so even though he’s got a brand new heart, because of how long he’s been sick, his entire body has to recover.”

On Sunday, Haley Holland said she feels hopeful, even if the future remains challenging.

“We don’t know if we’ll get 30 years together, or 20 more, or 10, or 5 or 1,” Haley Holland said. “But whatever we do get, we look forward to without that ever-present discomfort and complications of heart failure.”

“It’s the beginning of a brand new life for us,” she said.