Ray's Words
RAY HARTLE There is no agreement among South Africa’s heart transplant programmes that Covid-19 vaccination will be recommended for donor heart recipients. While a vaccine is keenly anticipated as the best means for immunosuppressed transplant recipients to counter Covid-19, not
South Africa’s four heart transplant programmes face challenging times, after a year in which transplant numbers slumped dramatically due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And the second wave of the virus has put paid to transplantations in most programmes in the
I have been trying to figure out what my medium to long-term lifestyle may be once the enforced Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa is lifted. Logically, it seems that fellow organ donor recipients in South Africa and I must prepare
On a Monday morning in August, 2016, South African Wayde van Niekerk became the fastest person on earth across 400 meters of an athletics track, raising whoops of unbridled joy and admiration. I was left considering my own slow,
Provide relevant information to all communities in our country on heart disease and available treatments; Promote an effective recording of deaths in order to get an accurate account of the causes of death and the burden of disease; Lead a
Fifty years ago, unbeknown to the world, the country stood poised to breach one of the most significant frontiers in medical science, the transplantation of a human heart from one person to another. Such a procedure – already perfected in
University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Tim Pennel joined East London cardiologist Dave Kettles in a discussion on the challenges in diagnosing and treating heart disease in South Africa. The event was hosted by Life
FROM OUR EVENT IN EAST LONDON: CURRENT AND FUTURE FRONTIERS IN HEART DISEASE AND TREATMENT The 50th anniversary of the first human-to-human heart transplant is an opportunity to celebrate, but South Africans must also wake up to the reality
Algoa FM interview with Jeff Moloi, Thursday, November 22, 2017. https://cms.algoafm.co.za//pod/201711239589.mp3
Today, I stood at the window again. It was blustery outside, chilly even this side of the pane. I’d thought that the wonderfully soaking rain of the preceding 48 hours across the Eastern Cape would have brought a calm
This was written around the time of my birthday in 2016, a month before my transplant. And so a word on silence, ignoring things, people, good wishes for one’s health, one’s life. It’s an acute paradox – talking, writing about
In-between stints in hospital last year, there was a madness in my head about sorting out the administrative, legal, practical aspects of living, which seemingly – no, definitely – needed attention before death. It’s the weirdest thing, sending someone a
The identity of the donor of my second heart (and his or her family) remains anonymous in terms of South African heart transplant protocols. The donor family, also, knows little – if anything at all – of my identity. As
(A composite article published in newspapers in April.) On October 11 last year, I received a donor heart in a transplant operation at the private Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town. I was the 216th heart recipient to come
I believe it’s wired into most of us not to be boastful about who or what we are. We take seriously the admonishments against boastfulness passed down to us through the great religious and philosophical texts. As a country, South
It’s mostly about balance – of food, fluids, exercise, emotional wellbeing and medication, especially medication. Getting the right balance is critical for the survival of a heart transplant recipient. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the administering of
Given that most of us don’t look after our bodies very well, it’s easy to think that those who have heart disease are simply guilty of over-indulgence of food and drink, and lack of exercise. That may be a big
I’m not convinced it was the worst year in collective history – 2016. Some of my contenders for worst year of the millennium are in no danger of being pushed off the chart by the past 12 months. Yes, for
I’ve been down this road before – usually at times of hectic busy-ness, so much to do that one simply gets overwhelmed and the end result is either of slumping in a corner and not achieving anything or trying ever
It might seem a terribly morbid topic to raise during this wonderfully festive holiday period we are entering. But, have you considered that you might be one of the road fatalities that occurs this December-January? And, is it possible that
By the time human organs had been transplanted, many hundreds of operations involving various animals had been performed around the world to test surgical procedures (correctly, many of these experiments would be outlawed by ethics policies today). Kidney transplants from one
It is noticeable that, while most people can recite the names of surgical pioneers like Chris Barnard and transplant recipients like Louis Washkansky and Dorothy Fisher, few of us know the donors who have either voluntarily sacrificed much or whose
There is almost zero access to heart surgery for poor people in rural areas, who typically die without treatment, according to the self-assessment of the heart transplant unit at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town. The unit,
People ask me all the time: What does it feel like? I know immediately what they’re referring to, but feign uncertainty and send a question back: What do you mean? They say: Having someone else’s heart in your chest. No different,
I feel a bit goofy about it. But the medical people insist that going around in public for the next couple of weeks with a surgical mask covering my mouth and nose are critical for my good health, preventing germs
For many, the importance of positive, nurturing relationships only becomes apparent during a crisis. I have been blessed throughout my life with the most amazing relationships, and I’ve not only been alert to that during crises. Those relationships include my
There’s a reason I love words more than numbers. But I’ve realised over the years that not paying attention to the big numbers in any area of my life can lead to serious problems – it can even be a
The heritage bequeathed to me by my family and its various strands of forebears is of “maer boudjies” – thin, spindly, boney legs. Those forebears mainly were the ones roaming the plains alongside Cape mountains and the Karoo – when
God of second chances – thank you!! From the moment last Tuesday morning when I said goodbye in my “waiting” hospital Ward to an emotional Jan, the Polish seaman who was being treated for pneumonia contracted off the Atlantic coast,
I’m re-discovering the (personal) meaning of two words I thought I always knew until today. Gobsmacked. Surreal. I understood this afternoon for the first time what it means to be totally and completely gobsmacked, when I heard of the availability
I have today been told by doctors at Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital that a donor heart is available for me and will be transplanted tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. Head of the heart transplant unit Dr Willie Koen brought the news just
I’ve lived with a weak heart muscle possibly since birth but at least since 2007. That’s when I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that describes the enlarging of the left heart ventricle, affecting its ability to pump blood
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