It was two days before Valentine’s Day when a Goshen teenager received a gift of a much-needed human heart.
The family of 19-year-old Barrett Younghans rushed to IU Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis Sunday after they received an early morning telephone call that doctors had a donor heart for Barrett. He underwent surgery later that day and began his recovery Monday.
“It was a pretty surreal trip down here,” Barrett’s father Barry Younghans said Monday evening via telephone from Indianapolis.
Barry explained the family became comfortable living with Barrett’s illness. But when faced with the transplant surgery Sunday, he said, there was a whole new list of concerns.
“It’s like you know you have to do it,” Barry said. “You pray your child lives through it, that the doctors will perform the surgery, that the heart will re-start after surgery.”
Due to begin therapy
Barry said Tuesday night that Barrett was out of bed, sitting in a chair and had had tubes removed earlier that day.
Barrett was due to begin therapy Wednesday, his father indicated to The News.
“Now the big thing is preventing rejection” and keeping Barrett healthy, Barry explained.
He also said that several family members visited Barry Tuesday, with some of his cousins making the trip to Indianapolis.
Doctors have told the family that Barrett is doing as well as can be expected.
“We hope he is out of ICU by Thursday,” Barry said.
Early morning call
The Younghans family received a telephone call regarding the heart transplant Sunday at about 5:30 a.m. and were headed to Indianapolis a few minutes later. Barrett’s surgery was scheduled at 3 p.m. and the news of the success of the transplant was made known about 10:30 p.m.
Barrett, a graduate of Goshen High School, was diagnosed at 17 with cardiomyopathy, an enlargement of the heart muscle, possibly caused by a virus. He was placed on a transplant list in January 2010.
He began his freshman year at Valparaiso last fall, but his condition worsened and he returned home. In October he received a ventricular assist device that helped his diseased heart pump blood. He also enrolled this semester at Goshen College to keep active, his father explained.
Barry estimated that Barrett will be in the hospital at least for two weeks.
“We’re hoping for less, but it depends on how he holds up,” Barry said. “We will take it day to day. Then days turn into weeks.”
Barry said he expects a new set of visitors in the days ahead.
The family is posting updates on the web site caringbridge.org under Barrett’s name.
Local News
Related Photos
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Goshen's Barrett Younghans greets visitors attending a benefit for him at Applebee's Neighborhood Bar & Grill in Goshen in April 2010. Barrett, 19, is recovering from heart transplant surgery on Sunday in Indianapolis. MICHAEL WANBAUGH
UPDATE: Heart transplant patient recovering
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