43
Woman stays positive as she waits for a new heart
By Elise Franco
Austintown
Charity Thomas intends to make the most of her second chance.
Thomas, 24, of Austintown, until early 2009 considered herself a normal woman. She was a full-time student, worked out and took care of her four children with the help of her fianc .
Then, what she thought was an upper-respiratory infection turned out to be the condition that would forever alter her life.
“I went to the ER, and the doctor saw fluid around my heart and lungs,” Thomas said. “My heart was really big and abnormal.”
Emergency-room doctors referred Thomas to St. Elizabeth Health Center in Boardman, where she was told she had congestive heart failure.
She said doctors couldn’t pinpoint an exact cause of the failure and told her it was likely caused by some type of bacteria.
For the next several months, Thomas traveled to the Cleveland Clinic, where she was eventually put on the heart-transplant list. In October 2009, a pacemaker was installed, but it had little effect.
“I was just progressively getting worse,” she said.
Because of Thomas’ common blood type, she was told she could be on the transplant list for two or three years before receiving a heart — but doctors knew she didn’t have that much time.
“My doctors recommended me for the L-VAT procedure so that I could live long enough to get my transplant,” she said.
L-VAT, or left ventricular assist device, is a type of heart pump that doctors surgically placed in Thomas to help her heart pump blood, she said.
“I have a tube that comes out of the side of my stomach now, and I have to keep a sterile dressing on it that I have to change every day,” Thomas said.
The surgery, which was June 29, kept Thomas in the hospital for three weeks, causing her to miss her graduation from Trumbull Business College on July 9.
Or so she thought.
“I graduated from school July 9, but I wasn’t able to be there, so they came up to surprise me,” she said. “I put on my cap and gown for a photo and got spruced up, and when I walked in the room, there were cameras there, and all of my family was there.”
She returned home July 15 with her L-VAT pump and diploma in tow and said she’s been surrounded by family and friends willing to help her in whatever way possible.
Thomas’ fianc , Jorrell Gibbs, 28, said having her at home and alive is worth the struggles that may lie ahead.
Thomas and Gibbs have two children together, Mylea, 3, and Jorrell Jr., 2. Thomas also has two other children, Naudia McDowell, 10, and Micha Dukes, 7.
Gibbs said seeing Thomas’ strength gives him the strength he needs.
Thomas said she couldn’t be more appreciative of the second chance she’s been given.
“My life has changed in every aspect,” she said. “It’s been difficult, but at the same time, it’s made me very humble.”
Thomas said it would be easy to feel bad for herself, but she refuses to let that happen.
“It can always be worse. I could be dead,” she said. “Instead of feeling bad for myself, I look at what I do have instead of what I don’t.
“I hope I can be an example and encouragement to someone who’s going through any type of hardship.”
Thomas said she’ll never again take life for granted and has big plans for after she receives her new heart.
“From now on, I’m going to take every day as a gift and try to do something better every day than the day before,” she said.