Krainert's hope for another miracle transplant comes up emptySaturday, June 06, 2009
By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register Staff Writer
Dan Krainert, one of the world’s longest-living heart transplant patients, has run out of transplant miracles.
The 46-year-old Napa man learned a week ago that he did not qualify for a double transplant to replace the heart he received in 1980 and the kidney implanted in 1988.
Before considering Krainert for a new heart and kidney, doctors at Stanford University Medical Center needed to verify that his liver was working adequately, the family reported.
Tests at Queen of the Valley Medical Center revealed that his liver was also failing, making further transplants impossible, the family said.
“They all say the same thing: Nothing can be done for me,” Krainert said early last week. “They’re pretty much giving up on me.”
Soon after receiving the bad news from Stanford, Krainert was admitted to Queen of the Valley with major swelling in his legs. He underwent a marathon dialysis session in recent days to remove fluid, while also receiving medicine for severe pain.
“It’s hard for us to watch,” his mother, Libby Krainert, said Friday, about her son’s deteriorating condition.
When Dan comes home, he will begin receiving services from Hospice of Napa Valley, she said.
Libby Krainert said her son, who has always believed in the healing power of prayer, is showing a measure of acceptance of his situation.
“I think he’s resigned to it. I think he knows he has just too much wrong with him,” she said.
“He’s got quite a special will,” his father, George, said Wednesday. “He doesn’t give up.”
In a phone interview Friday from his hospital bed, Krainert said dialysis and painkillers have eased his immediate problems. “Pain medicine is what I need right now to get through the day-to-day thing,” he said.
The past week has been an emotional time, with friends coming to the hospital to check on his welfare, Krainert said.
“Everybody wants me to say good-bye. They want me to make out a will,” he said. “I’m not doing it. I’m not preparing to die.”
Krainert said his faith remains strong. Doctors may not have any hope for him, but God’s powers are vast, he said.
“I know that sounds odd. It’s just my approach,” he said.
George Krainert thanked the community for donations after an article about Dan’s medical crisis appeared in the Register three weeks ago.
The family bought a $1,200 power chair that enables Dan to get up and down without straining, he said. In recent days, the chair also served as a bed.
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2009/06/06/news/local/doc4a2a074cb5cef851000286.txt
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