PORT ANGELES — Landon Smith, a 19-year-old from Port Angeles who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, received a heart transplant this week.
He had been on the transplant waiting list for about a year and half before he moved to wait at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Landon’s mom, Michelle Smith, said Friday that Landon was being prepared to go back into surgery to close his chest, which doctors opted to leave open following a more than 12-hour surgery on Tuesday.
“He was bleeding pretty heavily and they didn’t want to mess more with his heart at that point, so they actually left him open to keep an eye on that bleeding in case they needed to go back in,” Michelle said.
The long surgery time was hard on Landon’s kidneys. Doctors will be considering whether he needs to be put onto dialysis after his chest is closed, Michelle said.
“That’s the next hurdle,” she said. “They’re just watching the numbers pretty closely for his kidneys. It’s one hurdle after another.”
Doctors based Landon’s readiness to have his chest closed on how much drainage has occurred in his chest tubes, Michelle said.
Landon was in the intensive-care unit for about a week before a good match became available, Michelle said.
“He called me around 10 o’clock at night (Monday) and said he had a heart,” Michelle said, adding she was shocked to receive the call.
“We thought it would be at least a month, if not longer,” Michelle said.
Michelle was staying nearby in the Ronald McDonald house, about a block from Seattle Children’s Hospital, when she got the call.
“I was about a day away from going back to work,” she said. “It was the best possible time to have gotten a phone call. I was dreading this whole year that it was going to happen while I was at work (in Port Angeles).”
In preparation for the surgery, Landon was taken off medications that he had been put on over the course of his week in the ICU, Michelle said.
Landon was taken for surgery at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, and Michelle got a call saying they were finishing up around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“It was intense,” Michelle said.
Michelle said she hardly slept. Normally a nurse will provide updates throughout a surgery, but because the surgery happened overnight, there wasn’t staff for that, she said.
“I heard nothing until the surgery was completing,” Michelle said.
Since his surgery, Landon seems to be “pretty with it,” Michelle said.
“He is aware. I’ll rub his head and ask him if he likes that, and he’ll shake his head, ‘Yes,’” Michelle said. “He’s signing for water, sign language, but he can’t have any because he’s got the breathing tube. He helps the nurses when they’re repositioning him. He helps assist, shifting himself. ”
Landon shook his head “yes” when he was told he was going back into surgery, Michelle said.
Doctors were hoping to return Landon to surgery on Thursday, but surgeons were delayed with an emergency, she said.
Doctors were considering a late night surgery, but they decided it would be safer to wait until the next day, she said.
On Friday, Michelle spoke from Landon’s hospital room, where medical staff were preparing him for the surgery.
“They are getting him prepped now and getting ready to take him in and get that closed,” she said. “Then hopefully (Saturday) get the breathing tube out. So, it’s been a long couple of days.”
Michelle said Landon has been prepared to go on medications to prevent rejection of the heart as soon as he can, as he recovers from the surgery.
Michelle said the first year after the transplant carries the highest risk.
Landon is expected to spend one to three months at the Seattle hospital recovering and possibly another three months in nearby Seattle housing for regular blood checks, Michelle said.
Replacement hearts can do well for 15 to 18 years, doctors said. Landon will likely need another heart in his life, Michelle added.
Previous to his transplant surgery, Landon had undergone three open-heart surgeries in his life.
Michelle has created a spotfund campaign to recoup some expenses associated with Landon’s care. As of Friday, it had raised more than $2,900 toward a $4,000 goal.
The campaign can be found at https://www.spotfund.com/story/9dbf20b5-b064-41a3-b7a6-2211a4b4b835.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
