CINCINNATI — An East Walnut Hills man is in need of a life-saving medical flight to California to get a heart transplant.
Robin Washburn said her fiancé Orlando Brooks was normal and healthy a year ago when they began planning their life together. Then one day in March she said Brooks woke up feeling short of breath and very fatigued.
“They did an EKG and some testing and determined that he had congestive heart failure,” said Washburn.
During that visit to the hospital, doctors put Brooks on heart medication and a “heart-healthy" diet. Washburn said he was fine for about four months and then he started feeling bad again.
“They did more testing and discovered that he had a disease called Amyloidosis,” said Washburn. “What that does is it attacks the organs and in Orlando’s case it attacked his heart.”
She said he had also developed a rare blood cancer. Since September doctors at UC Health have been monitoring his health. Washburn said his heart is getting weaker by the day.
UC Health is among the top 10% in heart transplant outcomes, but doctors there said they can't perform the open-heart surgery locally.
“Given the complexities of his case especially the fact that he has Multiple Myeloma [Blood Cancer] we along with the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic have determined that we cannot offer a heart transplant to him,” said Jennifer Cook, MD, UC Health physician. “Every single patient is special to us and there is no stone that we will leave unturned.”
UC Health is working with Brooks to help him find a hospital that can perform the surgery.
“We got the call last week that Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles could help,” said Washburn. “Getting him there is very expensive because they say he should be flown medically.”
Washburn said Brooks' medical insurance refuses to pay the cost of the flight. So, a family friend created a GoFundMe page to help get him to California.
“Just the outpour from all the friends and the family and even the strangers have been overwhelming,” said Washburn. “That has just been helping us get through our days. You know the support really helps.”
The family's goal is to raise $20,000. So far, they've received more than $5,300 in donations.
Click here to make a donation.
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