wfn.org | Episcopal Bishop recovers from successful heart surgery

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

99-2291
Bishop Terry receives a new heart

by Chris Herlinger
(ENS) Bishop Jeff Terry's long, anxious wait is happily 
over.

Following two years of uncertainty while awaiting a new 
heart, Terry successfully underwent heart transplant surgery 
January 7 at the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, 
Washington.

He is making a slow recovery, but his long-term prognosis 
remains good, said Mary Koch, editor of the Inland Episcopalian, 
the diocesan newspaper. Terry continues to require a ventilator to 
help him breathe. He remains in the hospital's cardiac intensive 
care unit and visitors are limited to the bishop's immediate 
family.

Doctors have told Terry's wife, Carolyn, that "this is not 
a life-and-death concern, but it does indicate that recovery will 
be slow," Koch said. "It also means that his life right now is 
difficult for him."

Still, flashes of the bishop's signature humor have come 
through. Though not able to speak, Terry did give his wife a 
"thumb's up" sign through the ventilator, Koch reported.

Carolyn Terry, who has become an advocate for the cause of 
organ transplants, has kept the diocese informed through an 
Internet diocesan chat group. "Jeff's old heart was very fragile 
and definitely ready to be replaced," she wrote in one of the 
first messages. "The new heart is good and relatively young."

Later, Carolyn Terry recounted the joy of discovering for 
herself that the new heart was working well. "I felt his feet 
this morning, and for the first time in four or five years, I was 
holding a warm, toasty foot and toes," she said several days 
after the surgery.  "The new heart is really doing its thing and 
getting the circulation out to the furthest extremities."

Through the chat group, Carolyn Terry has also helped direct 
prayer for her husband-whether it be for his kidneys, his lungs 
or for hopes that he can escape the worst side effects of drugs 
during what is expected to be a long recovery. "Pray for Jeff's 
kidneys," she said. "So far they are performing better than 
expected.  Pray that he escapes the worst side effects of the 
drugs he needs to survive."

In turn, the Terrys have received numerous messages of 
support through the chat group. "I was very aware this morning, 
sitting in the room alone with Jeff, that we were surrounded by 
your love and prayers," Carolyn Terry wrote three days after the 
surgery.

In her January 25 report, Carolyn Terry said that a complete 
cat scan revealed that "everything in Jeff's body other than his 
lungs looks good.  The bad news is that his lungs look very sick 
which is not totally new news." Various treatments are now being 
tried to help his lungs.

"It is all so very slow and trying," her message 
concluded. "So I continue to hope and pray as I know you do.  
Your messages are very comforting and I keep holding on to the 
stories of other transplant patients who have walked this walk and 
walked out of the hospital."

The two years of waiting for a new heart had not been easy 
on the Terrys, and were made even more frustrating in the weeks 
leading up to the surgery, when, at one point, the bishop was 
prepared for surgery, but the operation was cancelled.

Terry, a one-time runner, discovered he had heart problems 
in the early 1990s. In 1992, he had a pacemaker placed in his 
chest and continued his running regimen. Later it was discovered 
that Terry suffered from congestive heart disease, possibly from a 
virus. In  1995, he suffered from a severe case of arrhythmia of 
the heart, and up until his surgery, he had suffered from a 
seriously enlarged heart that was not pumping enough blood 
throughout his body.

In 1996 he was placed on a national waiting list for a new 
heart, but wasn't designated "Status One" until last fall, when 
it was clear that his enlarged heart wasn't supplying enough blood 
to his kidneys. In an interview last fall with ENS prior to his 
surgery, Terry said he had begun conducting diocesan business from 
the Sacred Heart Medical Center, including hosting an informal and 
long-established meeting with fellow Spokane religious leaders at 
the hospital cafeteria.

Terry said despite attendant frustrations, the journey he 
had experienced while awaiting his transplant had taught him 
valuable lessons-one of them being the humbleness of knowing 
hundreds are praying for him.

"I've learned a lot, including the strength of the 
Christian community, and what it's like to have a network of 
people who care for you and love you," he said. "When hundreds 
are praying for you, you better understand that everyone is loved 
more than we realize, particularly by God."

Updates on the bishop's condition are available on the 
diocesan web site: www.spokane.anglican.org

--Chris Herlinger is a freelance writer in New York and a stringer 
for Ecumenical News International. He is also the information 
officer for the Church World Service Emergency Response Program.

Episcopal News Service
Kathryn McCormick
(212) 922-5383
kmccormick@dfms.org
www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens