Heart of a survivor

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Cherul Rork shows a device that was used to hold her chest open following a heart transplant more than 20 years ago.

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February 20, 2010

New procedure saves the life of an Enid woman in 1989

By Cass Rains, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle The Enid News and Eagle Sat Feb 20, 2010, 10:18 PM CST

ENID — When doctors told Cherul Rork she needed a heart transplant at age 26, she thought they’d lost their minds.

“I thought they were crazy,” the Enid native said. “I’d never heard of heart transplants.”

Rork was 26 in 1982 when she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a flu-like virus that weakens heart muscle. It was a diagnosis that meant Rork would need a new heart within two to five years.

“I made it eight years,” she said, sitting in the living room of her Enid home nearly 21 years after the procedure. “I thought I’ll just make it for a long time.”

Cherul was referred to doctors at Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City who determined she was a good candidate for a heart transplant; however, the insurance company would not pay for the procedure.

Cherul and her husband, Gary, said they turned to the elder of their church, North Garland Church of Christ.

“We went to the elder of the church, and he said, ‘We’ll help you raise the funds,’” Gary said.

The price to get on the transplant list was $100,000, the couple said. An additional $38,000 was needed to cover cost of the transplant. They went to surrounding states to raise the money needed for Cherul’s surgery.

“We went to the church and five states, and the money just kept coming in,” Cherul said. “I wrote thank you notes to everybody who sent money.”

She was placed on the heart transplant waiting list on Sept. 2, 1988. On April 13, 1989, Cherul became the 69th person to receive a heart transplant in Oklahoma.

“Usually, the surgery lasts four to five hours with no complications,” Gary said. “Hers lasted 36. She went in on a Thursday night and she didn’t come out until Saturday morning.”

Once the heart was transplanted, swelling kept doctors from closing the opening in her chest. Drs. Nazih Zuhdi and David Cooper led the transplant team with Dr. Dimitri Novitzky. Because of swelling of the heart, a strut was placed in Rork’s sternum to give her new heart the space it needed to naturally return to its regular size.

“He (Zuhdi) thought of this technique,” Gary said. “It’s the first time in the world its ever been done.”

The strut was made of the same material used in creating a replacement hip joint and was shortened three times during three separate surgeries as the heart’s swelling began to lessen.

“Dr. Zuhdi has said that surgery and that apparatus has saved lives,” Gary said.

At 35, Cherul’s new heart came from an 11-year-old boy in Orlando, Fla.

Other than the boy’s age and hometown, the Rorks were given no further information about the boy.

“That’s all the information we could find out,” Cherul said. “We tried to contact the family, but they couldn’t find them or they didn’t want to respond.”

Cherul’s heart transplant hasn’t limited the mother and grandmother or kept her from doing what she wants to do.

“The day I got home (after the surgery) I started doing laundry,” Cherul said. “I wasn’t supposed to, but I did.”

“She’s ridden roller coasters. She plays softball,” Gary said. “The only thing she can’t do is scuba dive.”

“I hit the ball and play the field,” Cherul said, noting playing a base may be too risky. “And have a good time.”

“She can do anything a normal person her age can do ...” Gary said.

“I enjoy my four grandkids,” she said. “I watch my grandkids a lot. I get tired after looking after them, sometimes.”

But who doesn’t?

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New procedure saves the life of an Enid woman in 1989

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