David Lockwood

Positive Attitude Is at the Heart of Transplant Recipient’s Recovery

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 20, 2006) − You just found out you
need a new heart in order to live. What is your first thought?
For David Lockwood, there were no negative thoughts, no moments of doubt, no brooding over impending death. 

“If I needed a heart transplant, that’s what I was going to do,” Lockwood said. “I never had one negative thought about it. I never dreamed it would fail. I never dreamed I wouldn’t have
a better life because of it.”

Lockwood, a 67-year-old attorney in Huntington, West Virginia, is originally from Ashland, Kentucky. In 1999, he underwent angioplasty, a procedure in which a stent is inserted into narrowed or obstructed heart vessels. The stent in Lockwood’s heart collapsed the night of the surgery, and he suffered a massive heart attack. After a series of heart attacks, he was told he needed a heart transplant. He was originally seen at a well-respected clinic in Ohio but ultimately chose the University of Kentucky Transplant Center. In May 1999, Lockwood was introduced to UK through its satellite clinic in Huntington.

“I fell in love with UK,” Lockwood said. “I liked the people, how they treated me as an individual and how they treated my family. I was more comfortable with UK. I just couldn’t find any other place that could do for me what UK did for me.”

Lockwood, in fact, sought a second opinion from a transplant center in Texas and was given a grim prognosis. “He gave me no hope,” Lockwood said. “He told me I was too old and too big. I may as well forget about it.”
Lockwood did not give up hope. He decided to stick with the UK Transplant Center. He waited three long years for a heart. During that time, he hardly left his home, and his health was poor. 

“It could have been really bad, but I had great support from UK,” Lockwood said. “I equated them with a bunch of cheerleaders. They kept me buoyant.”

Late one night in September 2002, he received a phone call from a member of the transplant team. She asked him if he had a cold or a fever. No, he was feeling fine. She told him to get to Lexington. The center had a heart for him. 

The timing was ironic, Lockwood said. His best friend had died, and he was asked to give the eulogy. He had to call his best friend’s wife and tell her he couldn’t give the eulogy because of the heart transplant. 

“On the way to Lexington, we actually got pulled over by a cop,” Lockwood said. “We explained the circumstances, and he said ‘Just follow me.’ And we did … You’d think my wife and I were having a deep conversation on that trip. But we weren’t. It was as if we were driving to Lexington to go to Keeneland.”

His light mood didn’t change once he was ready for surgery. “When it was time to hop up on the gurney, it was like a trip to joy land for me.”

After surgery, Lockwood recovered in the hospital for 15 days and stayed in an apartment in Lexington for another 15 days before returning home to Huntington. The following February, he was back at
work – on a murder case no less. Lockwood credits his good recovery to a positive attitude. He said he hasn’t missed any work because of illness and feels wonderful. Aside from working full time, he is skiing, canoeing and fishing. “You better enjoy every minute of your life,” he said. “Even a bad day is a good day. If things don’t go well that day, so what?”

Lockwood has learned not to take life for granted. He recalled a recent walk with his wife: “The sky was magnificent, beautiful. I said to my wife, you know, if I had died I would have missed that sunset.” 

Lockwood has written to the donor family several times but received no response. “I tell them we are doing very well,” Lockwood says. “We being their son and I. We are doing very well. A part of their son is still alive. He’s taking good care of me, and I’m taking good care of him.”

Lockwood said an exchange with his grandson shortly after the transplant should be reason enough for anyone to sign the back of their driver’s license and become an organ donor.

“He said, ‘Papaw, if it wasn’t for your donor, you’d be gone by now, wouldn’t you?’ I answered, yes. Then he said, ‘If it wasn’t for you, he’d be gone too.’ This donor is still a part of the living world. He has given me something no one else could give me.”

The University of Kentucky Transplant Center has been providing transplantation services since 1964. Its surgeons perform more than 135 transplants each year. The faculty and staff of the Transplant Center specialize in the transplantation of all major solid organs, including the heart, lung, kidney, kidney/pancreas and liver. For more information, call 859-323-1691 or toll free 1-866-285-4337. 

To make an appointment or find a physician, please call UK HealthCare at 859-257-1000 or toll free 1-800-333-8874.
Copyright © 2007, University of Kentucky, 800 Rose St., Lexington, Kentucky, USA 40536.

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Page last updated Thursday, February 8, 2007 11:00 AM