By Howard Goldstein
I'd really like to make it a crusade, but I can't do too much until I'm well. I'm really focused on that now, said Brian.
Organ donations save lives. So many people die needlessly because people never tell their families that they want to be organ donors. People must be made aware, he added.
Lutwick knows well what the decision can mean. If not for the 22 -year-old man who stipulated his desire to donate in the event of his death, Brian Lutwick might not have received the heart transplant that saved his life.
In August this year, Brian Lutwick was the picture of good health. A long-time hockey player and fitness enthusiast, he had completed his first year at Syracuse University and returned home for the summer. But routine physical in June revealed an irregular EKG reading.
Lutwick was sent to the Cardiology Department at St. Francis Hospital. Three weeks later, a defibrillator was put onto Lutwick's heart. He was in imminent danger of arrhythmia.
Lutwick's previous state of fitness might have helped him during this time.
The doctors didn't understand how someone with his circulatory problem was even walking around, said Eileen Lutwick.
By August, Lutwick was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. His left ventricle had swollen to twice its normal size and could no longer adequately pump blood.
His heart transplant took place on Sept. 8 at Colombia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
They were incredible. I think they are rated the best heart-transplant facility on the eastern seaboard. I think Columbia Presbyterian averages two hearts per week. It couldn't have gone better, said Bruce Lutwick.
Brian Lutwick is still adjusting and recuperating. He takes 30 pills per day, mainly to help his stressed immune system and prevent rejection of the new heart. He must wear a surgical mask in public places and is trying to regain some of the 30 pounds that he lost.
Still, he came through the operation well, spending only two days in intensive care and 12 days total in the hospital. Many transplant patients take months before going home.
Despite the ordeal, Brian Lutwick is uninterested in telling his own story.
I really don't want all the attention, he said, What I really want to draw attention to is the need for more organ donors.
There are now more than 80,000 people on the national list awaiting organs -- and 8,000 in New York State alone. Unfortunately, organ donation is particularly low in New York, falling below the national average for organ donors.
Every 14 minutes, someone is added to the list, and every 16 minutes, someone on the list dies waiting, said Lutwick.
It is first come, first serve, with organs then cross-indexed for build and blood type. Lutwick only got a heart because he was first on the list with the donor's blood type.
In fact, everything happened for Brian in perfect timing. At 3:30 a.m., he called his parents from the hospital, telling them he needed a transplant. Only moments later, a matched heart was discovered and rushed to New York City. Lutwick's operation began a half hour later, at 4 a.m.
It was fortunate for Lutwick that a match was so quickly found. The supply is so short that some people do not even make organ donor lists.
If a person who has numerous medical maladies, particularly an elderly person, they are often not allowed on the list. They go on an alternative list for organs in...less than perfect condition, said Bruce Lutwick.
I want to spread the word, and I hope to do much more when I'm well. People must sign the organ donor card and make their wishes known to their family. After death, the patient's family has absolute control over the body. If the family does not consent, the organ donor card means nothing, said Lutwick.
This fact pains him considerably.
Acceptable organs are rare enough as it is. It is an absolute tragedy for organ donors with salvageable organs to never save another person, simply because the family never knew they wished to be a donor. Much, much more important than signing the card is telling your family. In fact, if you only do one, don't sign the card, but tell your next of kin that you want to be a donor.
Lutwick has already participated in an Organ Donor Awareness booth set up at a hockey tournament by his old hockey coach.
It started with the hockey community, but Lutwick hopes to spread the message of the need for organ donation while getting back to his normal life.
My fraternity in Syracuse will be having a speaker come to the school to talk about organ donations. A lot of the guys have really become interested in spreading information. It's just not something most people think about. So many are affected, but you only hear about transplants involving Mickey Mantle...The more people know, the more lives can be saved.
