Brandon Turnbow's Story

On June 6, 2024, 52-year-old Brandon Turnbow had a massive heart attack. He thought he pulled a muscle in his shoulder; the pain wasn’t intense and went away with Ibuprofen, so he didn’t go to the ER for 2 days. At the ER, he was informed of his condition and immediately rushed to the cardiac catheterization lab. He had 100% blockage in his LAD the left anterior descending artery. This is called a widow maker heart attack.  

After 2 hours trying to get through the blockage, the doctor advised Brandon’s family that he simply could not get through no matter what he tried, and even if he could it probably wasn’t a good idea. The left side of Brandon’s heart had already died and sudden blood flow to a dead area can create bigger issues. The next day, Brandon coded, was intubated, and had a small Impella implanted to do the work for his heart until a decision could be made about what to do next. The Impella device is a tiny, catheter-based mechanical heart pump that temporarily helps circulate blood when a patient's heart is too weak to pump effectively on its own.  The decision was made that he needed to be transferred from Covenant Hospital in Lubbock, TX to a bigger hospital with more options for treatment and he was flown to UTSW in Dallas.

After a few days of being in Dallas, the Impella was removed to test his heart to see what it could do and if the issues could be managed with medication. After another code and emergency ECMO (an advanced life-support system that acts as an artificial heart and lung) placement, the team made the decision that if Brandon could get physically well enough to handle a transplant that would be the course of action needed. 

Brandon was in and out of sedation (mainly in) for the next month and a half and then was taken off ECMO and another Impella was implanted. He was so weak from being so sick that he couldn’t even hold his head up much less walk. Thank goodness for great physical therapists! He was finally able to walk the required distance and passed all of his labs and other examinations and was placed on the transplant list August 3, 2024. On August 18, 2024, Brandon received his gift of a new heart. 

Brandon spent 3 weeks in the hospital after transplant and a week in an inpatient rehab hospital. Because we live 5 hours from the transplant hospital we had to stay in Dallas for an additional 2 months after rehab. Recovery has had its ups and downs but more ups overall! He has not experienced rejection at all and aside from a few minor side effects from medication regulation, his recovery has been great!

Now, more than 2 years out, he has returned to his previous profession as a Flight Paramedic; able to continue his passion of helping others. His life is full and he is incredibly grateful for this community and others who have helped, prayed and supported him along the way.