Dreaming with a broken heart

Picture sterile white walls, boring hospital rooms, excessive antibiotics and surgeries. Just a brief glimpse of this seems tragic. Now imagine this being your lifestyle for almost two months. Sophomore Cameron Cantrell lived it. For his whole life he has suffered from a life-threatening illness called Congenital Heart Disease, a disease which he was born with. In order for Cantrell to be healthy, it involved a dauntingly long list for a new heart. Cantrell was in dire need of a new heart, for his own would fail by the age of 15.

“I’ve had five surgeries,” said Cantrell. “I was only three days old when I had my first surgery.”

Cantrell found out from his mother at a young age that he would probably need a new heart at the age of 10.

“I freaked out the moment I heard that. It was so awful, and I was crying,” said Cantrell.

His disease caused side effects such as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, meaning—in Cantrell’s particular case—that the left and right ventricles (which pump blood to the rest of the body) of the heart did not exist.

The only blood being pumped out of his heart at birth was sent to his lungs and back to his heart. Cantrell also suffered from Pulmonary Stenosis which caused blood to flow into his lungs.

“The blood flowed to my lungs slowly, so it was harder to breathe, and my fingernails were always blue. Not a lot of oxygen was in my blood,” said Cantrell.

When he was born, his aorta and pulmonary arteries were reversed and therefore negatively affected the way his blood flowed.

Throughout his life Cantrell faced many physical and emotional obstacles.

“I couldn’t do things like go to parties try out for the soccer team. I could work out, but it was limited.”

On Nov. 5, after 15 years of living with the disease, Cantrell became too sick to stay at home or to go to school and was hospitalized in the All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. It was there, on Nov. 10, where he found out from one of his cardiologists that he would have to get a heart transplant.

“I knew I was going to get one eventually, but I was just shocked that everything was happening so fast,” said Cantrell.

Cantrell was anxious for the transplant; he came to a realization that his new heart would make his life drastically better.

Having his old heart was like “living with a parasite inside of me,” said Cantrell. It was always stealing energy from his body to power itself.

“Before the transplant I couldn’t do squat. I was always lightheaded, and there were some days when I just didn’t want to get out of bed.”

Cantrell received the news that doctors had found him a new heart when he was awoken on Dec. 10 at 1 a.m.

“A nurse came in and handed me the phone; it was someone from the transplant team,” said Cantrell. “She said, ‘I think we found the perfect heart for you,’ so they had already called my parents who were on their way.”

Shortly thereafter, Cantrell called his sister and her fiancé. They were also shocked that everything was happening so fast.

Cantrell went into surgery the same day at 5 a.m. Two days later he started to wake up.

According to Cantrell, the first few weeks were really hard. Simple things like sleeping were a struggle.

“It’s a very painful process. It hurts to walk, it hurts to cough and it hurts to laugh,” said Cantrell.

“I was so doped up on medications, I could barely talk. My only form of communication was a white board and a marker to write stuff down with.”

Though recovery from the surgery was tough, Cantrell realized how fortunate he was to get a heart as soon as he did.

“I waited 26 days,” said Cantrell. “A lot of people have to wait months or longer, but I was pretty lucky. I was in the hospital for seven weeks, five days and seven hours.”

He left All Children’s on Jan. 3 and was transported to the Ronald McDonald house before finally returning to his home in Lutz on Jan. 13.

Due to the anti-rejection medicine he takes for his new heart, his immune system has been weakened greatly and he can’t risk picking up germs.

“When you get a heart transplant, the first 3 months are critical. If you get sick, you have to go back to the hospital,” said Cantrell.

Before returning to school in fall, he will finish his sophomore year taking Florida Virtual School classes at home.

Once Cantrell is back to full health he has big aspirations for his future.

“My big plans are just getting a good education and maybe try out for soccer. I just want to get healthier and stronger and just have a good life.”

Savanna Peterson / Business Manager