When Tina Orbacz was pregnant with her second child in 1990, she attributed her increasing fatigue to her pregnant state. But a month after her son's birth, she was even more exhausted. Plus, she had lost weight during her pregnancy, not gained it. Finally, cardiologists discovered that she was suffering from heart failure due to a birth defect, called an atrial septal defect, that weakened the tissue between the atria. Because her heart was failing, and a complication of this disorder is lung failure. Tina Orbacz, at the age of 24 years, found herself waiting for a heart-lung transplant.

Tina was lucky. Her condition stabilized, and she was able to survive the three-year wait until a 16-year-old who died in an accident donated a heart and lungs. With youth and a good HLA match on her side, Tina has done extraordinarily well. Today, she exercises regularly and leads a normal life.

Because of the shortage of donor hearts, and severity of the illnesses that lead to heart failure, many potential recipients die waiting for a transplant. A mechanical half-heart, called a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), can often maintain cardiac function long enough for a donor heart to become available.

This happened to Mike Dorsey, a 41-year-old father of six. Although he had to stay in the hospital to wear his LVAD, the device worked so well that he was able to exercise and help with office work while awaiting his transplant. The LVAD enabled him to increase his physical fitness, which contributed to the success of his eventual heart transplant six months later.