Heart SHE’S GOT
KAREN KOCH CELEBRATES FIVE YEARS OF A RENEWED LIFE STORY BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI PHOTOS BY LUIS CHAVEZ
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s the mother of two children, Karen Koch was fatigued and didn’t think much about it. Her husband was working out of town, and she chalked up chest congestion to a recent flu. She eventually saw her doctor and was shocked by what she heard: “You need a heart transplant.” The Pasadena native was startled. “I had two little kids to raise,” she says about her daughter and son, who were 11 and 6, then, respectively. “I didn’t have time to go through that.” Koch was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart’s ability to pump blood is decreased because the heart’s main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, is enlarged and weakened. The then 39-year-old mother decided to forgo a heart transplant and hope she would recover. After her health started slipping in 2011, she accepted a heart on January 14, 2015. February 14 is National Donor Day. National Donor Day is a time to focus on all types of donation – organ, eye, tissue, blood, platelets and marrow –by participating in blood/marrow drives or donor registration events. It is also a day to recognize our loved ones who have given the gift of donation, have received a donation, are currently waiting or did not receive an organ in time. In 2019, 135 women received heart transplants in California, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), compared to 120 in 2018. The number of men is triple that—331—in 2019 and 313 in 2018. OneLegacy is the nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation in the seven-county greater Los Angeles area. With more than 215 hospitals, 11 transplant centers and a population of nearly 20 million, OneLegacy is the largest organ, eye and tissue recovery organization in the world. Media relations specialist Tania Llavaneras says OneLegacy also works to educate the public and encourage them to register as donors. Llavaneras and Koch met when the transplant recipient was on the Donate Life float in the Rose Bowl Parade. “She was one of the honorees,” Llavaneras says of Koch. “She was on the year 14 float. It’s an amazing opportunity. The Rose Parade is the ultimate event. We do it to share this important message of donation. OneLegacy is one of the 58 organ procurement stations in the nation. “Thanks to someone saying yes to donation, Karen is here.”
DELAYED SURGERY When Koch initially fell ill, her doctor told her to come to her office immediately. She underwent an EKG and the doctor said she was “having a heart attack right then and there.” Her heart was failing, and her lungs filled up with fluid. “My husband also works in the medical field, so she called him,” she –continued on page 30 02.20 | ARROYO | 29
