Dr. Mark Drazner and heart transplant patient

By Ron Durham

Dr. Sherrette Shaw-Fontenot doesn’t consider herself unusually strong or courageous. But there is no other way to describe a woman who has survived breast cancer, gall bladder surgery, and a heart transplant in the past eight years.

Dr. Shaw-Fontenot, whose medical practice is based in Wichita Falls, received her new heart in 2014 at UT Southwestern Medical Center and continues to receive treatment from UT Southwestern physicians and health care staff. Though it has been 17 months since her heart transplant procedure, Dr. Shaw-Fontenot says she feels good but doesn’t consider herself “in the clear.”

“I don’t look at it like that,” Dr. Shaw-Fontenot said. “I’m better and I would like to stay better. You have to be hyper-vigilant. When you have a transplant you have to take a lot of medications that suppress your immune system. So I’m more susceptible to infections and even cancer. The least little thing … you know how you might say ‘Oh, I’ll be fine.’ Well, I have to look into it a little further.”

Dr. Mark Drazner, Medical Director of the Heart Failure, LVAD, and Cardiac Transplant Program at UT Southwestern, said follow-up exams and testing are particularly important the first 12 months after transplant surgery.

“Following a heart transplant, especially in the first year, we need to monitor patients extremely closely, in particular looking for evidence of rejection,” Dr. Drazner said. “We also need to monitor them for signs of infection, as well as other potential side effects from their new medication regimen.”

Dr. Shaw-Fontenot’s heart condition went undiagnosed for more than a year. Her exact condition proved elusive until she sought the opinion of Dr. Andre Desire, a friend and cardiologist in Wichita Falls.

“It took over a year for everybody to figure out what was wrong,” Dr. Shaw-Fontenot said. “The first person I saw was my oncologist. He was like, ‘you’re fine. Your labs are great, you’re great.’ We went from blood work to X-rays and I still just didn’t feel good. Finally I told the nurse ‘let’s do an EKG on me.’ That was first clue. I had an abnormal EKG. It’s never been like that before.”

Dr. Desire’s opinion led Dr. Shaw-Fontenot to Dr. Jennifer Thibodeau, Medical Director of the Heart Failure Disease Management Program at UT Southwestern. And ultimately it was Dr. Thibodeau who informed Dr. Shaw-Fontenot that she would need a new heart.

“She already had the test confirming sarcoid ordered from her referring physician,” recalled Dr. Thibodeau. “She had a lung biopsy done that confirmed pulmonary sarcoidosis, which was highly suspected based on her presentation.

“We performed a right heart catheterization to measure the hemodynamics in her heart and lungs and found that she had too much fluid and did not have enough blood leaving her heart — high filling pressures and a low cardiac output. This test alerted us that she needed cardiac transplantation.”

The next step was to pass along the news to the patient, whose family includes her husband, Steve, college student sons Segun and Shomari, and middle-school student daughter Sharalyn.

“I remember exactly who was in the room when Dr. Thibodeau walked in,” Dr. Shaw-Fontenot recalled. “Her quote was ‘I have some good news and I have some bad news.’ The good news was I didn’t have something called pulmonary hypertension. The bad news, she said, is that I needed a heart transplant. It just sucked the air out of my body.”

Dr. Shaw-Fontenot was listed for transplant on Oct. 23, 2014, and stayed in the hospital from that time until she received her transplant on Nov. 23.

Dr. Shaw-Fontenot’s heart was donated by 18-year-old Madison “Maddie” Hope Welch, a student at Baton Rouge Community College in Louisiana. Maddie was traveling home after a hunting trip when an 18-wheeler forced her off the road and into the center median near the Breaux Bridge exit on Interstate Highway 10 in Louisiana. The driver of the truck did not stop and has not been found. Maddie, who elected to be a donor when she got her driver’s license at 15, passed away the following morning. She donated five organs and gave sight to two people through organ donation.

Dr. Shaw-Fontenot has high praise for the entire UT Southwestern heart transplant team, which continues to offer support whenever she needs it.

“This transplant team is phenomenal,” Dr. Shaw-Fontenot said. “The social workers, the physicians … it’s a well-oiled machine. They’re incredibly knowledgeable and my lifeline is my transplant coordinator, Melanie Alford. If I have an issue she always has an answer. She never fails me. I love this team.”

Following surgery, Dr. Drazner says patients can experience a variety of emotional highs and lows. Which is why UT Southwestern has an extensive post-transplant support team in place.

“It is an emotional journey for all involved, and it is not uncommon that some patients face a dip in their mood after the “high” of receiving their organ,” Dr. Drazner said. “Patients also, of course, are worried that they may have complications. They do have a new heart in the body, after all. But with time, they, and their spouses, can begin to trust that their new heart is up to the task.

“Finally, it is important to recognize that taking care of their new heart takes work – patients go through a program of cardiac rehabilitation, need to learn and take a fairly complex medication regimen, as well as have frequent office visits with us during the first 6 to 9 months following transplant as we monitor their progress.”

For anyone facing a similar challenge, Dr. Shaw-Fontenot has some simple advice — never quit.

“Don’t give up, no matter what happens in life,” Dr. Shaw-Fontenot said. “You know where you’ve been, but you don’t know where you’re going. That’s one thing I promote to my kids; you cannot change the circumstances that happen. You can control your response to it. They know mama’s a fighter and no matter how many times you get knocked down just try to get back up. Sometimes you may need help, but don’t give up. My whole life been that way. An underdog. Just get back up. Just do what you’ve gotta do.”

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Dr. Drazner holds the James M. Wooten Chair in Cardiology.