UW Medical Center's first heart-lung transplant gives family fresh hope

When Jon Farris found out his son would need a new heart and lungs, he resigned himself to the cruel reality that he might outlive his boy.

But Farris, a security worker from Richland, had new hope this week.

On Monday, surgeons successfully completed the first heart-lung transplant at UW Medical Center. The recipient was Farris' 30-year-old son, Patrick, whose cystic fibrosis and genetic heart disorder had rendered him barely capable of walking.

"Patrick had no other option and time was critical," cardiothoracic surgeon Michael Mulligan said at a news conference today.

Now, after the 5 ½-hour surgery, Patrick is eating and will likely be out of the hospital in the next 10 days.

"He's doing fabulously well," Mulligan said.

For Patrick's parents, the news leaves them elated and overcome with the thought that their son will once again pick up a football and play with his dogs.

"Everyone is asking us to put our emotions into words," said Jon Farris. "You can't."

This type of transplant surgery was first done at Stanford University Hospital in 1981, and it has previously been performed in Spokane.

In the past, the UW Medical Center attempted to utilize organs for the most number of patients, said Dr. Edward Verrier, the center's chief of cardiothoracic surgery.

The UW Medical Center has been performing lung transplants and heart transplants separately for many years.

It started its cardiac-transplant program in 1985, and its lung-transplant program six years later.

There are three more people on a list to receive the same heart-lung transplant at UWMC.

Since 1998, 951 heart-lung transplants have been successfully completed nationally, but the rate of survival is hard to track.

Doctors say the best indicator is to look at survival rates of lung-transplant patients — of those who get new lungs in the United States, slightly less than half will live five years or more.

Farris is hopeful for his son, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at 17.

"He has always been a fighter," he said.

Christina Siderius: csiderius@seattletimes.com