When Joshua Taylor was 27, he came down with a case of strep that would change his life.
His sickness eventually led to heart disease requiring a pacemaker. Following other complications stemming from a routine pacemaker replacement, he was hospitalized locally in Owensboro. As his condition worsened, his doctor recommended that he transfer to UK HealthCare.
“That was probably the best decision I ever made in my life,” he said.
“You would be dead if not,” finished his wife, Jill.
Preparing for a transplant
Joshua had hoped to never need a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) — but it was his only hope to keep his heart beating while he waited for a new heart.
He credits Dr. Andrew R. Kolodziej, Medical Director of Heart Transplantation, and the entire team at UK HealthCare, for the fact that he’s here at all.
“I still tell Dr. Kolodziej today that without him, I wouldn’t be here, because he kept telling me, ‘You need to get this LVAD,’” he said.
It took a medically-induced coma, 180 days of around-the-clock care, and months of rehabilitation at UK HealthCare before he was ready for the heart + kidney transplant.
“We understood that this was a huge mountain for him to climb, mentally and emotionally,” said Kathryn Gaines, Joshua’s physical therapist. “We spent a lot of time talking through whatever was on his mind and assuring him that he was not alone. We were there every step of the way.”
In 2020, he underwent the 12-hour double transplant surgery, performed by Dr. Rajasekhar S. R. Malyala and Dr. Siddharth Desai, that finally provided him with a healthy heart, a healthy kidney, and a second chance at life.
“A lot of times, you have to go through something to realize it’s no joke,” said Joshua. “When I first got sick, I was in denial, thinking I didn’t have heart problems. This was a huge wake-up call, and I don’t take life for granted at all.”
