(Minister) We are here today
to join together Kim Mullens and Sam Heden.
Kim has been a member of this church
all her life,
but Sam is new to us.
He met our Kim just across the inland waterway,
College of Charleston.
And yes, folks, Sam's a Yankee.
(Congregation chuckling)
I won't hold that against you, son.
Nobody could blame you
for falling in love with our Kimmy.
Thank you, sir.
Are we ready?
Very.
(Siren wailing)
Mr. Wilson, look what I brought for you.
You just won't give up, will you?
Those Romans, they're impressive,
and I like the Aqueducts as much as the next,
but those Spartans?
They kicked ass.
Bunch of zealots. If your village
was at stake, who would you rather have defend it?
A bunch of guys that would die
rather than admit defeat, or a bunch
of wine-drinking sex addicts wearing togas?
Not this again.
Oh, I'm just trying to educate your husband
on the marvelous virtues of the Spartans.
Indoctrinate me is more like it.
I was starting to think this is why
I haven't gotten my lung transplant yet.
Dr. Foster knows I'm a captive audience.
Listen, when I go and procure those lungs for you,
you're going to be happy there's a Spartan on your side.
Come back with your shield or on it.
That's right. How's Mr. Wilson today?
Well, he's being a pain in the ass, as usual.
Sue, tell me the truth. Is it Dr. Foster
who's the pain in the ass? You can tell me.
Dr. Foster is the best,
and she's pretty, too.
Thank you. Take it easy.
When am I going to get new lungs, doc?
That's what I wanted to come and talk to you about.
We're concerned that we haven't gotten another offer.
Your condition is worsening.
I should have taken
the ones from that motorcycle accident.
I think that was the right call.
You had concerns about the guy's lifestyle.
We couldn't rule out the possibility of HIV.
But until we get another suitable offer,
I think we're going to have to put you on ecmo.
Is that the thing that breathes for him?
Yeah.
How long can he stay on it?
Well, it's not a long-term solution.
The body can only tolerate it for a week or so.
So, if he goes on it, won't we have a week to find him lungs?
Shouldn't we use this as a last resort?
Honey.
I-I think the doctors are trying to tell us we're there.
Do what you think is best.
Okay.
So, you're representing Anton Weathers?
I thought the Sixers might be interested.
You really think he's ready to go pro?
Top score for Duquesne.
Third highest average in the conference.
And he's only a sophomore.
Next time you see this,
I'll be getting paid.
(Grunts)
Come on. Let's go!
What do you know about the drugs?
I told him if he wanted to go pro,
he gotta clean up his act.
Since then, no drugs.
In the gym eight, nine hours a day.
He wants this.
He's ready.
Whoo! Let's go! Come on!
(Woman over P.A.) Dr. Colvar to Cardiac Rehabilitation Center.
Want me to open?
No, I'll do it.
I wish we were giving Mr. Wilson new lungs
instead of putting him on lung support.
We're not going to let him die on the waiting list.
Let's get him ecmo and hope we get an offer soon.
I say, rip the lungs out
of the factory owner that exposed him to the radon.
Wow. You really do need a nap.
Do you, Sam, take Kim to be your
lawfully wedded wife?
I do.
May this ring symbolize
the endless love you'll have for each other
throughout your lives together.
By the powers vested in me
by the state of South Carolina,
I now pronounce you man and wife.
You may now kiss the bride.
(Gunshots, congregants screaming)
(Sam) Kimmy?
Oh, my God!
Come on, let's play!
Dude, I'm open!
Set a pick!
Got you!
(Applause)
Anton's down.
Hey, coach!
Coach, Anton's down!
(Clamoring)
♫ Three Rivers 1x09 ♫ Win-Loss Original Air Date on June 5, 2010
-- sync, corrected by elderman -- -- for 720p www.addic7ed.Com --
♪ ♪
(siren wailing)
What do we got?
Collapsed during practice.
His name's Anton Weathers.
Plays at Duquesne? He arrested in the ambulance;
had to shock him on the way over.
Lauren, get me an echo
and an EKG. Yes, doctor.
Hey, Anton.
You hear me, Anton? I'm Dr. Yablonski.
Everything's going to be okay.
We're going to take care of you.
This tube is here to help you breathe, okay?
I need you to stay as calm as possible.
Everything's going to be all right.
Ready with the echo.
Thank you.
Left axis deviation.
Thank you.
All right, Anton, I got you.
Now let's have a look.
Here it is.
Possible hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Folks, we need to improve his blood flow.
I'm gonna put in a vad; Let's get him upstairs right now.
Anton, I'm gonna be right back, okay?
I'm gonna be right back. Hang in there.
(Rapid beeping)
He's crashing!
V-fib. Call Pam.
Get my team, we're going to do it right here.
Come on, Anton, come on!
Andy, how's the basketball player?
(Sighs)
He's stable, but the heart looked enlarged
when I put in the vad.
Well, I have Mr. Wilson's post-ops,
if you have a second. Sure.
Thanks.
How you doing, Mrs. Wilson?
Well, if he's okay, I'm okay. Good.
Okay, I'm gonna look at the stats.
Too bad Wilson doesn't need a heart.
David seems to be building up quite a collection.
Yeah, but he always breaks them, so...
That wouldn't help.
Okay, right here.
You see, there's no infection or clotting in the lungs,
but he's awfully weak. (Taps keys)
Increase his heparin.
I'm worried about what's building up
around the valves of the air groove.
How long do you think he has?
A few days,
if we're lucky.
Who shot her? Some nut.
Just lost his wife, mad at God,
decided to shoot up a church.
They're in room 5.
(Knocking on door)
I'm Lucy Welsh.
I'm a family care specialist.
I am very sorry for your loss.
I'm, I'm Sam Heden.
You're Kim's husband.
Yes.
This is Nancy Mullens, Kim's mother.
They say that she's dead, but look at her.
She's still breathing.
She's still warm.
The ivs and the ventilator are keeping Kim's body stable
for the moment.
To give you time to make some end-of-life decision.
What, uh, what-what do you mean?
Have you considered organ donation?
No.
She's still here.
People wake up from comas all the time.
I'm afraid this isn't a coma.
The scan shows that Kim's brain function has ceased.
And once that's gone, she's gone.
Her heart could stop on its own,
and donation will no longer be an option.
If Kim is going to save lives,
we need to start the process.
Well, she can help someone.
No!
We don't believe in all that.
Kim had her own beliefs.
You mean you had yours.
You are not carving up my baby.
This is the family's decision.
Yes, ma'am.
But as her husband,
Sam is the next of kin.
Legally, the decision is his.
(Man on TV) well, Cindy, the interesting thing is that hands like that...
(Dog barking)
You're telling me this lame-ass place
doesn't even have ESPN?
Channel 570. How are you feeling?
Like crap. Who are you?
I'm Dr. Yablonski.
I'm the guy who hooked you up to that hunk of metal.
What is it, a battery? Kind of.
It's a ventricular assist device.
It helps your heart to pump.
Spoke to the Sixers,
we've got till April to declare.
Hey, doctor. Russ Coble.
Lawyer, right? Yeah.
Tell me you're not going pro.
I ain't spending two more years playing for free.
Well, on behalf of season ticket holders,
I wish you'd reconsider.
I mean, the team's just coming together.
Besides, you need to work on your free throws.
Excuse me?!
I'm the leading scorer at Duquesne.
Well, I was the third best rebounder
at Allegheny Community College.
When can I get out of here?
Your heart's not pumping enough blood.
Now, there's a few things we can do to fix that.
(Phone rings) And I'm going to discuss them
with my colleagues. Right now.
But I'll be back to talk it over with you, okay?
You, stop trying to make my season seats worthless.
(Woman over PA) Anesthesiologist to ER, stat.
Your Spartans had the first democracy.
And your romans built an empire that lasted a thousand years.
And then they fell.
Don't give up.
You hear me?
You're a good girl.
You take good care of me.
Anton Weathers, 20-year-old male, collapsed
during a basketball game.
Severe ventricular hypertrophy and restrictive blood flow
due to aortic stenosis.
He's currently on a vad and is stable.
We could start
with medication and see if he heals on the vad.
No, he's not responding quickly enough to the meds.
I think we should replace the aortic valve,
which would improve his ventricular outflow.
My concern is that he has underlying cardiomyopathy.
Isn't it possible that his heart will heal
if we just give it a chance?
Not in my opinion, no.
Vanessa, you did the med soc.
What'd you find out?
He has no family...
(Andy) Uh, his lawyer said
he has people in Illinois or Indiana or somewhere.
His mother's from Indiana,
but she's estranged from her family.
She died when Anton
was ten years old.
Heart problem?
Mixed with drugs and alcohol.
Anton ended up in foster care, mostly group homes.
He was never adopted.
Not surprisingly, he also has a history of drug use.
Okay, but he's clean now.
Those influences are never far away.
Look, my fear is that,
faced with prolonged medical problems,
no family support, he'll revert
back to his old ways.
So let's move aggressively.
We fix the valve,
couple of months from now, he's as good as new.
This kid has a really bright future in pro sports.
Let's get him back on his feet.
Anybody disagree?
Okay.
Great. I'll recommend aortic valve surgery.
Miranda. Okay,
let's talk about Mark Wilson.
He is getting too sick to transplant.
I think we may need to deactivate him
from the waiting list until he rebounds.
Well, he's not going to rebound.
He will die.
You're making my point, Miranda.
Look, he is getting weaker, but the only way
to reverse his slide is to transplant him.
I don't think he'll survive the surgery.
Do you, Andy?
There are no contraindications.
No infections, no clots.
I can still transplant him.
We just need a pair of lungs.
That's easier said than done.
All right, what if I asked him
to remove some of the restrictions on the donor pool?
Look, I will go and speak to him right now.
I just ask, don't deactivate him.
Let us know what he says.
Thank you.
(Door opens)
(Rhythmic beeping)
How are you holding up?
Oh, all right.
Is something wrong?
Remember that conversation we had with Mark early on
about the level of risk he was willing to accept in a donor?
I know he didn't want an iv drug user or a prison inmate.
You and I need to have that conversation again,
because if Mark gets
much weaker, we won't be able to transplant him.
No?
Now, Sue?
Sue, I'm not saying
that we won't find him the perfect pair of lungs,
but if a less than perfect pair
is offered, I think we should consider them.
He's only 52 years old.
We're supposed to have 30 more years.
I'm looking for every chance.
Whatever it takes, you hear me?
I put him in your hands.
You tell me to take the lungs, we'll take them.
Just save him.
Carol, will you give us a minute, please?
Sure.
Okay.
Let's talk about your heart.
You have a genetic defect.
One of your valves is too small
to let the blood flow through properly,
and that's why you collapsed.
We can continue treating you on medications,
keep you on the vad therapy, and hope that you improve,
but I'm not optimistic about that.
This is life-threatening.
I think we should replace the valve.
Can I still play ball?
If everything goes well, yes.
You'll need six to eight weeks of recovery,
but then you can start to train again.
What do you think, Russ?
Let's get you healthy.
When?
Today.
(Sighs)
(Geese honking)
He is not family.
They were legally married.
For a few moments.
That doesn't give him the right to go against what we want.
It's about what Kim would have wanted.
She was my baby for 20 years before you came along,
and you will not tell me about my own child!
This...
(Sighs)
All of this is your fault.
I am sure she didn't mean that.
She meant it.
She didn't speak to Kim for six months
when she found out that we were engaged.
So, h-how do we do this?
Do I have to sign something, or...
Sam, you should think about it.
Families don't forget these things.
You heard her.
I'm not family.
So, I'm gonna do
what I believe that my...
(Sobbing quietly)
...my wife would want.
(Sniffling)
I'm authorizing a donation.
Okay, so this is the expanded list.
They're older donors, but they're perfectly healthy.
Mm-hmm. Dr. Foster?
Excuse me. Mm-hmm.
Yeah?
What's going on?
We got 'em.
We got the lungs.
(Laughs)
Okay, so the lungs for Mark Wilson are perfect.
Same with the heart,
liver and kidneys, but those are going to other hospitals.
Which means you're going to be tripping
over a bunch of other teams in a crowded OR.
You got to let them do their jobs, Miranda.
And don't get in a fight.
I'll play nice... If they do.
You guys ready?
I'm scheduling Mark Wilson's lung transplant
for 2:00 A.M. you should get some sleep while they're gone.
I'd rather replace Anton Weathers' aortic valve.
Hi.
This is Pam Acosta. I need an OR for Dr. Yablonski.
Yup. Another OR.
(Miranda) We can't have any delays on the way back.
Those lungs are only viable for five hours. Shouldn't be a problem.
I'm watching a storm system in the Gulf, but as long
as we stick to the schedule, it won't get anywhere near us.
Miranda, you want to sit with me?
We can share a blanket.
You know what we forgot?
A bimbo for David.
♪ ♪
Okay.
The new valve looks perfect.
Let us inject.
♪ ♪
(monitor beeping)
Kill the music.
(Music stops)
I'm not loving this heart function.
Yeah, it's not contracting well.
We can't take him off the pump.
He won't get enough blood flow.
We're gonna have to support him with the vad.
When we get him up to the unit,
I'll go talk to Dr. Strauss.
The abdominal team is in the OR.
And I'm expecting the heart guys any minute.
Okay, is the donor stable?
For now, but we should hurry.
The paperwork's in order?
Well, the husband authorized the donation,
but the mother's not happy. Oh.
I'm only telling you, because this is a small place,
and you may bump into them.
Well, I don't plan on being here that long.
There's a storm coming. Hey.
What are you doing? Thoracic organs go first?
I'm gonna split the liver, so you've got a couple hours.
Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm not gonna make my patient wait.
You can do the split ex vivo on the back table.
I'm old-fashioned.
I prefer to do it inside the body.
And I prefer you get out of my way.
Oh, God! You again.
Yorn.
Is that? Yup. West Virginia.
Now, look, I don't know who... Careful, doctor.
She throws things. Oh, bite me, Yorn. This guy wants to split
the liver in the body.
Well, let him.
I could use some coffee. No, no, no.
I am not wasting two hours.
Guys, I want you to scrub in.
We're going in first.
Could somebody please call security?
This woman is unstable.
Don't make me kick your ass.
Listen up, everybody.
The mother got a court order stopping the procurement,
so until we hear from the judge, we're on hold.
(Miranda) No, no, no, no, no, no.
You talk to that mother, you make her change her mind.
No, I can't do that.
Well, I can't let my patient die
when there's a perfect pair of lungs
waiting for him right there.
Miranda? What?
You were right about the cardiomyopathy.
This heart will not recover.
I've already started a transplant evaluation.
All right, I'll sign off on it.
Thanks, doctor.
Tsk. (Pam) Andy?
Yeah. We're having trouble
keeping Mr. Wilson's systolic pressure up.
Can you take a look?
Sure.
The procurement's on hold indefinitely.
What?! It's a family dispute.
(Sighs)
(Rhythmic beeping)
(Sighs)
Okay, keep the dopamine,
start him on levo, and page me
if there's even the slightest change in his condition.
Hurry up, Miranda.
(Ran pelting outside)
Miranda? Hmm.
Storm was upgraded to a Cat One hurricane.
And they're closing the bridge to the mainland in half an hour.
Okay.
(Sighs) So great.
(Indistinct woman's voice over P.A. System)
(Snaps fingers)
Hello.
(Coins jangling)
Are you one of the vultures
who came to pick my daughter apart?
(Sighs)
For the record, your daughter was gone before we were called.
You're making a terrible mistake.
Not for us, but for yourself.
How do you figure that?
(Thunder crackling, soda can pops open)
Because no one ever regrets saying yes.
90% of the people
who say no-- they're...
they're haunted by that decision.
It's the one thing they could have done
to keep some part of their loved one alive--
to honor that person-- they didn't do.
We don't get a commission for the organs we bring back.
We're trying to save a man's life.
That's why we're here.
(Rain falling)
I'm sorry about your daughter.
(Door opening)
(Door closing)
♪ ♪
I said the most awful things to her this morning.
I tried to talk her out of going through with the wedding.
Told her she was turning her back on her family
the way she was raised.
I pray she forgives me.
I feel like I didn't even know her.
I stopped listening so she stopped telling me things.
I could fill you in on the last year.
Then maybe you can tell me
about everything before that.
Guys, guys, we're back on.
The mother changed her mind. The judge lifted the order.
Perfect! Okay, you guys, come on, let's go.
Go where?
We should wait until the storm passes.
Kim's crashing.
We need to take those organs now.
They're closing the bridge.
We can't get to the airport.
Is there a landing strip on this island? Yeah.
Start the surgery. I'll get us a ride back.
How are you planning on...
That's my problem, okay?
Trust me.
Okay. Okay.
We're not flying in a hurricane.
My team can drive back to Georgia--
if we leave now.
Your patients are waiting on those organs.
I can't get that heart to my patient tonight.
I can get it to somebody if you'll help me.
Now, Lucy can help place
the heart, liver and kidneys
to patients around Three Rivers,
and my team will fly all the organs back with the lungs.
People are dying on this waiting list.
We can't leave these organs behind.
Okay.
I'm sorry.
We're getting out of here before they close the bridge.
Let's go, guys.
You can't be serious! You're really leaving?
(David) Let them go.
We can do this.
Okay.
All right, come on, let's go.
(Commentator) Amazing drive to the basket by Davis.
(Whistle blows) And he draws the foul.
You would've blocked that shot.
(Sighs) We need to talk.
We were hoping to repair your heart by replacing the valve;
that didn't work.
The damage is irreparable.
What does that mean?
You need a heart transplant.
(Gasps)
I know it's a lot to process,
but we are out of options.
And transplant offers you the best possible long-term outcome.
How long before I can play ball?
(Gasping)
Tell-- how long before I can play ball?
You won't be able to play ball.
I'm sorry.
No, you're not.
I'm not doing it.
No, you can forget it.
I can't forget it. You can forget it!
Can't forget it because you will not survive
without... Russ, do something.
Do something! Tell him--
tell him, tell him I'm going pro.
Tell him something! Tell him...
Anton, the doctor's saying you can't.
Well, you tell him I can!
Hey, calm down, Anton.
Come on, Russ, okay.
You said this was a done deal.
That was before.
You said this was my year, Russ!
You were a great player.
"Were"?!
Get the hell out of my room,
Russ. Oh, kid...
Russ, get the hell out of my room!
Anton, Anton... Doc!
Whoa, whoa. Hey, come on.
Anton, hey.
You're scared,
and that's okay.
It's okay to be scared.
I'd be scared, too.
But this is where we are.
The choice is pretty simple.
Do you want to live or do you want to die?
The heart's going to a woman from Detroit.
The liver's going to a man from Philly.
They're both being flown to Three Rivers.
So, we'll do the surgeries there.
We've got 48 hours to transplant the kidneys.
So, that'll happen tomorrow.
And I've got a farmer named Dan Port
just to fly us out of here in his Piper Cherokee.
Perfect!
You know farmers?
Yeah, it's a group called angel flight.
I-I did a story on them once.
Local pilots volunteer
to fly patients in medical emergencies.
Ready to cross-clamp. Okay.
Intercall Three Rivers.
Let Dr. Yablonski know.
Ryan get on gloves and a mask and get that container ready,
because once he cross-clamps, we have until 3:15
to get these lungs into Mark Wilson.
And, Ryan...
nice work.
(Wind whistling)
Let's fix this, please.
Everybody, okay?
Damn.
Hey, what happened? I think I nicked it.
The aorta's gonna be too short for the transplant.
Get Dr. Yablonski on speakerphone now.
You almost done?
Uh, yeah, in about ten minutes.
Listen, we have a problem with this heart.
We lost power and the aorta was nicked,
so we had to cut it short.
Now, is there anything that we can do?
Because this is a perfect heart otherwise.
Bring as much aorta as possible beyond the arch.
I'll try to repair it.
Who's gonna transplant Wilson
if you're doing the heart?
Campos can do it.
How are the lungs?
Perfect. I'll see you in a couple of hours.
Here you go.
I'll be right back.
(Mouthing) Thank you.
Mark Wilson's very lucky.
Let's hope they all are.
If you're ever in West Virginia...
You'll throw me out?
Thank you.
All right.
Let's go.
(Siren chirps and wails)
(Inaudible)
(Propeller whirring, thunder rumbling)
(Thunderclap)
(Plane engine sputtering)
You'd better get it in gear.
The other team's already scrubbed in.
That's because they're actually doing a surgery tonight.
Just got a call. Heart recipient backed out.
She's refusing the heart.
Because of the nicked aorta? She doesn't want to risk it.
She says she'll wait for the next one.
Well, she's assuming there will be a next one.
(Sighs)
Let's give it to Anton Weathers.
Blood type on this heart works, size should be fine.
Don't we have to wait for the OPO
to offer it to the next person on the list?
There's no time to send it to another hospital.
This heart's got like an hour and a half viability left.
Not to mention a shorten aorta which should be hell to attach.
So, no one's going to want it anyway.
This heart goes in Anton Weathers,
or it goes to waste.
I'll call the OPO and expedite him onto the list.
Oh, and you, scrub in.
Oh, yes, sir.
There's a heart arriving in half an hour.
The aorta is short, but I can fix that.
It's a perfect heart.
Otherwise, it is yours if you want it.
Give it to somebody else.
I'm trying to save your live.
I can't play ball.
I got no life.
I don't believe that.
You're a rich doctor. What do you know?
(Sighs)
I know, okay.
I'm a lot more like you than you think.
You know, there was this moment in my life
when things went very, very wrong.
But I got a chance to turn it around and I did.
Here's your chance.
You're not gonna play in the NBA, tough.
You're gonna do something else.
Something you might not even be able
to imagine in this moment.
A second chance is a powerful thing.
Take it.
(Pager beeping)
Wilson.
Ryan, take those kidneys to storage.
Got it.
I got Wilson.
David, O.R.1.
Got it.
Inder, take that heart to Andy.
(Andy) He's gone, Miranda.
What happened?
He threw a clot.
There was nothing anybody could do.
(Crying)
Okay, come on, I need you in my O.R.
No... no.
I have to find someone to take these lungs.
The lungs are done.
Let's save the ones we can save.
Now, scrub in.
♪ ♪
Okay, we're in.
We're ready to come off bypass.
Yes, doctor.
Clamping.
Pinking up.
There's no heartbeat.
Come on, Anton.
(Sighs)
Come on.
Come on, come on, come on.
Come on.
(Beeping)
Never get tired of seeing that.
Miranda.
Excuse me, doctor.
I'm here about my nephew Anton Weathers.
Anton-- I just finished his surgery.
I'm Dr. Yablonski.
John Russell.
H-how is he?
Everything went well.
The heart's beating.
I don't know how much you know about his condition.
Not much.
I, I just drove here from Indianapolis
when I got a message from this gentleman.
How's he doing?
He's okay.
He really was the best player I'd seen in years.
So, are you going to take Anton back with you?
I don't know about that.
I tried that before when his mother died.
He got into drugs.
I put my foot down, haven't seen him since.
You're here.
He's my sister's boy.
I think Anton's going to be very happy to see you--
both of you.
(Siren wailing in distance)
(Sighs)
We don't control anything.
(Sniffs)
That is so... not what my father believed.
(Sniffles)
He said... that it was up to us...
...to be the best at what we do
and to never give up and to take chances
and to do that one thing nobody else can do
because you're their last hope.
No, we're one piece of the puzzle.
Somewhere out there,
somebody is getting up to go to work
and they have no idea
that they're going to become a donor today
and that someone they've never met before is going to live
because they've died.
You did your part.
You took every chance you could.
You wouldn't give up on those lungs.
You even flew in a damn hurricane,
and because you did,
Anton Weathers and three other people are going to live.
That's a good day.
(Sniffs)
See you tomorrow.
(Indistinct running commentary on TV)
Couple more weeks like this, and you get to go home.
I think you mean Indiana.
Give it a chance.
(Knocking)
The donor family is here.
What do you say?
We can wait.
No, um... let's do it now.
This is Sam--
Kim Mullens' husband-- and Nancy--
Kim's mother.
Dr. Yablonski.
Anton Weathers.
Thank you for agreeing to see us so soon.
Sure.
I-I brought a picture of Kim.
She wanted to teach second grade.
I asked her, "why second grade""
she said, because the kids were still sweet
and hadn't been twisted by learning fractions.
I, uh...
Thank you.
Thank you for...
...You know.
Can I hear my daughter's heartbeat?
Yeah.
You have to live for two now.
You understand?
She was my baby.
She was a bright light in this world.
You have to live for her, too.
I will.
(Sighs)
♪ ♪
-- sync, corrected by elderman -- -- for www.addic7ed.Com --