When Nemah Kahala, a wife and mother of five, arrived at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center as one of our patients in March, her condition was the definition of critical.
She suffered from inflammatory restrictive heart muscle disease, in which the heart ventricles become stiff and rigid, making it impossible for the these chambers to relax normally and fill with blood. Over time, this reduces blood flow and can lead to heart failure. Her condition was so advanced that repair surgery couldn’t help. It was clear she wouldn’t survive the wait for a heart transplant.
Dispatches From The Front 