Not Knowing Was Easier

When Tin Man died, we didn't know what happened.  The doctors requested an autopsy to get answers.

The autopsy showed us what happened, but we were still left wondering why it happened.

His cause of death was pulmonary hemorrhage brought on by multiple (we are talking 100s) of blood clots in his lungs.  Not to mention the rest of his body.

The autopsy did show just how amazing his new heart was.  Doctors were so surprised at how well it was, and very little complications from all it had to go through those last 2 weeks. 

His death WAS NOT transplant related.


His death was caused by an error.  A huge mistake.


Last August I learned of a recall on a medicine last March.  Around the same time that Tin Man got really sick.

The recall was the blood thinner, Argatroban, that he was on. 

Learning this was like having to start the grieving process all over again.  He wasn't here because someone didn't check their product before shipping it out.

Reading the report on what could happen is like reading his autopsy report.


I started doing more research and eventually contacted a lawyer.

The lawyer helped get his records, sent his records off to 2 different pathologists (one in Tampa and other in Atlanta).  Both of them agreed that it was most likely the cause of death.

So we started going after the pharmacy records from the hospital.  Instantly they clammed up.  Took their sweet time returning phone calls and emails.  Finally someone did return an email.  Asking for time for them to look into it.

6 weeks later we finally get another email back.  They don't use the concentration that was recalled and because of this, they are declining to give us the records.

This is where things started getting weird.  After this email my lawyer stopped returning my phone calls and responding to emails.  2 months later.  He calls to tell me that he is bowing out since the hospital isn't cooperating.  Tells me that he thinks I do have a case, I just need to find the right lawyer.

So I am back to square one.  I have contacted several other lawyers, and all tell me they do feel I have a case, but they aren't willing to take it on.  One finally told me that the hospital is notorious for being a pain in the butt to go up against in court, even just for a subpoena, so I'm going to have a hard time finding anyone to take on the case.

I have 3 more phone calls and emails out.  After these 3 I am done.

I tried.  I spent almost a year trying to get justice for my husband.  Not just him but for my kids.  For the donor.  For his family.

Somewhere there is a family that made the decision to donate their loved one's heart to help someone else live.  Only to have that generous gift die a month later because of this error.

It just doesn't seem fair.  Not knowing what happened was a lot easier to deal with than knowing all I know now.