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March 2004 |
Right from the heart
Transplant gives pastor second chance
By Rick Meyer
The Elkhart Truth
ELKHART, Ind. -- When the Rev. Katurah Worrill Johnson talks about miracles and new life, she speaks from her heart -- her transplanted heart.
In 1998, Johnson was told that she'd need a heart transplant within five years. On July 22, Johnson received a new heart at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. In February, she returned to the pulpit at Bethel United Methodist Church on Elkhart's northwest side.
"My prayer has been for a miracle, and I've been given a miracle," Johnson said. "But you know how we are. We want the miracle to be in a particular way.
"I wanted my heart to be fixed, but I did not want to have to go through the surgery and all of that," she continued. "But at the same time, I accepted this as a blessing -- a second chance at life."
Johnson spent most of her first life in Atlanta, working as a journalist, substitute teacher, tour guide, service coordinator and administrative assistant before receiving her call to ministry. After finishing seminary in 1995, Johnson moved to Indiana in 1996 and became an ordained elder as an associate pastor at College Avenue United Methodist Church in Muncie. In 1999, she went to Bethel as a senior pastor, becoming the first African-American woman to be appointed to two churches in the North Indiana Conference.
Not everyone in Johnson's own family believes as she does. Her sister is a Jehovah Witness, opposing blood transfusions and organ transplants.
"This miracle confirms to me that our God is so much greater than us and what we think is right and wrong," Johnson said.
"He designed us and He created us so that tissues, organs and blood can be transposed, transfused and transplanted," she continued. "It's just a testimony to God and how His plan is so much bigger than (ours)."
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'My prayer has been for a miracle, and I've been given a miracle.' -- Katurah Worrill Johnson |
Johnson becomes emotional over another twist in her second chance at life.
"The fact that the heart that is beating inside me once belonged to a man -- and a white man on top of that," Johnson said. "It's very hard for me to really think about it because it's so overwhelming.
"I feel so humbled that I would be chosen to receive this gift," she added. "It confirms to me that God is not through with me."
Ever since Johnson came to Indiana, she has been asking God why she was placed 700 miles from her Georgia home. Indiana Bishop Woodie White lured Johnson to the North Indiana Conference where her first appointment was in a Muncie church where only 15 of the 450 members were black.
At Bethel, Johnson and her daughter, Kachael, are the lone African-Americans in a 176-member congregation.
"The transplant confirms to me that God is not through with me," Johnson said. "There is still so much more work for me to do. He has even revealed to me that I do have a purpose here in Indiana, which has been my biggest question that I've had for Him."
In a place where Johnson has no relatives anywhere close, Bethel has become her family.
"It was an opportunity for them to express love and concern for someone who is not family, someone who is not even of their culture or from this part of the region," Johnson said.
"They have embraced me, they have loved me and they have cared for me," she continued. "That's part of this big picture, I think, that God has for me. I feel so humbled that He has chosen me to be the instrument for this blessing for me and for them as well."
Laity at Bethel "stepped up" to keep the church going, Johnson said. She also credits her daughter, a Memorial High School senior, with maturity and responsibility beyond her years during the entire process. Kachael drove her mother to Indianapolis in 2 hours and 45 minutes after they received a call from the transplant coordinator at 2 a.m. Two friends drove from Atlanta and Johnson's 72-year-old father took a bus to Indianapolis.
Johnson also believes Indiana is the place to be for a heart transplant -- after learning that United Methodist-related Methodist Hospital is one of the best heart transplant centers in the country.
A 1998 viral infection damaged Johnson's heart, leading to congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy. Over the last five years, she has experienced ups and downs, missing six weeks from the pulpit in Muncie and ten weeks in Elkhart. Defibrillators were implanted in her by Dr. Raman Mitra at Elkhart General Hospital in 2001 and 2002.
"My first question to (Dr. Mitra) was if I allowed this implant to be put in me, would my quality of life improve?" Johnson recalled. "He said not necessarily, but it would keep me alive until I was transplanted."
Johnson recalls how her feet and hands were always cold, and she went from clothing size 14 to a size 10. Family history also was a worry. Her mother died of heart related problems a month before her 49th birthday in 1982. Johnson was transplanted a month before her 49th birthday.
Johnson's aunt, who raised her after her mother's death, battled congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy for more than six years before dying at age 54 in 1995. Johnson also realized that someone else had to die for her to live.
"I grieved those first few months after the transplant," Johnson recalled. "I was so conscious of the life that was lost, so that I could have a second life.
"Should me and his family ever talk," continued Johnson, who may contact the man's relatives after one year. "I should hope that they would be as excited and pleased at what God had done as I am."
Johnson takes as many as 25 pills a day and knows that her body could reject her new heart at any time during the rest of her life. But she has energy that she hasn't had in years.
"I'm not ready to slow down," Johnson said. "The only reason I slowed down for the past five years is because of health.
"The only thing that is standing in my way right now is my body adjusting to the medicines because the heart is functioning at full capacity," she added. "The challenge for me and the doctors is finding the right combination of medicines and dosages.
"I'm totally unconscious of my (new) heart," Johnson explained. "That means that my heart is a good heart. Before, I could hear it, and I would feel it skipping beats."
Rick Meyer reports for The Elkhart Truth. Used by permission
Last updated on 04/19/2004