Less than a week after receiving a new heart a Fond du Lac man is on the road to recovery. Rick Gilgenbach underwent heart transplant surgery last Wednesday at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee and he says the nurses had him on his feet the next day. “Friday came and I was walking the hall, yesterday walking some more and today I’m already up to five times so they keep you moving,” Gilgenbach told AM 1170’s Between the Lines program. Gilgenbach says doctors are pleased with the surgery. He was moved out of intensive care Monday and says he hopes to be out of the hospital in about a week and a half. In 1996 Gilgenbach was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a disease that weakens the heart muscle, making it less able to pump blood through the body. He was on a heart transplant waiting list for 22 months, sometimes wondering if this day would come. “It crosses your mind, no doubt, but St. Lukes is a wonderful facility.” Heart problems run in the family. His father had the same problem and also had a heart transplant. Gilgenbach says his story is another reason why its so important for people to donate blood and organs. He says he doesn’t know where his heart came from. “Our thoughts and prayers are out to them as well. They lost somebody they loved,” Gilgenbach said choking back tears.
