Josh Pannell is your typical teenage boy who loves sports, video games, music and displaying his school spirit at St. Laurence where he is a sophomore. During the first week of October Josh was not feeling well and on the fifth of the month he was taken to the doctor. When the doctor discovered that his heart rate was 250 Josh was immediately taken to the hospital. After an echocardiagram it was determined that the left side of Josh’s heart was not pumping properly because it was enlarged and that the right side was trying to compensate. Josh was put on full sedation and was intubated.
n the eighth Josh underwent a major heart surgery to put a balloon in the left side of his heart hoping that it would start pumping normally while decreasing in size. Since the right side was pumping for both sides, it was weakening so the decision for another heart surgery was made. A permanent heart pump (LVAD) was implanted into the left side of his heart. After this surgery Josh developed a blood clot behind his heart and needed another surgery.
On November 1, 2018, Josh was listed on the Tier 1A Heart transplant list. Josh has been completely off of sedation since November 2, he is awake and alert, on a continuous cycle of pain medications, and has a feeding tube inserted. He is in considerable pain and in need of lots of therapy and a new heart.
We are enlisting the prayers of the Edmund Rice Network for Josh’s return to health, hopefully through a heart transplant. Perhaps the intercession of Blessed Edmund would heal Josh’s heart and make the need for a transplant unnecessary.