Cardiac Nurse with ‘Half a Heart’ Experiences Heart Failure, Undergoes ‘Challenging and Risky’ Transplant

Jessica Eastes always sensed that cardiology would shape her life.

Born with dangerously low oxygen levels — she jokes that she “looked like a Smurf” — she was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect just days after birth. By age 7, she had already undergone eight open-heart surgeries.

“I spent my childhood in hospitals around cardiac nurses,” says Eastes, 43, of Junction City, Kansas. “My first friend was a nurse.”

Those early surgeries were successful, and decades later, she was pursuing the dream sparked in childhood: becoming a cardiac nurse herself. While in nursing school, she worked as an EMT and emergency room technician at Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas.

In 2018, however, her health took another turn. Eastes began experiencing a racing heart and other symptoms of atrial fibrillation (Afib), a condition marked by irregular heart rhythm, palpitations, fatigue, shortness of breath, and dizziness.

In fall 2021, doctors at the University of Kansas Medical Center delivered devastating news: she was developing heart failure and would likely need a transplant. Medications that had helped her for years were no longer enough, and hospital stays were becoming more frequent.

“It was scary,” she says. “Being a nurse helps because you understand the medical language. But it’s also a curse, because you know exactly what could happen.”

She was referred to Texas Children’s Adult Congenital Heart Program, part of the Texas Children’s Heart Center in Houston, where she had her first appointment in May 2022.

Jessica had what doctors described as a “complicated cardiac lesion,” explains Dr. Edward Hickey, surgical director of the program.

“She essentially has half a heart,” Hickey says. “These are among the most complex and high-risk transplants. Historically, many centers have avoided them because of the challenges involved.”

After evaluation, doctors determined she was a suitable transplant candidate. Feeling relatively stable and reluctant to disrupt her life, Eastes chose to delay surgery for about a year.

But her condition soon worsened. In August 2024, she was admitted to Texas Children’s Hospital, where she remained for nearly two months while awaiting a donor heart.

Throughout that time, her husband, Ethan Eastes — a 34-year-old paramedic she first met in 2015 while working in the emergency room — became her constant support.

“The nurses loved my husband,” Eastes says. “He was checking my drip levels, my blood pressure, noticing changes. When I couldn’t advocate for myself, he did.”

Her 12-year-old stepdaughter, Sydney, also provided daily encouragement, FaceTiming her throughout the hospital stay. “She kept telling me, ‘I’m praying every day that you’re going to get your heart, Mom,’” Eastes recalls.

On October 18, 2024, that day finally came.

The transplant surgery lasted 16 hours. “These are very big operations,” Hickey says. “Jessica is remarkable — inspiring — and she made a fantastic recovery.”

When she woke up, she noticed something extraordinary. For the first time in her life, her nail beds weren’t blue. Her hands, once always cold, were warm.

Discharged from the hospital on November 7, Eastes stayed nearby for several months before returning home to Kansas. The difference was immediate.

“The energy I have now is amazing,” she says.

She can climb stairs without stopping, keep pace with Sydney, and enjoy everyday activities she once avoided. Coming from a family of runners, she’s now training for her first 5K alongside Ethan. She’s also starting a new role at Flint Hills Community Hospital.

And she’s finally embracing long-awaited firsts.

“I always wanted to ride a roller coaster with my stepdaughter, but doctors advised against it before,” she says. “That’s something I promised her we’ll do this summer. She’s even trying to talk me into skydiving — I’m not quite there yet.”

Four months after her transplant, Eastes is golfing, spending time outdoors with her family, and redefining what’s possible.

“Everything I ever wanted to do in life, I didn’t think I could,” she says. “Now I finally can. There’s nothing I can’t do now.”