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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 2018)
Wallowa County Chieftain News wallowa.com August 8, 2018 A5 Transplant recipient marks 25 years and going strong Strickland says faith sustained her I wasn’t worried when I had transplant surgery –– I trusted this was God’s plan.” By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain The doctor didn’t expect Sherry Vernam to survive. It was April 2, 1948, and Sher- ry’s gray hue was concern- ing, but there was no apparent cause. Sherry’s parents took her home to Marcola, a small town outside of Eugene. Over the next few weeks, the infant made a number of trips north to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. Doctors were stumped. Sherry wasn’t expected to live out her first year. Defying odds, she made it to a year but the prognosis wasn’t good. Doctors studied her cyanosis –– a bluish tinge from lack of circulation. She was susceptible to ear infec- tions, colds and pneumonia. She was tough. She sur- vived into grade school but spent many days at home when infections threatened. At 10, her parents took her to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis for an angio- gram, then unavailable in Ore- gon. Finally a diagnosis. Sherry had a hole in her ventricular wall. Surgery in June 1960 brought another surprise. Doc- tors discovered her heart had no ventricular wall. She had a heart with three chambers instead of four and the pulmo- nary and aorta arteries were transposed. A Teflon band was placed around her pulmonary artery as a stopgap. The 12-year-old returned to school and lived life as nor- mally as she could. Sherry felt better after the surgery. Most — Sherry Strickland Steve Tool/Chieftain Wallowa County resident Sherry Strickland displays the sweatshirt she received after surviving heart transplant sur- gery at Oregon Health Sciences University. The 251st survi- vor of the procedure, Strickland recently passed the 25-year mark of the successful surgery. The 25/50 club. Wallowa County residents Sherry and Zane Strickland recent- ly passed two milestones in their lives together. Sherry Strickland just passed her 25th year as a heart trans- plant survivor. The cou- ple also recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniver- sary. of her blue tinge disappeared and she had more energy. Finally her life had a sense of normalcy for her. “I was just who I was,” she said. “It was part of my life. Until I was 10, I wasn’t really aware of what was going on with me.” She added that gender roles were more defined back then and girls staying home and coloring or playing with dolls wasn’t considered out of the ordinary. Although she still did farm chores indoors –– fixing lunches and cleaning house. After high school gradua- tion, she attended college for a year before marrying her hus- band, Zane Strickland. Before they married, she told him about her heart issues. “She was pretty special,” he said with a laugh. The couple enjoyed life on a farm near Eugene “I rode horses and chased Only a transplant could save Sherry. Although heart transplants were still rare and dangerous, she didn’t care.. “I’d spent my whole life with doctors,” Strickland said. “They were not scary to me, and I’d already had one open heart surgery. I did well with that.” “It was for me,” Zane inter- jected. “I still ain’t sure if I was scared for her or me.” While waiting, Sherry had to reside within an hour of OHSU. On April 1, 1994, she was placed on a waiting list for a donor heart and surprisingly received a call the follow- ing day. She was prepped for the surgery, and even had her chest opened in preparation for the new heart. She awakened from anes- thesia and noted she didn’t feel any different. Her doctor said that complications along the way had caused the donor heart to become unusable. Photos Steve Tool/Chieftain cows,” she said. “I just did life.” Five years into the mar- riage, Sherry had a miscarriage and with doctors worried about the stress of pregnancy on her heart, the couple adopted two children. She threw herself into motherhood with zest, vol- unteering and working at the school her children attended as often as possible, with annual visits to a cardiologist. After their children gradu- ated the couple moved into the home of Strickland’s grand- parents in the Wallowa Valley in 1991. She worked full-time as a teacher’s aide. In 1993, the Stricklands fostered a child for three months and her heart problems reappeared. Tests showed that her heart and valve had worn out. The couple tried living in Eugene again, thinking the lower elevation might make a difference. Chief Joseph Days Grand Parade results Here are the award winners from the Chief Joseph Days 2018 Grand Parade July 28. Individual: Joseph Fire Department Luke Zacharias Brad Peterson – Party Barge Commercial: LuLaRoe – Ashley Lee Greg’s Glass Wallowa Lake Lodge Organizations: Creating Memories WC Fire Prevention Happy Canyon Parade theme: Community Bank Riding Group: Wallowa County Search and Rescue Pendleton Roundup Board of Directors Royalty: Columbia County Fair Happy Canyon of Pendleton Lewiston Roundup Float: Century Farm representatives Wallowa County Fair Results Dog Show Saturday, Aug 4 SHOWMANSHIP: 1st Year Junior Champion: Owyhee Harguess Junior Champion: Tegan Evans Intermediate Champion: McK- enzie Keffer Intermediate Reserve Cham- pion: Bailey Vernam Senior Champion: Jacob Falk Senior Reserve Champion: Katelynn Diggins TRICK DOG: 1st Year Junior Champion: Tylee Evans 1st Year Junior Reserve Cham- pion: Owyhee Harguess Junior Champion: Tegan Evans Intermediate Champion: Devin Schreiber Intermediate Reserve Cham- pion: Dakota Delyria Senior Champion: Jacob Falk COSTUME DOG: 1st Year Jr Champion: Tylee Evans 1st Year Jr Reserve Champion: Owyhee Harguess Junior Champion: Tegan Evans Intermediate Champion: Dakota Delyria Intermediate Reserve Cham- pion: McKenzie Keffer Senior Champion: Katelynn Diggins Senior Reserve Champion: Jacob Falk AGILITY: 1st Yr Junior Open Champion: Owyhee Harguess 1st Yr Junior Mini Champion: Mackynzie Melville 1st Yr Junior Mini Reserve Champion: Tylee Evans Junior Champion: Tegan Evans Intermediate Mini Champion: Dakota Delyria Intermediate Mini Reserve Champion: Devin Schreiber Intermediate Open Champion: McKenzie Keffer Intermediate Open Reserve Champion: Bailey Vernam Senior Mini Champion: Kate- lynn Diggins Senior Open Champion: Jacob Falk OBEDIENCE: Intermediate Pre-Novice Cham- pion: Bailey Vernam Intermediate Pre-Novice Reserve Champion: McKen- zie Keffer IN BRIEF Grange plans to host neighbors The Hurricane Creek Grange is inviting everyone in Wallowa County to stop by noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12 to enjoy hamburg- ers, chips and watermelon. “We love living in a county that has so many wonderful volunteers for every need in the com- munity and would like to invite long- time residents and newcomers to set and visit together,” said Grange Sherry wasn’t upset because the procedure helped the surgeon find where her old Teflon band was located and allowed him to make allow- ances for artery length in the next heart. Her Christian faith helped sustain her. “God works in wondrous ways,” she said. “He’s always been in charge of my life whether I knew it or not.” She went through suc- cessful transplant surgery three months later after an early-morning summons to OHSU. She spent a month in the hospital and almost imme- diately felt the difference. “I had felt relatively healthy before, but after I got out of the hospital, I felt, ‘Woo, I know what healthy is now!’” She returned to work Oct. 31 of that year. The new heart didn’t come with physical limitations, but Sherry follows a very strict diet regimen and takes medi- cation, including anti-rejection drugs, at specific times of the day. “I have to have something that reminds me to take them,” she said. “If I don’t, I get busy and I forget.” She has also found that transplanted hearts get stiff spokesman Barbara McCor- mack. “Our many proj- ects could not get off the planning stage without the involvement of all the good- hearted neighbors we have. The Grange hall is at 82930 Airport Road, Joseph. ‘Brown Bag’ will feature Adamas Stephen Adamas is an amateur musician, retired small-business owner and law teacher for a special “music edition” of the Jose- phy Brown Bag Luncheon program noon Tuesday, with age, which has resulted in congestive heart failure. She has an interest in care for dementia and Alzheimer patients, and she offers regular caregivers a respite from their duties. She has had a chance to thank everyone involved with her ordeal, but she’s never met the family of the donor of the heart that saved her life. “I’ve never been able to contact them,” she said. “I sent letters right away to the Donate Life people, and they forward them, but I’ve never heard. Every once in a while, I wrote a note to let them know how appreciative I am of their gift.” She has visited several county churches, thanking people for praying for her. At the Wallowa Christian Church, she told attendees that the hardest part was the thought that someone had died so she could live. Pastor Mel Byer interjected, “Twice!” “How true, first Jesus and now this,” she said. She also spoke at the Joseph Charter School and at both the Lions and Rotary Club. She is open to speaking at other venues. “I do this to make donor awareness more prevalent,” she said. “I want people to think about it and consider it.” Ultimately, Sherry credits God for her second chance at life. “Faith in God and Jesus Christ has always been a part of me,” she said. “I could think ‘I would have done this (the heart troubles) differ- ently,’ but that isn’t what was orchestrated for me. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t worried when I had transplant surgery –– I trusted this was God’s plan.” Aug. 14 Adamas is on the board of Wallowa Valley Music Alliance and he installed and rebuilt Wallowa Coun- ty’s only pipe organ. He is active in the Amer- ican Guild of Organists. He studies organ in Portland and at the Princeton Early Keyboard Center in New Jersey, where he attends yearly music retreats. He’ll be talking about his experience playing and rebuilding the “king of instruments” and the his- tory of the pipe organ in music. Admission is free; coffee provided. Donations accepted. Thank you to the following businesses for supporting Newspapers in Education Their generous support of the Wallowa County Chieftain NIE program helps provide copies of the newspaper and unlimited access to Wallowa.com and the e-Edition to schools throughout the community. GROWING GENERATIONS TOGETHER Jr. Jason Follett, DMD 541-426-3531 WallowaValleyDental.com 204 Residence St. Enterprise, OR 306 W. North St. Enterprise, OR 541-426-7455 OliveBranchFamily.com 603 Medical Parkway Enterprise, OR 97828 541-426-4502 WindingWaters.org Heidi’s Gift Shoppe Since 1945, Bank of Eastern Oregon has had roots in eastern Oregon. We believe in the value of a handshake and provide unparalleled and unbiased service because we know you – we are you, your neighbors, and your community members. BEO keeps working hard for you to ensure that our banking services are never difficult. Visit your Enterprise branch & let us help you realize your financial dreams. 59974 Mt. Howard Rd., Joseph, OR 541-432-0830 HeidisGiftShoppe.com Enterprise Branch 101 Hogan Street 541.426.4205 For more information on the NIE Program, visit Wallowa.com/nie. To make a donation, call 541-426-4567. Term Loans Member FDIC Lines of Credit Ag & Commercial Real Estate Loans beobank.com