Savoring every day: Young family anxiously awaits heart transplant

Second in an occasional series

As a student nurse, Lynette Cardall knew enough about severe health problems to realize the gravity of her decision to marry a man with congenital heart disease.

Her father, left a widower when Lynette was only 8 years old, had often told her "the hardest thing I ever did was lose your mom." So when she told him she wanted to marry Paul Cardall — knowing her fiance's chances of dying young — her father reminded her of his own difficult life experience.

"Just make sure you think about the decision," he counseled.

"Back then I thought to myself, 'I can let Paul go and try to find someone else but would always wonder what it would be like,'" she said. "But anyone in my shoes, if they truly loved the person, would still choose to do it.

"If the whole package wasn't there, I could have let it go and found someone else, but Paul is such a great guy, I felt like it was worth the risk."

Several years, a young daughter and multiple hospital visits later, Lynette Cardall now waits each day for word that a human heart has become available. On the list for a heart transplant after a lifetime of dealing with a heart condition called tricuspid atresia, her husband — an LDS musician whose friends are rallying Monday for a benefit concert — has joined his faith with hers, and that of family and friends, in the hope of extending his life. (See accompanying box.)

Years ago, when they were newly married, it was tempting to think things would never come to this. But then again, theirs hasn't been a routine relationship.

"When we got engaged and were trying to choose a date to be married, Paul left me a note and asked which date I wanted. "Oh, by the way, we have insurance," he added as a postscript.

"Some couples may not be worried about that, but I was raised that you prepare for the worst. You get an education so you can support yourself or your family, and I always knew I wanted to be able to support myself."

As a nurse at Intermountain Medical Center, Lynette now finds herself the family breadwinner — a role she has parlayed into something more than a paycheck. "As a nurse, it's a blessing in that I can be an advocate for him because I know what's going on," even though "sometimes I feel like I've had enough medicine."

She knew going in she would likely play this role. At age 32, it came earlier than she had hoped. "I thought it might be further down the road or that our family would be more established, but you can't ever really plan that."