“Joel started having problems with his heart when he turned 50. It came out of nowhere – he had no high blood pressure, diabetes, or any other medical problems,” Angela, Joel’s caregiver and wife of 38 years says.

Angela is also a doctor – a primary care physician in their hometown of Dayton – and so when Joel appeared to be lagging behind while they were on a trip to Disney World, she knew that he should see his doctor. Nevertheless, neither of them expected the news that his heart was in severe failure.

Joel’s condition did not improve, and they decided to explore treatment options elsewhere. Angela’s mother had undergone a heart valve surgery at the Cleveland Clinic years before, so they knew of the reputation the hospital has for heart care. After arriving in Cleveland, they connected with Dr. Jerry Estep at the Clinic.

“Dr. Estep was wonderful,” Angela says.

In their consultation with him, Dr. Estep told them that Joel would need a transplant and by March of 2021 Joel received an LVAD and was listed for transplant. At first, everything was going well, and the Prentices were able to stay at home in Dayton. Because of Joel’s prior heart failure and the risk of cardiac death, he had already received a defibrillator implant, which detects irregular heartbeats and administers a shock to restore a regular heartbeat rhythm.

“It had never gone off,” Angela says, “but it started going off more and more frequently.”

One Saturday evening the defibrillator administered two shocks in short order after Joel had gone to bed. The following morning, the Prentices went to their church, where their pastor said a prayer for Joel – something their pastor had done before.

“It was a very intense prayer,” Angela recalls. “Very moving – it felt different somehow.”

Joel’s defibrillator went off again while they were in church, and they knew they needed to go to the emergency room. At the ER they had to shock Joel again and the care team at the Cleveland Clinic told them to come up immediately; the repeated need to shock Joel’s heart meant he was at the stage where he needed to be hospitalized until he received a transplant.

“They told me the wait for a heart would be 3-6 months,” Joel says.

When the call came for Joel to be hospitalized for an uncertain amount of time in January of 2025, Angela at first returned to the hotel they had stayed at when Joel received his LVAD.

“They were all very nice and said they would give us a discounted rate,” Angela says, “but even still it was getting expensive to stay there.”

That’s when their social worker, Allie, suggested they look at Transplant House of Cleveland.

“I called and spoke to Ryan, and he said there was nothing available, but that we’d be on the list. The very next day something came open – it was an answer to our prayers. I came over and Ryan showed me around. It looked beautiful.”

Angela settled in for the wait, spending 12-hour days at the hospital. Her first full month in Cleveland was a whirlwind of catching the Clinic shuttle at 9am, spending the day in Joel’s room, and returning to Transplant House on the 9pm shuttle.

Just shy of a month into what Joel and Angela were anticipating would be a much longer wait, Joel received the call on February 9th.

“It was a Sunday morning,” Joel says. “They said they had a heart for me. I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ and they said “No, we have one for you right now.’ I was in awe and shock at the same time.”

While Joel recovered from his transplant, Angela gradually had more time to engage with the community at Transplant House. It began with attendance at breakfasts and dinners – occasions she recalls with warmth. She is especially grateful for the Valentine’s Day social hour, hosted by one of the House Volunteers Deb Nash.

“It was the first fun thing that had happened in a long time.”

She was also touched by the packages donated by the Cleveland section of the National Council of Jewish Women left outside each apartment door on Valentines Day.

“It was uplifting to find it there – it was so sweet.”

The programming offered at the House was also a source of support and reassurance, first for Angela and, after his discharge to Transplant House, for Joel as well. In particular, the Navigating the Caregiver Journey meeting held each week in-person and over zoom, became an invaluable resource for them both.

Angela met another wife and caregiver, Kayla Shamblin in the first meeting she attended. Little did they know they were neighbors at the hospital – separated by less than 3 rooms. After that first meeting ended, they met in one of the sitting areas on the hospital floor.

“She and I talked for more than half an hour before we realized we had to get back to our husbands! And that was nice because I hadn’t had that before.”

She also met Thora Dunfee, whose husband Bob was a heart and kidney recipient. The Dunfees were a little further along in the journey than Angela and Joel. They became not only a resource, but also very dear friends.

“Thora told Bob about Joel and I. Bob said, ‘I’d like to talk to Joel, because I’m more recent and I can give him a different perspective.’”

“I gained a lot of insight from Bob,” Joel says. “We had a conversation about what to expect with physical therapy and the recovery process.”

The House was also able to anticipate Joel’s needs once he was discharged from the hospital. Joel recalls a visit with his physical therapist during which they identified needs related to mobility and seating. “He went down to the office and came back with a rollator,” Joel says. “I was looking at them on Amazon when he walked in,” Angela adds. “I was prepared to have to buy one, but our PT brought one up from the lobby and I said, ‘We’re allowed to use those?’ and he said, ‘That’s what they’re there for!’”

It was the same thing with medical devices to assist with mobility around the apartment – Angela would start looking online and then their PT or a staff member would show up at their apartment with the needed item. These items were essential for Joel’s recovery, as the surgery had left him with serious back pain that made getting in and out of low chairs and navigating the restroom challenging.  

“It has been remarkable. Just the whole way that everything is set up – even something as simple as being able to do your laundry unlike at a hotel – the community, convenience with the shuttle, just everything,” Joel says. “I think it’s been a good experience for Angela.”

Their experience of being on the transplant journey was important for Angela not only as a caregiver, but as a physician too. Being on the other side of that conversation – as a caregiver – changed her perspective in valuable ways.

“Allow the caregiver to have a voice and tell them what’s going on – make sure they feel seen, that they are a part of the process and that you recognize what they do,” she says. “You’re really treating two people: the patient and the caregiver.”

For the Prentices, Transplant House is so important to families on the transplant journey because it provides patients and caregivers to meet with others who know exactly what the experience is like.

“Thora and Bob are only a couple of weeks ahead of us,” Joel says, “but they know the things we’re going through and what’s next. It’s having someone to talk with on the same journey as you, just a little further down the path. It couldn’t be any better.”