Five weeks after receiving a new heart, Windy Manzardo took a walk around the block. Each step was a quiet triumph—a celebration of life reclaimed. For the seasoned cardiac nurse, wife, and mother of two, this walk marked the end of a long and uncertain journey—and the beginning of a new one.
The transplant was a poignant moment for Windy, who waited years and weathered several setbacks for her new heart. Still, it was a day she never stopped believing it would come.
Windy first experienced heart palpitations at age 49. It was not a major concern to her at first until the palpitations eventually persisted for longer stretches of time.
The Diagnosis
After experiencing an episode at work, her coworkers hooked her to monitoring devices. It became immediately clear to Windy that her condition was much more dire. She was diagnosed with cardiac sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease that attacks the heart’s electrical system.
She was referred to Providence Heart Institute in Spokane, Washington where she immediately started treatment with steroids and immunosuppressant therapy. One year later, doctors added her to the transplant list after suffering a VT storm – a dangerous series of chaotic heart rhythms that triggered her defibrillator 18 times.
Windy was briefly taken off the transplant list due to complications, like a fractured back and paralyzed lung, stemming from side effects of the medications to treat her heart condition. Once she recovered and was placed back on the list, she accepted she would be difficult to match with a donor.
Matching Windy with a donor was especially difficult due to antibodies developed during pregnancy.
“Each pregnancy can cause a woman’s immune system to develop antibodies against different blood antigens, making it harder to find a donor heart that won’t be rejected,” explained Dr. Cristy Smith, a nationally recognized cardiothoracic surgeon and director of the heart transplant program at the Providence Heart Institute. “Windy had a high number of antibodies, which narrowed the pool of potential donors significantly.”
While she endured setbacks, Windy never lost hope.
The Call
A few years later while sitting in church with her husband, she had a missed call. And then a second missed call to her husband. It was followed up with a text directly from Dr. Deidre Mooney, an advanced heart failure cardiologist at Providence Heart Institute, asking Windy to call her immediately.
“In disbelief, I got the call for a heart,” said Windy. “I hadn’t given up, but I knew I was hard to match. It was unbelievable.”
Windy checked into the hospital the next day, and her transplant was completed the following day.
“You’re just so excited your heart came that you forget how hard recovery is. I was excited-- so excited,” she added
The transplant was performed by Dr. Smith, who had overseen Windy’s care throughout her journey. Previous ablations have left significant scar tissue, making it harder to remove her old heart.
“We’re blessed to have a fully equipped team with decades of experience,” said Dr. Smith. “Our multidisciplinary team offers world-class care—from advanced medication therapy to mechanical circulatory support and heart transplant.”
Dr. Fenton McCarthy assisted with the surgery, addressing the adhesions while Dr. Smith retrieved the donor heart.
“It was absolutely perfect,” said Dr. Smith. “By the time I returned, everything was ready. I removed her old heart and sewed in the new one without a hitch—it was a picture-perfect transplant.”
“I had so much faith in my team. I could not have had a better team,” said Windy. “Dr. Smith is ridiculously smart, but she has the best bedside manner, a positive attitude and so reassuring.”
The Recovery
With family by her side, Windy spent ten days recovering at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Though the early days of recovery were tough, Windy felt herself growing stronger with each passing day. She was eventually able to continue her recovery in the comforts of her own home.
Her son, Kyle, even made headlines taking time away from his Major League Baseball career with the Cleveland Guardians to support his mother.
“As a mom you don’t want your kids worried about you. He was there when my defibrillator went off and it was traumatizing for him,” she said. “Him being able to be home was great for him mentally.”
“Windy can best be described as optimistic, resilient, and truly a kind soul,” said Dr. Smith. “She had so many setbacks and procedures, yet she always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. Her love for her family—and theirs for her—shone through every day.”
“Once a patient engages with our team at Providence Heart Institute, they become part of our family,” added Dr. Smith.
To her donor family, Windy says, “It’s hard to put into words- you can’t articulate how thankful you are.”
And for the caregivers at Providence, she adds “The medical team – I adore them. From pre-transplant through post-transplant, the care was amazing. They have been there every step of the way.”
For others still on the transplant list she shares this message, “Try to stay positive. Positivity helps with coping; it helps with healing.” She adds “Rely on a system of friends, family, and your transplant team.”
With her transplant behind her, Windy is now focused on healing—and on the life she’s eager to reclaim.
The Road Ahead
Today, success for Windy means returning to everyday life with ease—climbing stairs, washing her hair, and regaining her independence. These simple tasks, once daunting, now symbolize healing.
For the first year of recovery, Windy must stay close to home. But her heart is set on a long-term goal: cheering from the stands at one of Kyle’s Major League Baseball games.
Each step forward—even those just around the block—now carries the weight of everything she’s overcome and the promise of what’s still ahead.
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