FEBRUARY 2024: Odie's heart disease journey continues. He has been listed for a heart transplant now since 2020. We haven't had to update too much because he has done so well. But that is changing... Otis to some of you and Odie to his family and many friends has been sick with heart disease for many years. He took his medications regularly and followed his doctors recommendation. Many of you were not even aware he was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy 11 years ago. He had flu symptoms and went to prompt care. The chest X-ray showed his heart enlarged. He was transferred immediately to Doctors Hospital where testing began. His heart condition was confirmed and his own defibrillator implanted. He began lots of medications to help control his condition. For many years, his health stayed the same with little or no issues. A few months ago, he began showing more symptoms including serious abnormal heart rhythms, fatigue, short of breath, chest tightness and more. He is followed at Emory University and locally at University Hospital. When his symptoms did not respond to medication, he returned to Emory where one of the best heart failure doctors, Dr. Andrew (Andy) Smith saw him. With a medication adjustment, Odie still did not feel better. Dr. Smith recommended for him to see Dr. Shah, who specializes in heart rhythm therapy. That brings us to last Monday, February 24, 2020 Note: Wife is Patricia, Son is Payton; Parents in love- Ann and Jim Hill; Sisters and spouse - Sherrell and Tony Gay, Robin and Wes Ford; Sister in love and spouse- Pricilla and Jimmy Williams: And many nieces, nephews. His parents are in heaven - Edgelle and Otis Screws. In order to reach all those concerned, we created this Caring Bridge page to keep family and friends updated. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. We especially thank you for your many prayers. If you have a question about what is posted, please post in your comment and either Sherrell or Tracy will get back with you. We are being very selective in medical information we are posting so when Odie gets better, the posts will not upset him or invade his family's privacy. Thank you for stopping by and we hope you will visit Odie's page again.
Odie and Patricia teach Special Needs Adults in Sunday School. He was so happy to be able to go this morning and also to worship with his church family at Abilene.
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