'I’m so sorry, sweet girl'

An ode for a beating heart, plus smaller items to note

From my virtual notebook …

• “Today, I will explain to my healthy transplanted heart why, in what may be a matter of days or weeks at best, she — well, we — will die,” Amy Silverstein begins her piece in the New York Times. You’ll understand if I don’t have a suitable adjective to describe it, but she has a broader purpose in mind.

Organ transplantation is mired in stagnant science and antiquated, imprecise medicine that fails patients and organ donors. And I understand the irony of an incredibly successful and fortunate two-time heart transplant recipient making this case, but my longevity also provides me with a unique vantage point. Standing on the edge of death now, I feel compelled to use my experience in the transplant trenches to illuminate and challenge the status quo.