PORT ANGELES — Larry Slowey had a change of heart recently.
During his 115-day stay at the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., the Port Angeles man and Wal-Mart employee also had a new kidney installed.
Slowey, 54, suffered from a heart ailment called dilated cardiomyopathy, which caused his heart to expand and pump less strongly.
And beside that, it turned green, a eerie coincidence for a diehard Green Bay Packers fan.
“Your original heart is about the size of a fist,” Slowey said Thursday, relaxing in his house with his wife, Betti, and their grandson, Jacob, two days after returning home.
“Mine was about the size of a football.”
Normally hearts weigh about 2.5 pounds, Betti said.
At the time of his surgeries — Larry had eight altogether, seven on his heart — his heart weighed about 8 pounds.
Doctors replaced his heart with a new one Sept. 30.
The donor of the organs was a 19-year-old male, Larry said. He plans to write the family of the deceased man and thank them for the gift, but he has had trouble finding the exact words.
“How do you say thank you?” he wondered.
“It’s the ultimate gift.”