Hopes of ‘Spin Skater’ for heart on hold again Boston doctors postpone transplant list decision

As Joshua Barker’s condition weakens, doctors have postponed any decision about placing him on a heart transplant list for at least a month.

Barker, 24, has become a bit of a celebrity among Bangor Daily News readers as the subject of a children’s story, “The Spin Skater of Pinpoint Pond.” In real life, Barker has cardiomyopathy, a massive enlargement of the heart, and he is seeking a place on a transplant list.

The BDN has been following Barker’s request for a heart, one originally denied by one Boston hospital, then reoffered by another.

Originally from Trescott but now living in Bangor, Barker is a patient at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, undergoing day after day of rigorous testing.

On average, only 2,000 hearts are available a day in this country, while more than 30,000 people are on waiting lists, Barker’s mother, Brenda Gay-Barker, said last week.

“There just aren’t enough to go around,” she said, adding that is why donation is so important and why rigorous testing is required for any potential recipient.

Barker has been at the hospital for more than a week. The transplant team, led by Dr. Michael Givers, met Wednesday afternoon and determined that Barker needed to lose more fluid. He has already lost more than 15 pounds and they want another 10 dropped.

He has been placed on a controversial new drug, milrinone, to remove the fluids, has undergone two right heart catheterizations, and has had a port for medication installed, and he continues to hold his own.

“He feels crummy though,” Gay-Barker said.

Barker’s doctors have postponed any decision regarding a transplant for another month.