The one gift he really needed

By Mike Silverman's count, God blessed him twice.

Once 25 years ago when he survived multiple-bypass heart surgery and again in early December when he received a new heart from an unknown donor on one of the snowiest days of the year -- and on the first night of Hanukkah.

"I was shocked," Silverman said of getting the call late that night that a heart was available. "I never thought I'd ever get a new heart."

Silverman, 69, who suffered from severe heart failure, returned to his Arlington Heights home Dec. 18 with his wife, Masha. He's recovering with the help of his four children -- Mara, Mark, Sheryl and Lisa -- and the attentions of his seven grandchildren.

Mike's grown kids all remember the days before and after the surgery in great detail. During a recent gathering in the Silverman family room, they all talked at once, recounting Mike's health problems while correcting each other's accounts at the same time. Mark dropped a bag of sugar-free candy in his dad's lap on his way in the door.

Mike and Masha Silverman have lived in the same Arlington Heights home for 35 years. His local roots go back to the late 1950s, when he helped out at his parents dry-cleaning business on South Arlington Heights Road. All the Silverman kids worked at family business at one time.

"We all still have the dents in our fingers from those wire hangers," said Mara Hauser, Mike's oldest daughter.

In 1995, Mike sold the business and established First Northwest Bank of Arlington Heights, now Village Bank and Trust, where he's now vice chairman. Last year, he was named the Hearts of Gold Business Leader of the Year.

The phone call from Mike's doctor about his new heart came as he was sitting in his favorite recliner watching TV with Masha.

"My doctor asked what I wanted for Hanukkah. I told him gifts for my grandchildren," Mike said with a smile, "but I knew why he was calling."

He wasn't at the top of the donor list. He thought he'd have to get a lot sicker before he made it there. But one prospective recipient had a fever. Others didn't want to brave the snowstorm. Mike found himself next in line.

It was a day Masha never thought would happen. Her father died at 52, needing a new heart.

"I didn't think Mike and I would grow old together," Masha said. "I didn't think he'd see our grandchildren grow up."

But there she was, piling into the car that night as the snow continued to fall. Mike said he'd drive. Masha would have none of that. They made it to the University of Chicago hospital in about an hour. After a night of tests, Mike underwent a five-hour operation to get his heart.

A couple weeks ago, Mike returned to his Arlington Heights home -- to the same recliner he was sitting in when the doctor first called.

Only now he was smiling.

And certainly feeling better than before he received the new heart.

Before the surgery, Mike couldn't climb a flight of stairs without being winded. He couldn't lift his arms over his head for longer than a few seconds. Just opening a cabinet to get his medication often left him hunched over the sink, sick and exhausted.

He remembers thinking, "It's going to get worse. It's only going to get worse."

But "worse" never came, thanks to the new heart.

"I haven't felt this good in a while," Mike said. "The color is back in my face and I can move around. I never thought I was that sick before, but I was."

His first day home from the hospital, Mike climbed the stairs with few problems.

But it will take months for Mike to recover fully, and the danger of germs infecting his heart is very real inside the Silverman home.

Masha reminds visitors to use hand sanitizer before seeing Mike. Flowers aren't allowed since the pooling water may have bacteria. Don't even bother coming if you have a cold.

Mike doesn't know his donor and probably never will. He wants too, though, just to say thanks.

"I don't even know if was a man or woman," he said. "But I would like to say thanks to whoever it was. I would like to say thanks for the miracle."

About organ donation

If you want to be an organ donor after your death, there's now more you can do to declare your intent than sign the back of your driver's license:

• A new law allows potential donors to register with the state, ensuring their wishes will be honored.

• Under the old registry, a family member still had to give permission. About 19 percent of families overruled their loved one's decision.

• Illinois' new first-person consent registry creates a legally binding decision. Family members will be visited by donation coordinators, who will explain the donation process and provide support.

• Donors younger than 18 still need family consent.

• You can register with the Illinois Secretary of State's Organ/Tissue Donor Program by calling (800)210-2106, visiting any secretary of state facility, or by registering online at lifegoeson.com.