Hello. My name is Tony King and it is my pleasure to share with you the joy I feel every day. Here is why I feel life itself is so precious and why every day is so special to me.

In early 1988 I became ill with what was eventually diagnosed as congestive heart failure. This was the result of a condition known as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. That condition translated into layman's terms means an enlarged and weakened heart due to some unknown cause. The condition is degenerative and at that time incurable and untreatable by other means.

I was put on medication and advised by my second opinion doctor to quit work and improve my quality of life so as to keep my heart as long as possible. I had already been told by the cardiologists working my case that I was going to need a heart transplant if I was to survive.

Three years later, in September of 1991, it was determined that my condition had gotten to the point that if something wasn't done soon, I would probably begin to have lung damage also. After many tests and attempts to stabilize the condition, we decided it was time to get serious about a heart transplant. With the expert help from my doctors and all the staff members we arrived at the conclusion that it was time.

I distinctly remember, on the morning of my surgery, wishing everyone in the operating room good luck just after the anesthesiologist said "Mr. King, it's time."

Twenty four hours later I woke up in the intensive care unit, wired, tubed, and ALIVE! Later I learned that I had undergone open heart surgery twice that day. A leak had developed and it had to be fixed. I progressed very well and I am doing just fine now.

There are a few pictures of me and my heart if you are interested in seeing them.

I am forever grateful to the generous family that made a decision to turn their sorrow into joy for me and others like me by donating their loved one's organs. That family will live in my heart always. Thank you!

#180 - I was the 180th heart transplant that had been performed by the transplant team of St. Joseph's Hospital. I feel very special having been number 180. Being a flyer and boater, a 180 degree turn represents a complete reverse in course. This experience has been a 180 degree turn in the course of my life. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Dr. Douglas Murphy, my surgeon, and his staff, Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta and its wonderful staff, and to the wonderful folks at Atlanta Cardiology Group. There is a special place in my heart for Dr. Don Jansen and Dr. Vick Corrigan, the Physician Assistants: Chad Hall, Jeff Lefeber, Gregg Steahr, and especially Jami Gillis ("Tony, we think we have you a heart..." hugs Jami!), nurses, and staff, and especially the folks in Transplant Services at Saint Joseph's. They have all made that number 180 very special to me.

I also owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all the folks at Delta Air Lines that helped me make it. Thanks to you all!

• In October, 2004 during a left heart cath we discovered a 90% blockage in one of the right coronary arteries. A stent was inserted bringing that artery back to its normal opening.

TransWeb was THE home page for organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Recently I have had to reconsider recommending this site. Let me know if you feel it is lacking as well.
Here you will find all kinds of information on the subjects. There are links to many other sites, stories, pictures, and a tremendous resource for all related material. This site provides valuable information for everyone whether you are a recipient, prospective recipient, family member, donor, student, professional, or just curious.

Other transplant recipients, their stories, donor cards, graphics, etc.

A few hints for cautious healthy physical activity.

Vietnam Veterans Home Page (alternate site http://www.vietvet.org/).. Honoring Vietnam Veterans, living and dead. This page provides an interactive on-line forum for Vietnam Veterans and their families and friends to exchange information, stories, poems, songs, art, pictures, and experiences in any publishable form. This site will warm your heart and bring a tear to your eyes. We're all in this together. (USAF 1966-1970, last duty: 602nd MASS, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska)

Special wishes go out to my nephew, Scott, who became a member of the U.S. Coast Guard team in August, 1998! Good luck brother!

Amateur Radio (HAM Radio)

I've been into Ham radio since 1964. My call sign is W4ZT. It was WA4UPE from 1964 until November 5, 2002 when my vanity call was issued. I live in Union City, Georgia which is just Southwest of Atlanta. I have a two meter repeater in operation here. It is on 146.625 mhz (-600 khz split). Drop in any time you get in the area. I am a life member of the American Radio Relay League and I also support one of the local clubs, the Atlanta Airport Repeater Association, which has the 147.03 (+600) repeater on the air from near the airport. My Amateur Radio web page is http://w4zt.com and there I have repeater pictures and also host the South Fulton County Amateur Radio Emergency Service page linked below.


• Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
  The South Fulton ARES net meets on my repeater each Tuesday night at 2000 (8 PM) local time. Please join us when you can.
  
  

Dale Heatherington, WA4DSY, my long time good friend, has info on his 56kb Radio Modem for really FAST packet radio and other interesting personal items.

• Delta Amateur Radio Club - Jeff Baumann, KD4KZF, a co-worker of mine, has put this page together. Here you not only have a page dedicated to the Delta Amateur Radio Club but also a page dedicated to many of Jeff's personal interests, his religous faith, his family and many other fun and intertaining links. Check him out and tell him I sent you :)
  

• Interested in becoming a ham? Think it's tough taking the test? It's easier now days. You can get a code free Technician class license and still talk to all your ham buddies on VHF and UHF. The code requirement has been reduced to 5 words per minute for higher class licenses. Make taking the test easy by getting the VIS Study Cards from http://visradio.com. Follow the instructions and you'll have no problems.
  
  

• American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Home Page
  

• FCC Home Page
  

• FCC Amateur Radio Service
  

• Look up a Call Sign in the QRZ Database
  

• M.U.F. map, a very interesting map for determining maximum usable frequency for any location in the world.

• Radio Frequency Spectrum allocation chart
  
  
  

This is a GREAT Reference for HTML! Geocities "Homepage" Homepage A good beginner's guide to HTML. This quick reference can save you some time with HTML. Ken Nesbitt's WebEdit is the first GUI editor I used.

Links? You want Links?

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