Scot Pollard update: He’s in a Nashville, Tennessee hospital awaiting new heart
Former University of Kansas basketball forward Scot Pollard is in a Tennessee hospital awaiting a heart transplant.
Pollard, 48, was placed on a heart transplant list after undergoing medical testing last week at the University of Chicago. After further testing this week at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, it was decided he would remain at the Tennessee facility until a donor heart suitable for his 6-foot-11, 275-pound frame is found.
“Yes I’m staying here until I get a new heart,” Pollard told The Star Thursday in a direct message on Facebook. “Things are worse health-wise, which is why they are keeping me. But I guess that’s better because it increases my odds of getting a heart.”
Pollard is staying in the intensive care unit at Vanderbilt, as reported Tuesday by the Associated Press.
Just last week, Pollard told The Star: “Is it urgent? Yes. I need a new heart, but I’m not sick enough to be hospitalized, so it’s best to get listed at all these hospitals (including St. Vincent Hospital where he lives in Carmel, Indiana) and hope a big, healthy heart that is my blood type (O-positive) gets past all of the people ahead of me on the list that may not be good recipients for that heart due to their factors.”
Pollard told The Star his new heart would likely have to come from a donor who was 6-1 or taller.
According to the AP, “patients in need of an organ transplant have to navigate a labyrinthine system that attempts to fairly match the donated organs with the recipients in need. The matching process takes the health of the patient into account, all with the goal of maximizing the benefit of the limited organs available.”
“It’s out of my hands. It’s not even in the doctor’s hands,” Pollard told the AP, adding, “It’s up to the donor networks.”
Pollard noted that doctors “are confident I’ll get a heart in weeks, not months.”
Pollard, a native of Murray, Utah, played at Kansas from 1993-97. He played 11 seasons in the NBA (1997-2008) for Boston, Sacramento, Cleveland, Detroit and Indiana. He won an NBA title with Boston in 2008.
Pollard’s wife, Dawn, revealed on social media on Jan. 10 that Scot was on various waiting lists for a heart transplant. His genetic heart condition which apparently was triggered by a virus he contacted in 2021, has worsened the last three weeks.
He often finds himself cutting phone conversations short when he runs out of breath.
Pollard’s father also suffered from the same genetic condition and ended up dying at the age of 54. Some of Pollard’s siblings also have the genetic condition. Pollard’s wife Dawn explained on social media what Scot has gone through since 2021.
“Three failed heart ablations, pacemaker/defibrillator, all the drugs and side effects, heart biopsies, heart catheter tests, CT/MRI scans, countless viles of blood taken, ER trips, myocarditis, pericarditis-all over the past three years…and now heart transplant list,” she explained in response to some misguided person who on social media accused Pollard of “faking it.”
Pollard was one of KU’s most popular players throughout history. He painted his fingernails and was a spectacular rebounder for Jayhawk teams from 1993-94 to 1996-97. Also in 2016 he was a contestant on the TV reality show, “Survivor.”
“A lot of people have reached out on social media from Jayhawk nation and it’s very kind and humbling to hear from so many,” Pollard told The Star.
He told the Indy Star: “It’s an odd situation to sit here and ponder for an undetermined amount of time. The surgeon here said it’s like winning the lottery. We might get lucky next week, next month, next year. It might be longer. It’s like Tom Petty says: The waiting is the hardest part.”
“We started using that (Petty lyric) when Dawn got cancer in 2019 and had a double mastectomy. I was the caretaker then, though for a much shorter time. She’s been under a lot of pressure because I’m doing nothing. She healed quickly and is cancer free and supporting our family on top of everything else.
