Aug 5, 2003 By Amanda Clegg 5 min read

Sisters Margie Hatalsky and Lucy Stiner have always relied on one another during tough times. In 1968, when Hatalsky’s husband, Barry, was in Germany for six months with the Army, Stiner stayed with her sister until he returned. And 20 years ago, when Stiner’s husband, Larry, died unexpectedly at the age of 32, she turned to her sister for comfort.

“She seemed like she was always there if I needed someone to talk to – no matter what. And it comes from in here,” Stiner, 51, of Brownsville said, patting her chest. “She’s my best friend. I’d do anything in the world for her.”

And on June 9, 2002, when Hatalsky, 55, underwent heart-transplant surgery, it was her sister who helped her recover.

For 12 years, Hatalsky, who lives in Blainesburg, suffered from cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle. Hatalsky said doctors controlled her condition with medication, but six months prior to the transplant she began losing her strength.

According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a part of the federal government’s National Institutes of Health, cardiomyopathy causes the heart to lose its ability to pump blood and affects approximately 50,000 Americans.

Hatalsky, who has a rare blood type (AB positive), was on a waiting list for a transplant only 40 days before receiving a phone call from UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh at 5 a.m. on June 9. They had a match. Hatalsky called her sister.

“My heart went to my feet that morning she called me,” Stiner said. “I never dreamt it was about the transplant when she called.”

Hatalsky went into surgery at 4:55 p.m. The surgery lasted more than eight hours, and Hatalsky was in the hospital for 19 days.

“I was very weak when I came home,” Hatalsky said. “It hurt pretty much to move around.”

Hatalsky said because of the surgery she experienced swelling in her legs and feet.

“My feet were real big the day I came home,” she said. “I couldn’t get my shoes on. I couldn’t get my clothes on. They let me wear a hospital gown home. But she (Stiner) was here. She was with me the whole time. She stayed by me.”

Under doctor’s orders, Hatalsky was not permitted to stay home alone for six weeks, Stiner said.

While other family members were at work, Stiner stayed with Hatalsky through the week for two months. Every day, Stiner took her sister’s blood pressure and heart rate, changed her dressings, made sure she took her medicine on time, fed, bathed and helped her sister dress. A nurse checked on Hatalsky in the mornings.

Stiner said helping her sister was not hard.

“What was hard was seeing her not able to do things for herself,” she said.

The sisters took turns sleeping on a couch and a chair in Hatalsky’s living room. When one was lying on the couch, the other was sitting in the chair, Hatalsky said. To build up Hatalsky’s strength, the sisters walked up and down the block together.

“I couldn’t go too far in the beginning,” Hatalsky said. “But every day it improved. Every day I could feel the difference.”

During the recovery, Hatalsky said her doctor did not permit her to lift anything weighing more than five pounds.

“They say you have a right hand,” Hatalsky said. “Well, she was both my hands for a while.”

But Stiner was not the only one offering a helping hand during the recovery.

Although Hatalsky, a homemaker most of her life, is covered under her husband’s health insurance, her medication – some of which she has to take for the rest of her life – is expensive.

Two of her anti-rejection medicines cost $5,500 a month, and she has to make co-payments on some of her medicine.

To help pay for medical expenses, Allison Christian Church in Allison hosted a spaghetti dinner the day Hatalsky, who is a member of the church, came home from the hospital. Carol Ludwich and Denise Marker, church members and friends of Hatalsky, organized the event. The event raised $7,000. Marker and Ludwich also helped arrange other fund-raisers, including a car wash, a Tupperware party and a candle party. They placed collection jars in local businesses.

“Marge is a very dear friend,” Marker said. “And the scriptures put it on my heart to help her.”

Marker said another fund-raiser to help Hatalsky is in the works. Marker is helping to sell the Dawn Hall cookbooks: “Second Serving of Busy Peoples’ Low Fat Cookbook” and the “New Crockpot Cookbook.”

Hatalsky said the support from family and friends helped her recover. Hatalsky specifically named her Aunt Betty and Uncle Jerry Lutes of West Brownsville.

“She was here through it all,” she said of her aunt. “But everybody was calling and coming to see me. It was wonderful. I think that had a lot to do with how quick I got better. I wanted to get better for them.”

Hatalsky and Stiner have another sister, Wilma Sabo of Uniontown. Their mother, Maryanne Shock, lives in Brownsville. Hatalsky has two children, Barry, 28, and Jason, 26. Stiner has three children, Maryanne, 30, Larry, 29, and Tim, 28.

On a recent sunny day, after celebrating the one-year anniversary of the heart transplant, Hatalsky and Stiner sat across from each other at a dining room table in Hatalsky’s home. The sisters talked about all that had happened in the past year. Hatalsky said while she was recovering from the surgery her doctor placed certain restrictions on her activities, including limitations on her driving.

“Anytime I had to go some place she went too,” Hatalsky said of her sister. “Whether she wanted to or not, she’d go.”

The sisters smiled.

“Nah, I wanted to,” Stiner said in a casual tone. “I’d do anything for her.”

To order a Dawn Hall cookbook, call Denise Marker at 724-785-3780.