Cubs legend Lee Smith had heart transplant this past summer |
Hall of Famer Lee Smith underwent a heart transplant back in July, according to multiple reports.
It was first reported by the Chicago Tribune's writer Fred Mitchell. Smith lost over 100 pounds and was diagnosed with amyloidosis this summer. "Amyloidosis… I had no idea what it was,” Smith told Mitchell. “Actually, you know, all the time I played ball, man, we all got checkups. We didn’t look for things like that. You just look for high blood pressure and nausea. And really just looking for diabetes and stuff.” Both of Smith’s parents had diabetes. "And because they say I’ve got amyloidosis.. it’s one of those things… the heart gets really hard. And you don’t have enough blood and oxygen to pump up the blood. My wife knew all this crap about me, man. I learned a lot about it because I actually felt it was cancer. When you see all the folks with cancer… I started losing weight and stuff like that. I mean, I could walk a hundred feet, then I’d stop and sit down somewhere, man. I’d go get up, go do some more, then stop and sit down." The 67-year-old is feeling much better and advocates for people to get wellness checks before waiting too long.
