Well, yesterday on 3/6/13 at 10:30 am, we got THE CALL for which we have been waiting for the last nine long months...a donor liver was available which was a match for Elise. We left home in a hurry and got to TCH at about 12:00 pm. Elise was admitted to the GI/liver floor, labs were collected, x-rays were done, and IV lines were started in preparation for surgery. I was told that our transplant surgeon, Dr. Goss, had flown out 3 hours away harvesting the liver himself and would be returning around 8:00 pm to proceed with the transplant.
I ran into the attending hepatologist, Dr. Shepherd, while pushing Elise in a little pink car up and down the halls. He indicated that he had just received a text that the donor liver appeared to be "pristine," a perfect match for Elise as far as blood type, size, and condition of the organ. In fact, he told me that although Elise needed a left lateral lobe of a liver and could not receive a whole, the surgeon was bringing the entire liver back to TCH with plans to split the liver and transplant the left lateral lobe into Elise and the right lobe into another 13 y/o patient awaiting a liver transplant at TCH. What a miracle!! This one liver had the potential to save two lives.
Around 9:00 pm, I learned that the donor liver had arrived at TCH, and the surgeon was taking it to the OR to begin the process of splitting it into the two segments. There was such a mix of emotions: lingering shock, excitement, fear, anticipation. At about 10:00 pm, we received news that added immense disappointment to the rollercoaster of emotions. Apparently, as it was being split, this organ became "unstable" and therefore unsafe to be used for transplant into Elise or any other patient. I literally could not believe the words that I was hearing, and it had to be repeated multiple times. The nurse came in to tell me that discharge orders would be written and Elise could return home....without the new liver that she was expecting. David and I sat there in the room for the next 2 hours basically in silence. I was numb. I didn't know what to think or feel. I methodically typed in a status on FB: "Unfortunately...bad news...the donor liver became ustable and can not be used for Elise. So the surgery is cancelled." Then I proceeded to respond to texts, emails, and FB comments, which were all very encouraging and uplifting; however, I continued to struggle with the disbelief that this was actually happening. Eventually, I realized what so many other "liver moms" and others were saying was SO incredibly true; that is, it's okay, because we obviously don't want this particular liver, and God doesn't want this liver for Elise....it's defective, certainly not "pristine" as it initially appeared, and it means that it was not in fact the perfect liver for Elise.
I'd like to quote our dear friend and fellow "liver dad," Bruce: "Organ transplantation is a modern miracle because it's hard to do. Tonight, after a long day of waiting, the donor liver became unstable...and Elise will have to wait for another wonderful family to give the gift of life under the worst of circumstances. This illustrates how important it is for us all to be donors should we die in such a way that it's possible to use our organs and tissues. Tell all your family your wishes now. Wills and directives to physicians can be overruled by uninformed family members and usually are not accessible at the time. We need lots of donors because not all organs are suitable."
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