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My Daughter Has a New Liver!
Last Friday, my daughter and I were making dinner when the phone rang. It was the CHOP liver transplant coordinator saying that they had a liver for my daughter, E, and we needed to get to the hospital. To say that I was taken by surprise would be an understatement. I told my daughter, she looked as shocked as I was, and we went into a flurry of getting ready to go to the hospital.
The entire thing could not have gone better. The new liver was from a young donor, was very healthy, and was a perfect fit for E's body size. E stayed stable throughout surgery and did not even need a blood transfusion. The new liver began working immediately, and E began to recuperate with lightening speed.
E wasn't in liver failure yet. She qualified for a transplant because of the chronic infection in her liver for which they were running out of antibiotics that worked, and because her cirrhotic liver was at high risk for liver cancer. But because she went into surgery relatively healthy, she bounced back quickly. We were told to expect a one and half to two week hospitalization, longer if there were complications. Hers was one week.
Our family, friends, and neighbors have all been offering to help by taking care of my younger children, taking care of our dog, sending us food, etc. Many, many more people, both people I know, and people who just know of us through others have been sending us their good wishes and prayers. (I may not believe in prayer, but it's the thought that counts.) I'm grateful to them all.
But I'm inexpressably grateful to the family of the donor. It was their selfless gift that saved my daughter's life, as well as the lives of several others who received the other vital organs.
The entire thing could not have gone better. The new liver was from a young donor, was very healthy, and was a perfect fit for E's body size. E stayed stable throughout surgery and did not even need a blood transfusion. The new liver began working immediately, and E began to recuperate with lightening speed.
E wasn't in liver failure yet. She qualified for a transplant because of the chronic infection in her liver for which they were running out of antibiotics that worked, and because her cirrhotic liver was at high risk for liver cancer. But because she went into surgery relatively healthy, she bounced back quickly. We were told to expect a one and half to two week hospitalization, longer if there were complications. Hers was one week.
Our family, friends, and neighbors have all been offering to help by taking care of my younger children, taking care of our dog, sending us food, etc. Many, many more people, both people I know, and people who just know of us through others have been sending us their good wishes and prayers. (I may not believe in prayer, but it's the thought that counts.) I'm grateful to them all.
But I'm inexpressably grateful to the family of the donor. It was their selfless gift that saved my daughter's life, as well as the lives of several others who received the other vital organs.