Angie & Jim

A practice drillby Jim

TL;DR We got the transplant call yesterday, but it turned out to be a dry-run. I originally wrote this post early this morning (around 2 AM) anticipating that we might be starting transplant, but the procedure was aborted at about 6 AM due to a blood crossmatch failure. I’ve made a few small changes to the original post and updated it to include the additional details.

At 6:41 PM yesterday we got the call. The nurse told us that they have a potential donor match and they needed us to get to the hospital before midnight. We were just about ready to sit down for dinner, so we made a couple phone calls and ate our dinner. It was a little surreal, but in a way we’ve been anticipating this for years, so we just went through the motions. We packed our bags, fed the cats, and then got in the car. The nurse on the phone told us that they need to do a blood test to ensure that the match is good, so there is a real chance they will have to abort the procedure. They actually mix Angie’s blood with the blood of the donor to perform the test for compatibility. Crazy. If the blood matches, she said that the surgery would be tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. She also said that when they harvest the organs, they could find the organs unsuitable and decide to abort at that point. So, a few hurdles we have to jump before we get there, but we’re on our way.

We arrived to the hospital at about 9:30 and got settled in. The transplant nurse on duty, Michaela, came to talk to us at about midnight. She talked us through all the consent forms and answered all the questions we had for her. She said the surgery is scheduled for 3:30 PM Thursday afternoon. She also said that the blood test can take a while, so it may be some time before we know or not. However, if you’re reading this, it means the blood test was a match. They could still abort after inspecting the organs, or if the family changes their mind, but that is more rare. Michaela said that the blood match results are about 50/50 in her experience with patients. She also told us that the donor experienced brain death and not circulatory death, which is what we suspected. It’s why we didn’t have to get to the hospital for an immediate surgery.

She also said that the donor is not far away, about an hour door-to-door. She didn’t say exactly which hospital, but we suspect it’s probably UCSF. She also mentioned that this donor is actually donating three organs to patients here at Stanford, which is unusual. Angie would get heart and liver, and someone else the lungs.

The nurse told me after arriving that I would have to leave because it was after visiting hours, but later, she said I could stay and brought me some blankets, pillows, and a couple extra chair. I fashioned a very uncomfortable arrangement of hard chairs in a row to lie down on and eventually got a couple hours of sleep. At about 6 AM, the nurse came back in to wake us up and let us know that the blood test they did with the donor failed and they decided to abort the transplant. They will try to find another match. Hopefully by the time I’m posting this, they’ve got someone else to receive this life-saving operation.

Fortunately, the nurse expedited our discharge and got us on our way home by about 7:30. We drove home and went straight to bed. It was emotionally difficult, but also a really good learning experience. We were both surprised by how calm we were on our way to the hospital and checking in. The phlebotomist heard what we were saying about that and she replied, “It’s because God’s looking out for you and letting you know it’s gonna be okay.” We were both a little surprised she said it, and she quickly apologized, but we told her we felt that way too. It was a little tender mercy.

We realized there are a few things we want to be ready for the next time, if this were to happen again (very unlikely), but for the most part, it went very smoothly. It feels good to know that our support network is in place and ready to leap into action the moment we need it. Thanks for you love and support. We will keep you posted with any updates.