A Miracle Transplant

Many of you probably already know about my Dad's second transplant. However, I don't think everyone knows the details of the amazing miracle that came about with him getting the second transplant. Its such an amazing story, that I want everyone to know as well as have it for my records.

 

At the beginning of October, my Dad made an appointment with the kidney specialist. His lab numbers were not good and there was major swelling in his legs and feet. A biopsy was done the following week and in which came the bad news. The results showed that the disease that caused his kidney failure six years ago is back, meaning his kidney function will continue to worsen until it fails completely.

By the end of October, things were declining faster than we had anticipated. He went from 16% kidney function to 13% in five days. We called the doctor to schedule surgery that would put ports and tubes in his body so that he would be able to do home dialysis.  

A few days later, however, my Mom had to run him to the hospital because he was starting to look a little yellow, meaning his liver was failing. Due to his body rapidly declining, the doctors performed surgery on him and he was put on dialysis immediately. The very next day (Oct. 29), he had another surgery for the peritoneal tubing so he can do dialysis at home. However, the bad news with this was that he would have to wait 6 weeks for everything to heal. So we drove up four times a week to Provo for his dialysis.

The worst news we had received during this time was that the disease he has will always come back, and he will go through this all over again and need a new kidney. It was devastating to hear that in a few more years, this will happen again. The doctors don't know how long each new kidney can last, from months to years. But we know that having faith can make all the difference.

By the middle of December, just a week or more before Christmas, my Dad was able to do dialysis at home. We loved not having to worry about who was going to take him up on certain days, especially so close to Christmas.

After Christmas, my Dad continued his dialysis while we continued to search for a match. We had many family members and friends who offered to be tested for my Dad. Words cannot describe the gratitude we felt towards everyone who offered.

On January 9th, we had a tragedy hit our family. My father's cousin, Nick Anderson, suffered a ruptured arterial aneurysm in the brain, which ended his life. He left behind his wife and three children, the oldest being 13. The family knew about my Dad's situation and said that if Nick was a match, they wanted my Dad to receive his kidney.

One of my cousins, Michelle, who was going through the matching process at the time, came in to give them one of her tests. She asked them if she even needed to be tested further when Nick was being tested for a match. However, they had no idea Nick was even in the picture and it was because of Michelle that everything happened as it did.

 What had happened was that because we had been trying to find our own donor, my Dad was not put on the kidney transplant list. And because he was not on the list, the doctors dealing with Nick's body were going to give his parts to others who were on the list. So once Michelle had informed our doctors they quickly started filling out all the paperwork needed to get my Dad Nick's kidney.

The paperwork, which usually takes days to get all the proper signatures and authorizations done, only took one day. And on January 11 we received a call informing us that my Dad will be receiving his transplant the very next day. Nick's parents came in to see my Dad and had a very spiritual and emotional discussion.

 

My Dad was also able to see Nick a few days before we knew he was to receive his kidney. He had already past away, but my Dad said he could feel Nick's spirit so strongly it was as if he was there.

Surgery took just over four hours. And my Dad started recovering in record time. He was up and about soon after surgery,

 

And even passed gas the second day and was able to eat solids!

His incisions were healing perfectly and on the 17th of January, they gave him permission to leave the hospital, as long as he came in everyday for check ups.

 

My aunt, Sheri lived close to the hospital and offered her house for him to stay at. All of us kids were able to come up and see him.  

Everyone was missing their teacher and soccer coach back in Ephraim. They made him a sweet card with balloons and treats that we brought up with us.

We are so grateful to the transplant team that did such a great job. We are eternally grateful to them and hope to not see them ever again.

On January 30th, my Dad was able to come home for good.

 

My Dad is doing so well. His recovery has been the best it could be. We are so grateful that he is still with us today. We have truly been given a miracle. We are sad the way it came about, with losing Nick. But we are grateful nonetheless.