Coping with transplant issues and honoring those who pass

In the summer of 2023 after returning from a vacation to Europe with my wife celebrating my retirement my acid reflux worsened. A local Dr. decided to have an endoscopy done on me. It accidentally caught just a tiny tip of the liver. That same tiny tip is where 3 cancerous tumors were. I had no symptoms of cancer to date. A literal miracle that the tumors were found by an errant endoscopy.

Local DRs. said my only hope was a liver transplant. I went through all of the hoops and was lucky enough to be added to the Mayo transplant list early 2024. Because of my blood type I was told to expect about 2 years for a liver match. It was a race as if the cancer spread outside the liver I would be bumped off the list as there are to few livers to give to folks with cancer outside the liver. Talked to a nurse at Mayo whose aunt waited 6 years for hers.

I got the call they had a liver for me, flew to AZ and was transplanted 18 days later. While I have had issues with CMV, bile duct and a number of trips back to AZ for stenosis overall I am doing well and still standing.

Our insurance company had 6 folks (4 from CA 2 from CO) all receiving liver transplants at Mayo AZ spring / summer 2024. We were all at the same hotel and the wives/one female patient/ female caregivers grew close and sat around the pool at night when it cooler. They still are on a group texting chat 2 years later.

Just before Christmas the first of the 6 of us passed away. He had needed a second transplant in 2025 and never fully recoverd. Four of us are still doing well and one so so.

I have been reading on this blog for over a year now and am amazed at all the eclectic issues we transplant folks have to go through. My heart continually goes out to folks and what they are going through.
I have prayed for and cried for folks sharing on this blog.

If I can offer one word of encouragement despite what may be going on we ARE STILL STANDING and have the opportunity to have those issues as opposed to where we would be without our transplants.

My prayers go out to everyone who has had a transplant and their caregivers.

Here's to a good 2026 !