Jeff’s Story

Site created on February 19, 2023

As many of you know, Jeff was diagnosed with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency not long after we moved to Minnesota.  This genetic auto immune disease that affects the  liver and the lungs, but in Jeff's case, it primarily has affected his liver.  While he has he managed it pretty well for years, it did eventually progress to to point were we are today requiring him to have this liver transplant.   Once placed on the Transplant list last summer, we started the process of looking for living donors.  Jeff has been very lucky.  He had many friends & family members that applied to be donors. Unfortunately, many are not so lucky. For that we are so very grateful!

The testing process to be a living donor is long and complex.   It moves much slower than any of us thought it would.  It is not an easy surgery and they do not proceed with living donors unless they are extremely the have minimized all likelihood they will do no long term harm to the living donor.  Our first amazing angel of a donor made it all the way through the testing process.  While healthy, in late November she was in the end deemed not a match because after proposed lobe dissection, it would not have been enough to sustain her.  We are so grateful to her for trying.   She will be forever entwined in our hearts for stepping forward as a potential donor.   There truly are people in this world that are amazing, genuinely KIND straight down to their core and she is one of them (and yes she wanted to remain anonymous so that is why she is not named. I am respecting her wishes, but I hope she feels the ALL the love and gratitude we feel towards her!!) The week after Christmas, they began testing the second donor on the list. That donor was our son Hayden.  Hayden signed up without telling us as soon as he turned 21.   After all the testing, we found out in February that he was a match.   Somehow Jeff and I blinked and our kiddo grew up and  began making very adult decisions all on his own. He has a very big heart too (which as a mom) is just as important as making all those grown up decisions.  We could not be more proud of the compassionate and thoughtful young man he has become.

So that brings us to where we are today.  If all goes as planned, Hayden  and Jeff are schedule for surgery on Friday March 24th at Mayo.  The Hospital is still under a a form of covid protocol with limited visitors that can be there during the surgery.  And with this being a transplant, Jeff will be taken down to pretty much no immune system so that he does not reject the liver and then they slowly builds his immune system back up.  For that reason, we will have to pretty much go into a bubble and limit interactions before (to make sure he is healthy going into surgery) and after transplant (to give his body a fighting chance of not having to deal with the flu, covid or any other gunk) until his transplant team tells us it is  safe for Jeff.  I hope everyone will understand!

When he is out if ICU and is strong enough and ready for visits after transplant, we will be able to most likely set up zoom calls.  I know he will want to see & talk with everyone. That way he can do it safely at a distance.  And then when his Dr’s say it is ok and he is free to go out and about again I KNOW it will give him something he will be able to look forward too as he will love seeing everyone again in person!!

Going forward I will do my best to post journal entries with updates on this site to keep everyone updated on both Jeff and Hayden as they go through this process. Thanks so much all for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers!!



 

Newest Update

July 21, 2023

Journal entry by Jennifer Hole —

4 Months!

Jeff had his 4 month “tune up” this week at Mayo.  We are happy to report he is doing great!  

 

He no longer has restrictions on what he can lift (it was 10lbs  previously.)  They are making some more minor medication tweeks to his doses as well he will finish up the post transplant steroids.  They did tests to check bloodwork, liver and kidney functions.  Everything is looking good.  We met with the nutritionist to discuss ways for him to stay healthy as as transplant patients are more susceptible to things like diabetes and high cholesterol because of the anti-rejection drugs.  (The bad news is Jeff is going to have to start eating a few more things that are shades of green. Oh boy is he excited!! 🤣) Finally, he also got two shots. One was to boost his immunity (this is the second time he had one of those), and then he also got another Covid Booster shot.  He didn’t get a sucker, but he did get a cherry limeade when it was all over, so that made him happy!

 

He is very much looking forward to being able to start traveling again for work, and with this, as long as he is feeling up to it and his numbers stay in range he is good to go,.  The  hard part now is going to be getting him to pace himself and getting him to transition back into the work travel at a reasonable pace!

 

Most importantly, we continue to see even more glimpses of “back to normal” life as each week he continues to feel a little better and get a little stronger.  This past weekend he was out puttering around in the garage. Earlier this week, he was able to stop by and see the Miller Milling and Roger’s Foods Head Miller’s that were in town for a meeting.  Just being able to be in a room with teammates he hasn’t seen in person for so long meant the world to him. (And to me! Thank you for so many big old hugs and kind words of encouragement!  You all are the best!!)

 

So with that, we are very happy with how things are progressing for Jeff.   Now, as for Mr. Hayden, he continues to do great and has spent the summer up in North Dakota.  He has been working quite a bit. Fishing and hanging out with his friends seems to round out all the rest of his free time. That makes him one busy, but happy kiddo, so I guess that’s how it should be. (And of course, having him happy and healthy makes mom  dad happy too!) 

 

Going forward, we will implement the “no news is good news” model for updates, so hoping these posts get fewer and much, much farther apart!


Thanks again for all the love and support for our family!  We truly appreciate it!!
Hugs,
Jen (Jeff and Hayden too!😊)

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