Lydia’s Story

Site created on December 1, 2019

In November 2019 Lydia was diagnosed with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and placed on the waiting list for a liver transplant. At 11:30 am on Feb. 9, 2021 Lydia's phone rang. It was Vanderbilt with the urgent message we had long waited for but were starting to fear might never come:  "Get down here ASAP, because we have a liver for you." 


In February 2020 Vanderbilt's Dr Banovac performed a procedure called "trans-arterial chemoembolization" or "TACE" in which he threaded a tiny tube from her femoral artery into her liver and administered a dose of chemo directly to each tumor. This kept the cancer at bay while she waited for the call.


This miracle of modern medicine took place thanks to the generosity of a person we will never know who left this life too soon at age 27. Please register as an organ donor, because you might save the lives of several people like Lydia. As of February 2021, there were 107,000+ people on the waiting list for organs, but in 2020 only 39,000 transplants were performed. Every day 17 people die waiting for an organ that never comes. You can designate your wishes on the back of your driver's licence or sign up through your state's organ donor registry. Here's a link for the national registry: https://www.organdonor.gov/register.html

Newest Update

Journal entry by Arnie Reed

Three weeks and two days ago Tuesday Lydia got her new liver at Vanderbilt. Since then she has astounded the doctors with the pace of her remarkable recovery. Her insurance representative said that people her age who receive liver transplants typically stay in the hospital 6 to 7 weeks. Lydia stayed only 4 days. 

Getting a new liver has been a life-changing experience for Lydia. The first thing she noticed was an immediate lifting of the "brain fog" that was caused by her old liver not clearing out ammonia, which crosses the blood-brain barrier and inhibits the brain's ability to function normally. In addition, her motor skills and strength have improved as well. She's feeling better than she has felt in years.

Lydia and I both appreciate all of the love, prayers and good thoughts you have sent her way. We strongly encourage you to sign up to be an organ donor, because many people like Lydia will die every day for lack of an organ transplant. It was only through the generosity of a person who died at age 27 that Lydia received this gift of life.

Here is the link to sign up to be a donor:

https://www.organdonor.gov/register.html

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