Luke’s Story

Site created on March 11, 2017

Luke Daniel O'Shea is the middle child of Tara (Hammond) & D.J. O'Shea. Luke suddenly became jaundice March 2, 2017 and admitted to Children's hospital March 6, 2017. Luke was under the observation and care of many nurses, pediatricians, pediatric GI doctors, and infectious disease control where he was diagnosed with acute liver failure. March 11 Luke was transferred to the PICU at UNMC to start the process of a liver transplant. Luke's liver enzyme levels continued to raise at incredible rate. These levels reached a point that his body would not recover from and doctors recommend him to be placed on the liver transplant list. Luke was placed as #1 on the liver transplant database. March 14, 2017 (33 hours after being put on the list) Luke received a donated liver. Luke amazed the medical community how fast his body was healing from surgery. Luke was discharged from the hospital March 22, 2017. That is eight days after his transplant! He will now begin the journey of recovery at home. Luke will be on series of medicines so his body doesn't reject the transplanted liver. Luke's clinic appointments have been scaled back as his recovery progresses. He will continue with blood draws so doctors can closely monitor his liver enzymes and vitamin levels. This will scale down the further we get from transplant anniversary. After the year marker his medicines will be scaled back to a few medicines taken in the morning and at night for the rest of his life.


Prior to Luke's illness he was a curious, energetic, and strong willed 3 year old boy. Three months after Luke's transplant his personality and enthusiasm for life is in full force. Luke's is best when he is out and about. His likes include swimming, tumbling, school, and church. His favorite movie at the moment is Trolls.


Luke's older brother is 10 year old Liam (4th grade). Luke's younger sister is 1year old Lily. He loves spending time with family. Playing with his big brother and cousins is something he always look forward to doing. He loves bonding with his grandparents.


Tara, Mama, is a social studies teacher at Millard North high school. DJ, Daddy, works for Union Pacific Loup logistics. We welcome you to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

Newest Update

Luke's Post-Transplant Journey Continues with COTA

Journal entry by Tara O'Shea —

Dear Family and Friends,
The Children's Organ Transplant Association and Team O'Shea have partnered up to help raise funds in Luke O'Shea's name!  I will be blogging on COTA for Luke O , a new website developed in honor of Luke.  Please continue to pray and support Team O'Shea with our journey navigating through a post-transplant world by sharing this link on social media.  Again, updates can be found on:  COTA for Luke O

Sincerely,
Tara O'Shea (Luke's mother)
Read More of the journal titled "Luke's Post-Transplant Journey Continues with COTA"
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