Dying Teen Is Being Denied A Heart Transplant Because He’s Had Trouble With The Law

[riderinthestorm]

127. My sister is 18 months into a full recovery from a double kidney/liver transplant

I was #1 on her support team at Cal Pacific Med in San Francisco. I was there for every meeting and the entire month post-surgery (missed the actual surgery because I live near Chicago and was flying to SF as she was in surgery).

You are absolutely spot on.

This has nothing to do with race and everything to do with being able to comply with the protocols the transplant team spell out very clearly in your contract.

As you know even some innocuous things are verboten depending on your particular transplant. In my sister's case even some candy like licorice would have booted her off the list. For others its simple things like peanut butter. For virtually all of them it includes pot, even medical mj. Most of this is because the post-transplant drug regime is so strict, they must know that you are compliant before they even implant that precious organ(s) because the anti-rejection meds are incredibly tricky to balance.

The hospital pharmacist was as important a member of her post-surgical team as anyone and she was at every major meeting, fiddling with the drugs to ensure there was no rejection.

I hope you get your organs. Good luck...