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

[egold2604]

159. My wife was just rejected by the transplant team for a liver transplant

My wife has a long history of alcohol abuse, having downed a quart of Southern Comfort a day for many years. Her liver is extremely cirrhotic and maybe about 20% of her liver is functional. On top of that, she has a 1.7 cm lesion in her liver which the team feels is cancer. In addition, she has portal hypertension from the heart having to pump against the brick that is her liver. The portal hypertension is the main cause of fatality during transplant surgery, or post op. BTW, she also has brain damage and hepatic neuropathy due to the high levels of circulating ammonia which is normally metabolized out by the liver. We had to get rid of out poultry because the chickens have a fungus that will kill someone who is immunosuppressed.

After 18 months of testing, scans, blood work, and very aggressive treatment of her portal hypertension, the transplant team decided that she was not a candidate for a transplant. The main reason given is the portal hypertension, which was brought down to an average of 51 cm of water (cut off is 50%). However, they are more concerned about her compliance because she has blown off AA and counseling and they feel she will start drinking again. The portal hypertension was an excuse, and they did not put her on the list.

There are 8000 liver transplants each year in the US and about 100,000 on the waiting list. Concerns about non-compliance are real. While I feel bad about the 15 year old who was denied a heart transplant, I understand the system. It has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with the ability to comply with the very strict regime.

The net is that my wife has a limited lifespan and sometimes over the next week, month, year, or decade, she will die from the results of alcohol abuse, eve though she has not had a drink in about 2 years.