Transplant and Organ DonationOn December 13th, 2018, Quinn was placed on the transplant list for a new heart. This has been a roller coaster of an experience already. She is listed as a 1A, which is the highest on the wait list. I have learned so much about transplant throughout this journey. It has opened my eyes to so many topics such as the need for vaccines (a hot topic right now), the importance of organ donation, and about the whole transplant process.
This is what each step of the process has been like for me: 1. The evaluation. This was a few days of people constantly in our room telling me about what this journey will be like and asking me and my husband a bunch of questions. This was stressful, overwhelming, and scary. I gained so much information during this time that I felt brain dead by the end. 2. The vote. The whole team voted on Quinn’s candidacy several times due to her being too sick to be placed on the transplant list. In between the first vote to the last one where she was placed on the list, she had several surgeries and procedures. This was the most scary time so far because we didn’t know what would happen if she was never healthy enough to be listed. In my heart, I know what would have happened but I was too afraid to ask and too afraid of the answer. Even now, I am unable to type it. When we got the news that she would be listed, I was in Quinn’s room with an awesome nurse. We had a dance party! Quinn cried through the whole dance party but it was an amazing moment. The nurse hugged me as I cried and went through my huge array of emotions. I felt excited, scared, and incredibly sad that another child will lose their life in order for Quinn to have a new, healthy heart. This was the most prominent emotion. 3. The wait. This is where we currently are in the process. So far, it hasn’t been too terrible. I can’t believe I am about to say this, but I think being here for 4 ½ months before being listed helped with the waiting. Though as I write this, we are only 3 weeks in so my feelings may change, but right now I feel content. I was hopeful that through the holidays she would get her heart. She didn’t. While driving down the interstate the other day, I read the sign that give updates on how many motor vehicle deaths there have been in the state. It read zero… I thought, “well that sucks.” That may make me sound like a heartless monster, but having a kid on the transplant list has changed my thinking. I would have never thought that before. I find myself watching the news and hearing stories of kids being in accidents or abused and I think, “that could be Quinn’s heart!” On the other hand, I cried, and I mean I ugly cried, for 45 minutes on Christmas Eve thinking about how this would be some babies last Christmas with its family and next Christmas, the heart will be celebrating with us. Like I said…. Roller coaster. But I want to give a real picture of what this has been like for us. Not the fluffy version. The next steps are to get the heart and then heal. I will update this post when I know what it is like. I have no experience to give, only stuff that someone could google themselves. I know that one year after Quinn gets her heart, we will be able to write a letter to the donor’s family if we chose. We will definitely do this. When I think about what we will write, it feels like an impossible task to express the amount of gratitude that we will have. I already feel so grateful for a decision that some family will make. I cannot express how important it is to consider organ donation. For more information on organ donation please click here. |