transplant

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It’s All Good!

A week ago I wrote about our good friend who received an organ transplant. Much has happened since then, so I thought I should share the good news that God is amazing (just in case you hadn’t realized that yet).

Due to a series of delays, surgery didn’t begin until 27 hours after the phone call came alerting us to the possibility of a compatible donor. By the time the doctor finished at half past midnight, he (and we) had been up over 24 hours. (The same surgeon also removed the organs from the donor and accompanied them to Denver.) Finally, at 2:30 a.m. we were allowed to stop briefly in the ICU where our friend was somewhat awake and obviously in significant pain.

The next 48 hours were a struggle to find a balance between the much-needed pain medications and their side effects (primarily nausea). In addition, a nasal tube was causing gagging, intensifying the misery. Friends, family members, and others prayed earnestly for God to intervene. Things were so bad, an extra night in the ICU was added.

And then…

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Transplant

As I write this Thursday morning, one of our closest friends is being prepped for transplant surgery. After only eight weeks on a waiting list, the call came that somewhere in Colorado a young man had been critically injured in a car accident. He had signed a donor card and was a good match. What had until now been a theoretical, someday possibility suddenly became, “Let’s go, this is real!”

After talking to the transplant coordinator, our friend’s first reaction was to earnestly pray for the donor and his family. After all, we know from firsthand experience that God can bring to life even the dead, and this man was not dead yet. Our friend was more than willing to wait, should God choose to heal him. But an few hours later came another call—there was no brain function and the doctors were taking the man off life support.

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