Ethics

Next up:  Team Liver

For the most part it was a visit to get all of us back in touch and on the same page again.  The last two years I’ve been followed by the “cancer” people and haven’t had much contact with my liver docs.  My transplant coordinator retired a few months ago so I will be getting a new coordinator in the next few weeks.  Sharon, I will miss you, to say the least.

Dr. Poterucha is my liver doc, and has been with me since 1994.  He was the one that told me back then that I would need a liver transplant and has taken care of me ever since.  Again, last week he delivered the news to me.  At some point, I’m going to need another transplant…..not that this is new or shocking, just a bit more of reality.  I don’t believe that the Mayo has ever done a 2nd liver transplant on a patient who has had Post Transplant Lymphoma, because a recurrence of lymphoma is much higher due to the higher doses of anti-rejection medication that I would need to take immediately following the transplant.  This is now an ethical issue.  Meaning that they don’t want to give a good liver to someone who is a high risk to have cancer return and not survive anyway.

However, Dr. Poterucha indicated (in this specific situation as it relates to me as a patient) that he and my surgeon would be aggressive.  They would fight for me to do all they can to get me another liver because I have been a “model patient”.  Basically, they would present my case to the organ transplant committee and fight for me to get a new liver when that time comes.

My obsession with video creation lives on!  So here is a link to a quick clip that I put together that highlights the last 6 years of my life.

If the above link doesn’t work you can visit http://www.youtube.com/lombardvideopro

Thanks for checkin’ in,

Mike

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~ by Mike on March 6, 2011.