voice tells me I forgot my keys or some- thing. This was different. A couple of months later, we
A Living Donor Story: 10 Years After
by Dan Martinsen T
his is a story of family and faith— about positivity in the face of adversity. It is about two “war-
rior angels”: my wife, Doreen Schmidt Martinsen, and my sister-in-law, Kelly McGrath Martinsen. It is, sadly, also about our country’s continued failure to respond to the acute need for registered organ donors. And it is the story of the amazing Drs. Jean Emond and Robert Brown and their teams at the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital who, 10 years ago this month, conducted their first living donor liver transplant surgery on a cancer patient to save his life (while Columbia had done hundreds of living donor liver transplants for progressive liver diseases, the hospi- tal had never before used a living donor for a patient with cholangiocarcinoma). That patient was my younger brother, Kevin, and I was his living donor. At shortly after 6 a.m., May 24, 2007, we were gathered in the opera- tion prep area. There, Kevin and I stood, totally “rocking” our blue-green hospital
32 Long Island Edition
gowns and tan, no-slip socks, both with an intravenous (IV) poll at our side. Kevin walked into the operating room for an exploratory procedure to check for can- cer cells. If he were cancer-free, I would follow and our living donor transplant operation would proceed. However, if any cancer was detected, they would be forced to stop and pursue “other op- tions.” Ninety minutes later, his sur- geon appeared, dropped her mask and revealed a smile. No cancer cells! After hugs with my wife and family, in I went. Earlier that year, Kevin was diag- nosed with PSC (primary sclerosing cholangitis), a fairly rare liver disease. I vividly remember when we first talked about it: We were driving home from a New York Giants football game and he casually mentioned it. At the time, he was told it was in its very early stages and he might need a transplant way down the road. But in that moment while driving, one of those unexplain- able silent voices went off in my head and said, “He will need a transplant, and you should get ready.” Usually, that
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received news that paralyzed our fam- ily. Kevin tested positive for bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma), which is particularly virulent, with low sur- vival rates. Fortunately, the cancer was detected very early and provided the opportunity for what was then a brand new approach: treat and kill the cancer cells with radiation and chemotherapy, and then replace the liver and common bile duct via transplant as soon as pos- sible. But because Kevin was far down the organ waiting list due to the relative health of his liver, the cancer would have spread well before he would receive a cadaver liver. His doctors sug- gested the living donor option. Kevin had the radiation and chemo but initially refused to allow us to be a living donor and was pursuing other op- tions. Precious time was passing. Doreen then took charge and kicked our family in the ass. She fixed her electric blue eyes on me one night and said: “You guys have to snap out of it and stop wait- ing for Kevin to make a decision! We have to convince him to let one of us be the donor. This is real and we need to move fast!” Our family had never been faced with a true crisis before. But Do- reen had, and her life experience gave her the strength to push us all forward. Kevin finally relented, and I was
tested first. The next month included physical and psychological tests to en- sure we were a match and that Doreen and I fully understood what we were doing—the risks, etc. Doreen and I were repeatedly told that this procedure was “out of the box.” We would always respond: “Do you have any better ideas? No? Okay, let’s stop talking and go.” We had three kids, a house, jobs, etc., and Doreen did not waver for a second. We told our kids, all teenagers at the time, that their uncle needed a liver transplant and I was able to help him. Just like their mom, they were behind it 100 percent. Going into surgery, I remember asking the team to do a good job, add- ing that while they were at it to feel free to make any improvements they saw fit. I got a rare laugh, and seconds later, I was asleep. Outside, Doreen, Kelly and our parents, then 71, waited 14 hours.
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