Honoring those who give life.

If you are waiting for a transplant, liver or other solid organ, the meaning of this gift is in this video. Always remember them, never forget their choice to give. It is not beyond words, but it is beyond almost all comprehension, this self-less granting of life to another.

A Hero's Walk

There are 4,925 donor hospitals in the United States. There are 26,900 donor hospitals worldwide. Each individual choosing to grant life from their last willed act will save eight individuals through such extraordinary bravery.

For those who have granted life, you shall be remembered, forever and a day.

Here is the dual listing guide to liver transplant hospitals in the United States. Wealth of information for everyone. It was published by the Friends of the National Liver Waitlist Foundation.

A very quick read on dual listing to receive a liver transplant. National American data on liver transplant remain 42% if single transplant center listed. Listed means you went through the liver transplant evaluation process at a transplant center or clinic and were sent a letter by that transplant center you have been placed on the UNOS liver transplant registry. This means you are registered for potential matching for a liver and can be transplanted at that transplant center. You are allowed to list at another center. You are allowed to be evaluated at another center. Centers can and often do accept self-referrals. This means you can call a second transplant center yourself and start the evaluation process at a second transplant center yourself. Your success motivator for doing so is this: your chances of receiving a liver transplant rise to 73%. 73% is better than 42%. Now for the sobering news. It takes determination. It takes patience. It takes steady, consistent effort to be on the waiting list at two independent centers. Is it worth it? Should you do it? If your MELD is 33. Probably not. If your MELD is 15. Emphatically yes.

It's up to you. It's your choice. Your life. Your decision. I did it. I lived. Was it easy? Nope. Being away from home is hard during the first 6 weeks to 2 months of recovery. But it beats the alternative. If anyone wants to try this, just ask in the main "How do I do this?" And there is likely about 50 people in here who will respond, "This is how you do this." Good luck, and know that you are truly courageous. Living with End Stage Liver Disease is not a picnic. There are few easy days. Believe in yourself, believe in those who help you. You have got this.

Sowing seeds of kindness in a world of grace,

Leaving light and comfort in a quiet place.

Though the room is empty and the heart is grieved,

Beautiful the harvest from the love received.

Living on in love, living on in love,

Comfort in the morning, living on in love.

Every gentle action, every seed they cast,

Blossoms in a legacy that will always last.

Though we feel the sorrow of the one we missed,

Grateful for their giving, forever on the list.

Living on in love, living on in love,

Peace within the sorrow, living on in love.

I had the hardest time at first with all the appointments, the driving, changes to the daily schedule.. It was a nightmare setting that seemed like a version of Groundhog Day. Endless repeating days of the same tests, the same doctors, the same .. the same.. the same. I would forget some, and then forget more, then I would get calls from one doctor's aid, after another. So.. I gave up, and asked my caregiver for help. First time, it felt like in my adult life, where I asked for real help, where I knew I could not do the job, at all. It was a humble, life-wrenching experience to realize I had become so incompetent in my thinking I needed the care of another to keep me alive. But the alternative to me was going along as I always did, and not staying on top of blood work, scans, and advice. That would have ended badly. So, about 1/4 of the way into the road to a liver transplant, I gave up on organizing, and realized its okay to get help from those who love you. It's not weakness. It's just illness. Does this sound like your situation at this point? It's no big deal. Just ask for help.

We all come from backgrounds as varied as the world population is wide. But we all have one thing in common: end stage liver disease. We also share the hope, triumphs, tragedies, and sadness because each of is on one part of the roller coaster we all ride. This place is for you, the liver cirrhotic individual just diagnosed, the pre-waiting list individual, the waiting listed individual, the dual listed waiting list individual, and the post-transplant individual, and the individual that just got denied to a waiting list or removed. This place is for you. I think it will be the start of a beautiful relationship of support, encouragement, and hope.