Mine is a story of miracles.

I was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis due to hepatitis C. The treatments were harsh and after eight months I became too ill to go on. I needed a liver transplant, but the hepatitis C had to be treated first. I was added to the transplant list. After a second round of treatments, I grew sicker and had to close my business. I went to Dallas to be evaluated as a transplant candidate.

The news was bad. I had three tumors on each side of my liver—too many for a transplant. The tumors would have to be treated with radiation seeds. In March, doctors mapped my liver and ordered the seeds. On the night I returned from Dallas, I was rushed to BSA with a seizure due to a clot in my sinus cavity, that caused a stroke. How was I alive? The cancer caused blood clotting; liver failure caused the blood to thin.

Radiation was postponed until the clot in my brain dissolved. Then in May, with the clot under control, I went back to Baylor to have the seeds placed. Again on return to Amarillo I grew ill. My blood chemistry was no longer regulated. My mind was confused; I was unable to be alone or drive. Lifting small things could cause a hemorrhage. For one who had always been independent, this was a struggle.

In October, I was rushed to the hospital vomiting blood—lots of blood. Veins in my esophagus were rupturing. The gift of blood saved me, but getting the transplant was imperative. My wife and I left the hospital, drove to the airport and went to Dallas to wait. We prayed. We knew a family would be grieving when the call came, so we prayed for them, too.

Again a setback! Just before Thanksgiving I was hospitalized with kidney failure. The gift of blood saved me once more. When a liver was finally available, doctors
found my sodium levels were too high for the transplant. So, I waited.

On December 9, another liver was available, but I began throwing up blood! I feared I would lose this chance, but the doctors encouraged me. Again blood donors offered me ife. Surgery lasted 12 hours. I was kept alive by machines and the generosity of blood donors. I began bleeding from my GI tube and I was rushed back to surgery. The artery supplying blood to the new liver was blocked and needed repair. The liver was damaged when the blood supply stopped. I needed another transplant. My life endured the heartbreak of having me on machines in an induced coma.

On Christmas, I came off the ventilator. What a gift! For the first time since December 9, I could talk. Not much of it made sense, but I could talk. Again a setback—infection set in. All my lines were replaced and I was treated with infection-fighting drugs. My kidneys worsened; there was talk that I might need a kidney transplant too. I received daily blood transfusions! I know the importance of blood donation!

On January 8, God had answered our prayers. A family, grieving the loss of their 18-year old son, donated his liver. It was a perfect match. I will never be able to thank them for their courageous act or all the people who saved my life through blood donation. I wear a band that says “Life: live it then give it.”

On Valentine’s Day, 2008, after 65 days in the hospital, I went home. Because of muscle loss, I had to learn to walk all over again. With time, love, and the hard work and care of amazing people, I am doing as that armband says and living life. Mine is a story of miracles. Thank you for the gift of life!