My Experience During Wendy’s Liver Transplant - by Ed Roste
It has been almost 11 years to
the day that I discovered my wife lying in bed with her life hanging in the
balance. I will forever remember that
early morning ….
The night before Wendy had been
complaining about feeling sick so I put her to bed in our guest room so she
would have a quiet sleep. I then went
off to our church council meeting.
Returning home later that evening I went to check on her and found she
was sleeping. In our bedroom I noticed a
card on my pillow. It was a Valentine’s
Day card from Wendy in which she said she loved me very much …. It was two days
early which seemed a bit strange … but I thought no further about it and went
to bed alone.
The next morning I got up early
as usual, but before getting ready for work I went into the guest room to see how
Wendy was doing. I noticed a white powdery
substance on top of the bed covers beside her and it was apparent she had
vomited during the night. There was a
strange odor and I had a sense that something was not normal. As I tried to arouse her she was only
responsive enough to tell me “I took some pills”. There was a sudden feeling of panic and horror
that immediately engulfed my heart as I cried out … “God please help me, have
mercy on Wendy, please save her life”. I
frantically ran to the bathroom to check out what she had taken. There I noticed a bottle of Extra Strength
Tylenol that was half empty. I quickly picked
her up in my arms and carried her to the car and drove to the hospital. In my panic I hadn’t noticed that all I was
wearing was shorts and t-shirt (it was February in Saskatchewan)
She was by now seriously ill from
the effects of the overdose and in need of emergency medical treatment. When we arrived at the hospital I was met by a
nurse at the emergency ward who asked me what happened and immediately directed
me to a room where we placed Wendy on a bed.
On call that morning were two of the most experienced doctors in Meadow
Lake, both were believers, one of was a member of our church, a friend, and a fellow
member with me on our church council. He
began attending to Wendy while the other doctor took me into a private room to
ask me details of what occurred and prayed together with me. He explained to me that there was an antidote
available for Tylenol overdoses and that if we were fortunate enough to get it
into Wendy before too much damage was done to her liver the effects were
completely reversible. I could only hope
that this was the case.
Prior to this, Wendy had been
struggling with depression for several weeks and had seen a new doctor to get some anti-depressants in an attempt to
pull her out of the spiral she was in. After sensing little change, she had gone back and the doctor tripled the dose. Unknown to me she experienced serious
side effects from the particular anti-depressant she was prescribed. These included ongoing panic attacks and
suicidal thoughts. All of which she hid
from me in an attempt to avoid placing any burden on me. Wendy was well aware of the stress I was
under with my father having passed away only a few weeks earlier at a time when
I also had to take the company I was managing through a restructuring process …
which meant letting go many people in our small community. Included in those who lost their jobs were close friends of our, people in our church, some in our Bible study group, and some were on the worship team we lead. It was a very painful time, and we both felt devastated by this. To add to this, I was taking my Masters of Business Administration on line.
As Wendy lay in the hospital
emergency room, antidote was fed intravenously into her and multiple tests were
done to see if her liver was responding.
I stayed in the waiting room crying out to God to save her life while
questioning why I had not been able to see her suffering before it got to this
point?
After several hours had passed
the doctor came and told me that Wendy’s liver was not responding as they had
hoped and that she would have to be transferred to Saskatoon’s University Hospital
by air ambulance if there was any hope to save her life. Although he did not offer his opinion, I
could tell by the look on my friend’s face that he was not optimistic about her
prognosis. There "happened" to be an air ambulance close to Meadow Lake, as it had been ordered, cancelled, but then came for Wendy.
My mind raced as I assessed what
I needed to do next. I quickly went home
and began to notify friends and family, packed some clothes, and went to gather
up our youngest two children (Michael and Breanna) from their schools. I called our oldest daughter Jenna (who was
enrolled in the nursing program at the U of A in Edmonton) and explained what
happened and asked her to take a bus to meet us in Saskatoon. I also called my mother who lives in
Saskatoon to ask her to meet Wendy at the hospital when she arrived ahead of
the rest of us.
I went to pick up our children
from their schools. I tried to remain
composed as I did my best to explain to Michael and Breanna what happened to
their mother then we then began the long journey towards Saskatoon. As we drove I encouraged them not to think
badly about their mom, explaining that the medication she had been taking had caused
her to not think clearly. I explained
she still loved us and we prayed as we drove towards the University Hospital in
Saskatoon. During the journey I opened
the glove compartment to look for a Kleenex when I spotted a letter with my
name on it. It was from Wendy saying she
was sorry for what she had done and explaining she wanted to go home to be with
Jesus and that she believed we would be better off without her. I would later find out that she had driven
out into the country where she parked, wrote this note and took the overdose of
pills before coming back home to wait for the consequences to take hold. She had remembered promising Breanna she would pick her up after school.
As I read her letter to us it
would have been very easy to feel completely abandoned by God. However, that was not how it felt. I felt a sadness for my wife and felt deep
compassion for her. I was concerned
about her spiritual condition. But my
faith refused to entertain the possibility that God abandoned her. He promised never to leave us or forsake us
and in every circumstance to not allow us to be tempted beyond what we could
bare but to provide a way of escape. So,
I continued to cry out to God asking for His mercy for Wendy … I did not know
it at the time but over the next several months I would need to be in an almost
constant state of prayer and my faith would be tested over and over again.
When we arrived at the University
Hospital we found Wendy lying in a bed in the emergency ward. Doctors and nurses were performing tests
checking Wendy’s liver functions. My
mother was there sitting beside her bed obviously very concerned. Wendy was awake and responsive. She looked at us with a sad look and then
hugged the kids and told them she loved them, they asked her why she wanted to
die? As in her note she restated that
she felt she was not a good mother and that we would be better off without her
and she just wanted to go to be with Jesus.
Because she was still in a depressed state of mind I am not sure our
strong objections meant much to her at that point.
I recall one of the attending
doctors in the emergency ward was particularly blunt in her assessment as she
spoke to Wendy with a certain coldness and matter-of-fact style … “Do you know
what you’ve done? You are going to need a liver transplant or you are going to
die!”
Wendy was moved out of emergency to
one of the ward rooms for further monitoring.
During this time several of our close friends had arrived as had our
oldest daughter from Edmonton. We all
gathered around to express our love to Wendy and pray with her. However, we could tell that she was starting
to fail and her body was starting to shut down.
She was very tired and sleepy and some of her comments were not making
sense. Nurses were testing her by asking
her questions like what the names of our children were. It was sad to see her having to pause to
think about her own children’s names.
It was during this time the liver
specialist called me aside and began to explain to me that Wendy’s only chance
of survival was to get a liver transplant.
However, he explained that there was no liver transplant program in
Saskatchewan and her chances of getting into any of the seven hospitals in
Canada that performed transplants was very slim as they did not accept patients
who intentionally destroyed their liver through suicide attempts. He continued to explain that the University
Hospital in Edmonton is the only place in Canada that accepts patients on
compassionate grounds, but that did not happen very often because there are
many people waiting to get onto the transplant list who would qualify first. He said liver transplants cost over $250,000
each and that requires them to make very difficult choices about who gets
accepted. He also said that even if she was
admitted into U of A Hospital the chances of finding a liver as quickly as
Wendy would need one was extremely low.
He said I should prepare myself and our children for the likelihood
Wendy was going to die. I can still hear
those haunting words, the sense of hopelessness and despair. Yet somehow I still felt God’s presence
through the darkness.
He said all he could do at this
point was to make some calls and try to get Wendy transferred to Edmonton’s liver
transplant program. I thanked him and
asked him to do his best. I turned to
our children and tried to put on a brave face as I explained the situation. We began to pray that God would open a way
for Wendy to get into the Edmonton liver transplant program.
My faith was stretched to the
breaking point as I watched Wendy drift from being fully conscious into a
coma. Over the course of the day her
speech began to slur and become incoherent, she lost control of body movements,
her eyes began to show signs of yellowing and she eventually drifted off into
unconsciousness.
Breanna and Michael were taken to
my mother’s apartment by friends to eat and get some sleep while the hospital
staff allowed Jenna to crawl into bed with her mother and spend the night next
to her. She lay there all night praying
for her mom who slowly became non-responsive … Jenna knew this may be the last
act of love she could show to the woman who gave her life. It was heart breaking to think that the woman
I love might spend her last moments of life with her daughter clinging to her
in love … but it would take God’s love to overcome the power of death that
had a grip on Wendy.
Not long after our previous
discussion the doctor returned and explained to me that his request to transfer
Wendy to Edmonton had been denied because their transplant program was already
full. I felt sick to my stomach. In desperation I asked if I could drive her
to Edmonton. He said she would not
survive the trip in a car without life support.
He said there was one last way to get her to the U of A Hospital and
that was to put her in the ICU at the U of S Hospital and then have her transferred
to the ICU at the U of A Hospital. He
explained that there were protocols in place where hospitals could not refuse
inter-hospital transfers between ICU’s. I
felt a small ray of hope and asked him to please do this. He emphasized that this still did not mean
she would be accepted into the transplant program but that at least she would
be in the U of A Hospital in Edmonton where the staff there could directly
consider her suitability for acceptance into the transplant program. I thanked him and allowed a small amount of
hope into my heart once again.
When the transfer plans were
finalized I was told Wendy would be flown to Edmonton by air ambulance and that
I could go along with her. I phoned and
told my mother and children the good news.
A friend volunteered to drive our car with my mother and our children to
Edmonton so that I could stay behind to ride along on the plane with
Wendy. So, my family headed off to
Edmonton while I stayed and waited for the ambulance.
By now our pastor and his wife
had arrived from Meadow Lake and were there to pray along with me. He told me that the church was organizing a
24hour prayer vigil for Wendy and the word was spreading to other prayer chains. Little did I know that churches as far away
as New Zealand, Australia, and England would come on board to uphold Wendy and
our family with their prayers in the days to come.
As I waited for the air ambulance
to be organized I went into the ICU to see Wendy and to lay hands on her and pray. By now she was in a coma and I did not know
if she could hear anything I said as I told her I loved her. I then went back to the waiting room and
continued to pray and cry out to God to show mercy on Wendy and find a way to
get her on the transplant list. The
Women’s Pastor from our church and her husband also arrived and came along side
me as we prayed as I waited for the air ambulance. Finally the call came that the ambulance was
ready to take Wendy to Edmonton. I could
hardly believe it when I was told that I could not go along in the plane. One of the attendants told me he was puzzled
why I was told I could go along because this was not allowed and had not been
done before. How was I to get to
Edmonton? By now I had already been up
for two full days without sleep. I was
too exhausted to rent a car and drive myself.
At that moment our pastor volunteered to drive the five our journey
through the night to Edmonton. I was so
thankful and relieved. We stayed awake
the whole time talking and praying as we drove.
During the drive I had time to reflect on the past couple days and felt a
deep sadness that I had let Wendy down.
How could I have not seen her pain?
Was I partly to blame for what she was feeling? What if I had taken more time to talk with
her as I put her to bed the night before?
Maybe she would have said something sooner and we could have got her the
antidote in time?
When we arrived in Edmonton it
was around 5am. Our kids, my mother and
an ever growing list of Wendy’s immediate family had come to the hospital from
around Alberta. However, Wendy had just
arrived minutes before we did. Our
growing crowd of supporters gathered with us in the ICU waiting room and we
began a non-stop prayer vigil to seek God’s mercy to heal Wendy. Friends and family volunteered to take turns
around the clock to stay in the waiting room and pray. Although no one seemed to mind, I am not sure
how the hospital staff felt about our turning the ICU waiting room into our
prayer center?
Shortly after we arrived two
ladies came to see me and asked if I would accompany them to a private room
where we could talk. They introduced
themselves as a Social Worker and the Liver Transplant Coordinator. They began to interview me and ask questions
about Wendy and our family. Did she have
a history of suicide attempts? How was
our marriage? How often did she
experience depression? Did she drink or
use any drugs? How would she feel if she
receives a liver transplant? Would she
have the support she needs afterwards? The
questions were many. After they finished
with me they asked to speak with each of our children.
When they had asked enough
questions, they gathered us all together again in the private room and explained
that they were going to decide if Wendy would be put on the transplant
list. They said they would let us know shortly
and left. We went back to the waiting
room and explained what had happened.
Our rather large prayer group now began to pray that they would decide
to put Wendy on the transplant list.
An hour or so later, the Social
Worker and Transplant Coordinator came back and asked if the children and I
would join them again in the private room.
They told us that they decided to put Wendy on the list and that she had
been given the No.1 priority in all of Canada.
This meant that any liver that came available anywhere in Canada and was
a match for her would be made available to her for a transplant. However, they cautioned the likelihood of
finding a liver was still very slim. The
average wait even for those at the very top of the list was between two to nine
weeks, the average wait for anyone else was over 9 months. She continued … “and Wendy has only about two
days left before she will die”. Nevertheless, for the first time in over two
days my heart dared to hope. God had
come through and answered a huge prayer … surely now God would find her a liver?!
I went back to the waiting room and told
our friends and family the amazing news.
We rejoiced and thanked God for answering our prayers. Our faith had been tested and God had come
through … now for the biggest test of all … we needed to believe and pray that
a liver would be made available.
At this point I had not slept for
almost three days. So, my oldest
daughter and I decided to go to her dorm room a short walk from the hospital and
get some sleep. The fact that Jenna was
a student in the U of A was convenient for us at that moment. As we got ready to lay down for a sleep, we
prayed together and Jenna said … “Dad, I believe God has given me a word of
scripture for Mom … and she proceeded to read from Isaiah 54 vs 7&8 … “for a
brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my
face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says
the Lord your Redeemer”. I said to Jenna that is a beautiful thought. It did seem that God had turned His back on
Wendy for a brief moment … but I know He loves her and we must trust that He
will have compassion and restore her.
We prayed again and as we lay our
heads down and were about to go to sleep … suddenly the phone rang. Jenna answered and it was our pastor. He told her … “They have found a liver, it is
in Montreal, it is a perfect match and they are flying it out right now. They have scheduled Wendy to go into surgery
for a transplant around 4 am”. It had
been only 4 hours from the time the
Transplant Coordinator had told us it could take up to 9 weeks to find a liver. More importantly it was only a couple minutes
since God gave Jenna a promise from the scripture for her Mom. We rejoiced, we cried, we thanked God for His
mercy and faithfulness … then we slept.
We slept well and were up and
over to the hospital before 4 am so we could gather with friends and family to
pray for Wendy as she went into surgery.
We were told the surgery could take as long as 8 hours depending on how
things went. As we prayed we saw Wendy
being wheeled by the waiting room by a surgical team on her way to the
operating room. As I looked out the
window to see my wife connected to many tubes and a ventilator to help her
breath … I wondered to myself … would I ever see her alive again? My heart skipped a beat … as I contemplated
the possibilities. There was a sense of
darkness as I watched her disappear down the hallway. I have to believe … I told myself! Now was not the time to allow fear and doubt
to take over. God would not have brought
us this far only to let her die!
Hours passed as the surgery
proceeded. Our family and friends took
turns praying, and sharing our memories of Wendy. The time seemed to stretch on. It was hard not to fear as the time came and
went when we expected Wendy to be done her surgery. Finally after about 6 hours we saw Wendy
being wheeled back down the hallway and past the waiting room windows into the
ICU. As she passed by one of the nurses accompanying
her looked directly at me, smiled, and gave me a thumbs up signal. My heart jumped for joy as I knew that she
was telling me that the operation had gone well … she was alive. She was born
again, given a new chance at life! God’s
love is amazing. His mercy is more than
we can ever deserve.
The following day, I was able to
meet with the doctor on call for the ICU and the transplant specialist who did
the transplant surgery. They explained some
of the issues that Wendy was facing. I
was told that because she was so sick when she received her transplant it would
take longer for her to recover. The liver controls many body functions such as
the blood clotting mechanism and immune system.
Wendy had experienced a lot of internal bleeding in many of her internal
organs. The doctors were particularly
concerned that there may have been any damage to her brain? Immediately after the transplant a cat scans showed
massive bleeding on her brain. They
warned me that it would take a week or more before she would be brought out of
her coma. Only then would we be able to
tell if her brain had suffered any permanent damage. If it had, they warned … she may be a
vegetable and spend the rest of her life requiring medical support to live. I was told I needed to prepare for that
possibility. Her kidneys had completely
shut down and her blood was being cleaned via a continuous hemo-dialysis
machine. Her pancreas had stopped
producing insulin and she was now diabetic requiring intravenous insulin. In
addition, her immune system had collapsed and she had contracted several
infections including a bacterial infection of her blood and a yeast infection
for which she was receiving three different antibiotics simultaneously
(including Vancomycn the strongest available).
She was unable to breath on her own and required a ventilation machine. She was being fed and provided fluids and
electrolytes intravenously. I counted 17
different tubes running into and out of her body. She was also connected to all kinds of
sensors (including heart rate, oxygen, and blood pressure) and she had a
dedicated nurse monitoring her progress 24 hours a day in ICU.
For the first few days after her
transplant we were only allowed in one at a time to see her. She was completely unable to respond to our
presence. Still we could hold her hand
and pray. One by one our family and
friends went in to see her. We talked,
prayed, and sang to her in the hopes she could hear us … even if only in her
spirit.
I continued to get updates from
the ICU doctors on a regular basis and a few days after the transplant one of
the doctors called our family into a private room and began to explain Wendy’s
status. He went over all the things we
already had heard … then he proceeded to explain that it was his opinion that
she only had a 50% chance of survival at this point. He also said he felt she would likely have
brain damage even if she lived. They had
done a CAT scan that showed there had been a lot of bleeding on her brain which
was usually an indication that some permanent damage was likely to have
occurred. That briefing left me feeling
particularly anxious and discouraged.
After all we had been through it was hard to accept that God would allow
Wendy to not fully recover. It was
clearly prayer time once again.
My mother volunteered to stay
with Michael and Breanna at our home in Meadow Lake so they could continue with
their school. There was nothing left to
do in Edmonton but pray and wait. So, I
drove them back to Meadow Lake and returned to Edmonton the next day. The company I worked for was extremely
understanding and helpful. The owner’s
daughter found me an apartment right across the street from the main entrance
to the hospital and the company picked up the entire $1600 per month fee. It was fully furnished and allowed me to do
some of my own cooking and get the rest I needed all the while being only a few
hundred feet from the hospital. Again
God was making His loving care and provision at our disposal.
When I returned to Edmonton, I met
with the liver transplant coordinator.
She informed me that Wendy would require expensive anti-rejection drugs
for the rest of her life to prevent rejection of the liver. She was put on a
brand new anti-rejection drug protocol that combined one older drug
(tacrolimus) and one experimental drug (sirolimus). This combination was supposed to reduce side
effects. Wendy had developed anemia and
required blood transfusions. After
release she would also require a drug called Eprex to stimulate blood cell
development from her bone marrow. These
medications were very expensive and I was warned that the cost of medications
during the first year could be as high as $7000 per month. She asked me if I was prepared financially to
cover the drug costs? That was the least
of my worries at that point as I was more concerned for Wendy’s full recovery
and I would gladly pay any cost to keep her alive. Fortunately, the company I worked for had a
drug coverage plan that accepted 100% of the drug cost (where most cover only
50%). God again was watching over us. The coordinator also made me promise that I
would ensure Wendy would regularly see a psychiatrist to ensure she received
the counseling she would need so that nothing would ever put her life in
jeopardy again. That was a promise that
I gladly agreed to.
As the first few days went by in
the ICU, Wendy’s new liver finally started to show signs that it was responding
positively to being in Wendy’s body. Her
liver enzymes were starting to slowly reduce, her blood was showing signs the
clotting function was responding and internal bleeding had stopped. Her infections were beginning to
improve. It was a slow process but there
was reason to be optimistic.
However, the next few days Wendy
experienced a setback. I came in one
morning early to find that Wendy was having a panic attack even while she was
in a coma? That seemed very
strange? She was in a coma, how could
this happen? The hospital psychiatrist
was there when I arrived. She asked me
if Wendy had ever panic attacks before.
I said no she never had any panic attacks that I was aware of? I would later learn that she had been having
panic attacks that started shortly after being prescribed the anti-depressant
medication by the doctor in Meadow Lake.
During the panic attacks Wendy’s heart rate and blood pressure would
jump dramatically. I was told this could
be very dangerous for her in her fragile state.
So, the psychiatrist put Wendy on an anti-anxiety medication (called
Haldol) intravenously which immediately stopped the attacks from occurring. I couldn’t help but wonder was this a symptom
that there had been some brain damage?
Fear started to creep in once again … it was again time to pray.
Fortunately, our prayer channels
had remained in place and I could phone our church and relatives to get people
praying for Wendy as needs arose. I could
literally feel the prayers of people ascending before God. At times I could sense God’s peace that
passes all understanding envelope me even though things looked discouraging. I received letters from churches in far off locations
from people I did not even know. Pastors
from different city churches in Edmonton somehow heard about Wendy and came in
to pray for her. I was very encouraged
by the feeling of being upheld by the body of Christ. Some day in eternity it will become apparent
how much of a difference the prayers of the saints made to cause God to
intervene in Wendy’s desperate situation.
For now I am convinced it made all the difference between life and
death. Did God not stop Wendy from taking
the overdose … knowing that He would show His power in saving her at the last
moment? All I know is that God came
through for us when we needed it the most.
She had her new liver …. Now, all we needed to get Wendy back to health!
Several more days passed by and Wendy
had now been in the ICU for almost 10 days.
I went back to Meadow Lake and picked up our children to bring them for
a visit to see their mom. When we came
back it was time to bring Wendy out of her induced coma. One by one we went in to see her having been
warned that her eyes looked pretty bad.
The failure of her liver had cause bleeding in her eyes and the whites
were completely red with congealed blood.
We were ecstatic to find out that she recognized us. That gave me hope that perhaps there was not
serious brain damage. We could tell she
recognized us when she responded by opening her eyes wide as we entered the
room and then squeezing our hands in response to our questions. She was only allowed to have visitors for a
very short period so that she would not get tired or agitated and start pulling
out tubes. We were told that was common
with patients due to the fact that they are very uncomfortable when they come
out of a coma. Many family and friends
came to see Wendy while she was in the ICU.
She still was using a breathing tube and was unable to speak. However, she recognized all her visitors
which continued to give hope that there was minimal brain damage.
Wendy remained in the ICU for 22
days after her transplant. One morning
about two weeks after her transplant I came to see her around 8am as I usually
did. Two nurses were standing talking as
I approached the ICU room where Wendy was staying. That morning they had given Wendy a clipboard
to write on as she was still intubated with a breathing tube. The clip board allowed her to communicate and
was a good opportunity to understand more about the status of her brain. I asked the nurses how she was doing. There was a certain look of concern on their
faces as one of them said … “She is writing some strange things. She believes she left the hospital
yesterday?” I was a little concerned as
I went in to see her. I asked her how
she was doing and she wrote on her clip board …”The boss of the hospital said I
can leave today”. She continued writing
on her clipboard that she had also been to visit the home of the “boss of the
hospital” and that he had two kids and lived across the street. I was not sure whether to be concerned that
these writings were a sign of brain damage, or whether her dreams were a sign
of healthy brain activity? She was
writing (albeit barely legible) which showed she had hand eye coordination and
she had an imagination. Fortunately, in
the days ahead her writings seemed to make more and more sense and her hand
writing improved. It seemed to me that
she was going to be OK.
The time came for her to have her
have the breathing tube removed. She had
developed an esophageal ulcer and her vocal cords were damaged. She needed time to allow her throat to
heal. She was not allowed to drink for
several days as there was a risk of getting water into her lungs and causing
pneumonia. She was still very weak and
had to spend most of her time sleeping.
However, the nurses would wake her to move her around and have her sit
up so she would not get a build up of fluid in her lungs. She did not like this and often complained to
me that the nurses would wake her up from her sleep. I would try to show empathy to her … but then
I would tell the nurses “Good job, thanks for all your care and attention to my
wife”.
The doctors continued to do
batteries of tests on Wendy while she remained in the ICU. A colonoscopy discovered that she had
developed several ulcers and was bleeding internally. This was another result of the liver failure
… so another medication was added to the list of 9 or 10 she was being
administered.
March 9 th arrived and Wendy was
to be moved from the ICU to the liver transplant ward. She would be the first patient on the newly
opened ward at the University Hospital.
I was amazed when she was the only one there for the first two days. So, with two nurses she got very good
attention. Wendy’s vocal cords were
starting to heal from the removal of the breathing tube. So, I was able to start having conversations
with her. During her first day in the
ward I happened to mention to her that while she was in the ICU she developed
an allergy to the drug Heparin. Heparin
is used to prevent blood clots in patients who spend many days attached to IV
tubing. However, in a few cases people
can develop an allergy to Heparin and it actually has the opposite effect. Wendy had developed a blood clot in her lower
right leg due to this allergy. I was
told that she could never again have Heparin in her life or it could cause a life
threatening blood clot. So Wendy was
put on an alternative drug to prevent clotting.
God must have prompted me to mention this to Wendy that day as during
that same night a new nurse came onto the ward and came in Wendy’s room that
night to give her medications. As she
was about to give Wendy a needle, Wendy asked what it was. The nurse replied “Oh it is a drug called
Heparin”. Wendy responded “My husband
said I am not allowed to have this drug”.
The nurse looked puzzled and said " I didn’t see anything in your
records". As Wendy was insistant, she went back and took a
look at Wendy’s charts (by now a three ring binder full of pages). Moments later she came back in and said she
was sorry … in the very front page of Wendy’s chart was a page that said “No
Heparin, Allergy”. I was amazed the next
morning when I heard of that event. God
had prompted me to mention that detail to Wendy the day before, and He had also
prompted Wendy to be awake during the middle of the night when the nurse came
into her room!
Unfortunately, only five days
after being put in the transplant ward Wendy developed pneumonia and had to be
re-admitted to the ICU. With her liver
and body still adjusting to the transplant and now having major problems
breathing, the doctors decided the ICU was the best place for her. The following Sunday morning I was feeling a
bit discouraged with the set-back. I
came to visit Wendy at the hospital before heading off to church. When I entered the ICU I noticed the nurse
was very concerned as she looked at Wendy’s monitors. Wendy’s was sleeping at the time but her
blood pressure had sky-rocketed to a dangerous level of 220/140. At that level Wendy was at risk of having a
stroke if her blood pressure could not be brought down. The nurse seemed puzzled as to what was
causing the spike in her blood pressure.
I decided there was nothing I could do but pray. So, I went off to worship the church where
some friends were regular attenders.
During the service I felt a very heavy heart for Wendy. As the worship team sang one of my favorite
songs “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”, I felt the Holy Spirit comfort me
that Wendy was going to be fine. It was
communion Sunday and I took the opportunity to go into the chapel to pray with
our friends after taking communion. We
prayed for Wendy and asked God to heal her.
After we finished praying I knew in my heart that Wendy would be
fine. I rushed back to the hospital to
see Wendy. When I entered the ICU, Wendy
was sitting up awake and alert. Her
blood pressure had dropped dramatically to 120/70 and was completely
normal. God had answered yet another
prayer for Wendy.
Wendy continued in the ICU for
another few days and steadily improved.
She was returned to the transplant ward after five days where her health
continued to improve gradually. She
spent another three weeks in the hospital during which time she adjusted to her
medications and healed from her ulcers. Eventually she was allowed to go out on day
trips to my apartment. Finally on March
31st six weeks after her liver transplant Wendy was discharged from
the hospital. She stayed with me at the
apartment and over the next few weeks she continued to receive daily
physiotherapy, rebuilding muscle she lost during her many weeks in bed and learning to walk again.
Finally in late April Wendy
completed her rehabilitation and was allowed to return home to Meadow Lake. When
she arrived she was greeted with a tree on our front lawn covered in yellow
ribbons. Many friends in Meadow Lake had
written their thoughts of love and encouragement on ribbons and hung them on
the large spruce tree in front of our house.
There were hundreds of ribbons decorating the tree. Wendy was greatly encouraged by the love
shown by so many.
It has been almost eleven years
since Wendy received a second chance at life.
In the years since her liver transplant, Wendy has remained healthy and
has not experienced any issues with her transplanted liver. In fact, the doctors say her liver tests
show completely normal functioning and she has been called their star
patient. Shortly after her transplant
Wendy was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and was given lithium to prevent extreme mood swings. At present, she isn't needing an
antidepressant medication, but has monthly blood tests to help prevent any recurrence of depression plus monitor her liver enzymes, etc. God has been able to use Wendy and her
experience to help many women who also suffer from depression or forms of
mental illness. She has led support
groups for women suffering from depression, shared her testimony numerous times
and been able to help many through her witness to God’s grace and mercy.
When I look back today and
remember how I felt so helpless and abandoned, I can now say with certainty
that I am forever grateful God is a God of great love, showing mercy even when
we don’t deserve it. Wendy life is a
testimony to the fact that He can rescue us from even the most desperate and
darkest of circumstances. In the end, we
all need rescue from death and Wendy simply had the opportunity to have that
happen twice. All praise to God who
conquered death and rescued us from the Kingdom of Darkness and transferred us
to the Kingdom of His beloved Son. Amen.
