John and Christine: Post-Op Update

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Post-Op Update

6 comments:

Jim N. said...: GREAT news!!!; August 15, 2008 at 12:18 AM
mtamanai said...: Dear Alicia,

Many thanks for the great news! I am soooo happy to hear it.; August 15, 2008 at 4:34 AM
McGuire said...: That's AWESOME. Thanks for the update, Alicia!; August 15, 2008 at 8:54 AM
Brent Stanton said...: Great to hear!! We've all been thinking of you!! And thanks to Alicia. Love, The Stantons (Brent, Deb, Jack and Olivia); August 15, 2008 at 9:08 AM
Morrissey said...: Thanks alicia!! This is good news and we are so glad to hear that john and christine are doing well! Keep everyone updated! :); August 15, 2008 at 9:13 AM
mkakimoto said...: Hi Alicia,

Thank you for the update and good news! I am John's colleague from UNICEF and I had tried contacting you at the number listed on the blog...but it doesn't seem to work. Could you kindly let me know your correct number? Our team is wondering when he may be out of the ICU. My email: mkakimoto@unicef.org or phone: 212-824-6530. Many thanks in advance!; August 15, 2008 at 4:40 PM

About Us

John and Christine's Story

Christine was born with Biliary Atresia as a baby on December 25, 1980 and she had a Kasai Procedure performed which allowed her liver to function normally until she turned 27 years old. In early 2008, She was diagnosed that her liver was failing and that she would need a new liver.

As luck goes, her husband, John was found to be a perfect match and the living Donor Operation was performed on August 14th, 2008. After the surgery, the doctor found out that Christine's old liver had Carcinoma (Cancer) and she would have eventually gotten liver cancer so she was medically cured of the "C" word.

Unfortunately, there has been some setbacks. Christine has had constant bile duct leaks that needed numerous procedures and metal stents to stop the bile leaks.

She recently felt some discomfort 6 months ago and it was discovered that the metal stents had mysteriously migrated from the bile ducts to her stomach. She was scheduled for surgery but was medically evacuated from NYU to Mount Sinai on Oct 29th, 2012 because of Hurricane Sandy.

After careful review, Mount Sinai informed us that her bile ducts are not currently flowing and connected correctly and that she will need a new liver transplant soon. Because of the high risk surgery, Mount Sinai feels that the safest way forward is to replace the faulty bile ducts with a new liver and remove the metal stents in one operation.

Christine was put on the Liver Donor List in November 2012 and she received a new liver on 27 December 2012. She has been recovering at Mount Sinai but she had a few complications that delayed her recovery.

She has just been released from the hospital on 18 January 2013 and is currently recuperating at home.

Thank you so much for checking up on us and we thank you all for your support throughout this delicate time.

John and Christine