Liver Transplant - Mike Zahn

Mike Zahn was born in 1954. Mike developed a great love of music at a very young age. He continued to develop his musical talent throughout his life. I met Mike in 1976 and we were married in 1979. London Ont was home to us for many years of work, fun and music. Eventually in the 1990’s our children Kevin and Julianna came into our lives through the help of the IVF program at the university hospital. Mike discovered a whole new kind of love in his life; fatherhood. He was busy enjoying this whole new aspect of life; however it was not long after Julianna was born hat Mike was diagnosed with a deteriorating health condition. His liver was slowly being damaged by a hepatitis infection which he suffered at a young age. Mike was put onto the transplant waiting list in London in1997. After being on the list for 5 years he had his first liver transplant in March of 2002. He rejected that transplant within weeks and had a few very close brushes with death. He received a second transplant four months later in July of 2002.

Although Mike spent the better part of that first year in hospital with continuing complications, he did make it home in time for Christmas. We felt blessed in so many ways, mostly that our family was together again under the same roof. We fluctuated in our emotions from joy that he was home to fear for his health. We felt guilt that two other families out there were suffering through enormous loss and we felt gratitude for their courageous decision. We prayed for Mike's continued recovery and we prayed our thanks for our two donors and their families.

Mike did manage to remain at home for awhile, but again several times over the following year he had major complications descend on him. A lung collapse which required surgery set him back quite seriously followed by bouts of pneumonia. We were then blessed with a year and a half of relative health peace. Through all of Mike's trials and tribulations he never lost hope that things would get better and he never wavered in his high regard for the transplant team. We learned that in some strange way suffering does have a silver lining. I saw a transformation in Mike's emotional and spritual growth, as well as an amazing growth in our personal relationship. Somehow I can only attribute this to the effects of long term suffering and living so close to death for a long period of time.

Somewhere during this rather chaotic time in our lives we added on to our family with a very beloved pet; Missy. Although Mike was reluctant to go along with our plan, in the end Missy became Mike's truly dedicated and loyal companion. She brought a joy into our lives in spite of all the heaviness, that only an energetic, silly puppy can bring. During Mike's stays in hospital she would lay around the house, waiting on his return.

In the summer of 2006 Mike suffered a broken hip and had an emergency hip replacement. In retrospect I feel that it was the beginning of the end for us. He was barely back on his feet again when he started to turn yellow. Throughout that fall and into the spring of 2007 it became more and more apparent to us that he was probably rejecting. This was verified in spring 2007 at which point Mike began the process of being relisted for transplant. Mike went into hospital on Mother's day and only returned home for two very short day visits. Mike received his third transplant in July. Despite a monumental effort on his part and on the part of the team looking after him, Mike could not fight off an overwhelming infection. We lost Mike on August 29, 2007. Although our transplant experience was not easy, we feel we were blessed with that precious gift of time that the five years give us. Time to watch the kids grow, time to hug each other close, time to see what is most important in life and time to learn to say goodbye. For that gift of time I can only say a heartfelt thank you to our three donor families and to the transplant team of doctors and nurses who make it all possible.