October 26, 2016

Man gives half his liver to a complete stranger, and now he's marrying her.

"'I heard a co-worker talking about his cousin who needed a liver transplant. I just thought to myself, I would want someone to help me or my family in that situation.' The 38-year-old decided to get himself tested and discovered he was a match for the then Miss Krueger, now 27...."
In the weeks leading up to the transplant, they began to spend increasing amounts of time together as Mr Dempsey and his motorcycle club threw themselves into fundraising.

"We were going out looking for donations for a benefit, and I just started thinking, she's a really nice girl, she is somebody I would like to get to know."...

32 comments:

madAsHell said...

So, what am I chopped liver??

I'll be here all week folks! Try the veal, and don't forget to tip the waitress.

madAsHell said...

So, what am I?? Chopped liver??

Michael K said...

Live donor liver transplants are getting common. Many but not all are from relatives.

It is an amazing advance in transplantation which I wanted to get into when I was in training. Liver anatomy is very complex and the guys doing these cases are my heroes. One problem that arises is size mismatch. It is less of a problem when the donor is a big guy and the recipient is smaller.

SukieTawdry said...

A love story with a doozy of a twist. I like it.

traditionalguy said...

They have good Chemistry.

SayAahh said...

I have known more than a few who have given half their liver to the bottle and couldn't stay married!

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Excuse me, but would you like my organ inside you?

Best pick up line ever.

SukieTawdry said...

LOL, Ignorance is Bliss.

mccullough said...

You are the woman that I always dreamed of
I knew it from the start
I sawed my liver
And that's the last I've seen of my heart

dreams said...

I read about a case where the donor bled to death and his brother-in-law who was the recipient died about a year later. My youngest brother who just turned 59 had his toe that had a diabetic sore partially amputated just this week so he can get on the liver transplant list.

dreams said...

Here is the story.

""By 5 o'clock today, you're going to have a Republican liver!" they taunted Tim. "You're going to love Ann Coulter! You're going to love Glenn Beck!"
"No way!" protested Tim, a staunch Democrat. He swore that even with a chunk of his Republican brother-in-law's liver inside him, he'd never be conservative. The foursome joked and laughed during the 45-minute drive to Lahey. At the hospital, the sisters kissed their husbands goodbye, and the men were wheeled into operating rooms, where surgeons would remove 60% of Paul's liver and give it to Tim, who suffered from advanced liver disease."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/08/health/cohen-donor-safety/index.html

Saint Croix said...

Awesome!

Note to men: women love a hero.

Ambrose said...

One way to get a woman's attention. Every thing of note that any man has ever done has been done for one reason.

rhhardin said...

Can't liver without you.

Return to Me (2000) romcom has the donation as the obstacle.

dreams said...

I wouldn't want to risk the life of a loved one to save my life.

Michael K said...

"I wouldn't want to risk the life of a loved one to save my life."

It is quite safe, My students examined live donor liver donors and recipients every week at USC hospital. The live donor usually gives up far less than 60%. It's usually a segment of the right lobe. The most common problem these days is the donor liver segment is too small and they get size mismatch. There is no liver dialysis equivalent. That affects only the recipient.

dreams said...

"It is quite safe, My students examined live donor liver donors and recipients every week at USC hospital."

There is risk.

""We walked into the hospital a married couple, and I left the hospital at the end of the day as they loaded my husband onto the coroner's truck," says Lorraine, who has hired a lawyer and plans to file a lawsuit against the hospital."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/08/health/cohen-donor-safety/index.html

Michael K said...

I read that CNN story. It sounds like a clusterf**k by Lahey. Lap assisted harvesting of the donor segment is very complex and I would not do it. Not that I have any experience with liver transplants but I have done a lot of liver surgery, including a gunshot wound that took off the hepatic vein, which sounds like what happened. Visibility is terrible.

Sad story. I remember the early days of heart surgery when some parents acted as heart lung machines for their small children undergoing repairs of heart defects, It was before the heart lung machine was invented. Walt Lilliehei was doing them in the 50s and it was said it was "the only operation with a possible 200% mortality." This is another.

Lillehei performed surgeries using cross-circulation, in which a donor was hooked up nearby to take up the pumping and oxygenation functions of the patient as he was being operated on. Using this technique, Lillehei led the team that performed successful repair of a ventricular septal defect on March 26, 1954. Although the repair was successful, the patient, 13-month-old Gregory Glidden, died 11 days later of suspected pneumonia. Lillehei and his team continued to use cross-circulation for a total of 44 open-heart operations in the following year, of which 32 patients survived.

Another hero.

Jim Gust said...

Michael K, I once rode up a chairlift with Walt Lilliehei, in the mid 1960s. No doubt a genius, but he was a bit of a showboat on the slopes.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bagoh20 said...

That's cool.

"I wouldn't want to risk the life of a loved one to save my life."

Then you will most certainly watch your life fade away quickly before your eyes, and so will everyone who loves you and needs you, all the time knowing you could have saved yourself. Imagine how bad that would make the potential donor feel if you died, and they know they could have saved you. The guilt, the hatred by some in the family. Give the donor a break, take the liver, save both your lives.


Rick said...

What is he going to say the first time she screams "what have you ever done for me" during an argument?

More seriously I'd be concerned she's mistaking gratitude for love and therefore the relationship isn't what it seems. I hope they both understand themselves well.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Neat story; good for them!

James Pawlak said...

With or without onions?

readering said...

Didn't know this possible until the plot line in House of Cards. What a great story.

Paul Snively said...

Rick: More seriously I'd be concerned she's mistaking gratitude for love and therefore the relationship isn't what it seems. I hope they both understand themselves well.

I can't be the only one who immediately thought of Jack and Sarah in "Lost."

William said...

It seems vaguely incestuous to have sex with someone who has cloned internal organs. I knew this sort of crap would happen if they permitted gay marriage.

Michael K said...

"but he was a bit of a showboat on the slopes."


That too, eh?

His brother Richard, also a surgeon, was very funny. He had a huge repertoire of Finn jokes, which I guess are big in Minnesota.

I didn't realize until I read that that he died in 1981. Damn jogging again.

Anonymous said...

"but he was a bit of a showboat on the slopes."

That brings me to my one and only Surgeon joke: (forgive me DR K)

"What's the difference between God and a Heart Surgeon?"

"God doesn't think he's a Doctor"

lonetown said...

I hope they are not drinking buddies!

mikee said...

Thirty plus comments, and not one Hannibal Lecter reference?
Where is this country going!

Kirk Parker said...

Finn joke, straight from Northern Minnesota:

Q: How do you spot a Finnish extrovert?

A: He stares at *your* shoes when he's talking to you.