Oh boy, what a whirlwind the last few months have been. Justin (Dad) has forgone his Living Donor candidacy work up at Primary Children’s Hospital last week.. as the results from all his labs, imagining and tests came in.. we were seeing what seemingly was “green light” after green light for him being Elie’s possible donor. Justin received a phone call the next day (being a Friday), with news that he is in fantastic health- and everything was indeed looking like he’d be the perfect donor.. however, his liver segment was just too big for our little 4 month old. As you can imagine, we felt a little discouraged.
During our 4.5 hour drive back home from the hospital, we talked, and prayed over all the different outcomes that could now be for Elie’s transplant. On Monday, we received another call. There is another child being treated at the same hospital Eliana is being treated at. And their donor was not compatible for their child…this donor’s liver segment was just too small for that child. However, that donor has the perfect sized left liver segment and greatly compatible with our Eliana… And Justin was greatly compatible, and had the perfect sized left segment for this other child, who also in desperate need of a transplant.. and needs their transplant very soon. In essence, the idea, is there is a “swap” between us and another family whose child also needs this life saving transplant. And this “swap” is all from the same hospital, in the same state.. both urgently needed at the same time.
GOOSEBUMPS. Chicken skin.. goosebumps!
We feel the blessing of your prayers. This is God working in great ways- as the coordinator mentioned how rare this is at their facility, and how good of fit this is for both recipients.. we’re realizing how much of a miracle this is. Elie will continue to be on the UNOS list, and there will be continued Living Donor work ups on behalf of Elie so there is multiple “back up” scenarios for whatever reason, if we need it.. there will (hopefully) be multiple donors lined up that would also be available for Elie.
Justin and I now sleep (with immensely more ease) at night, knowing we have a hopeful plan in place. Eliana is *tentatively* scheduled for this transplant July 8-9th, 2025. A lot of moving targets go into scheduling- so those dates may change.. however we don’t have the luxury of waiting too much longer. After the surgery we are required to stay local to the hospital in Salt Lake City, UT.. which is 4.5 hours from where we live.. for 3 months. So, although we have a lot of peace with this plan.. we still have a lot of unknowns and financial uncertainties with Justin being a donor, and me being with Eliana. Our amazing Lola will be staying with Luca back in St. George.. (I’ll say this every update.. Lola is our hero) so prayers for peace over this mama’s heart in how torn I already feel being away from Luca.. are very welcomed.
Justin is so grateful he gets to contribute to saving Elie.. but even more so he gets to help another family’s hearts, and be apart of a life changing story in this other kiddos life. To know Justin, is to love Justin. I pray every day, our girl will be just as selfless, brave, and compassionate as her daddy is. We are so blessed by everyone who has contributed to COTA in honor of our family. We are in awe of the love of our friends and family. And THANK YOU so much for any continued support of COTA for Elie’s Fight. We have a lot of struggles and financial hardships headed our way, but are finding joy, and gratitude where we can.
