Meredith at our wedding reception.
I was in the shower on Friday night, around 7:30 when AJ got the call that a heart was available for Meredith. At that point they had to still check her and the heart out to see if it definitely could work and at 9pm we got the call that April, AJ and Meredith's mom, signed all the necessary paperwork and the heart seemed like a good match. AJ went into Mass General to see her immediately after we got the call. This was the news we'd been waiting for for months.
But it didn't feel as exciting and joy filled as I thought it would. This meant that someone people loved very much just died a few hours before we got the call. It meant while as excited as we were about Meredith getting a new heart to start fresh it means another family will be starting fresh... without someone close to them. And I don't mean to be all sappy but I never thought I'd feel as sick about this situation and so sad for the family of the donor... chances are it was someone young whose heart was healthy enough to be donated.
We will obviously never meet this person who donated their heart but I want to say thank you for donating your organs and saving my sister in law's life. And to those people who haven't signed up to be an organ donor... please do. You have the power to save someone's life after you die.
On Saturday morning at 7am the new heart was sewn in. We went into the hospital around 11:30am and sat in the waiting room for a few hours hoping to see her. The doctor who installed her external heart (I'll call it that to avoid getting into the medical terms that I'm sure to butcher) came out and gave us a good report on the surgery. AJ and I decided to leave at that point because Drew was with my parents and had an awful cold. We were about 20 minutes out of the city when April called. The operating doctor came out and gave a report that the surgery didn't go as smoothly as he had hoped (seemingly very different from the first report we heart an hour before). There was a lot of bleeding and her blood pressure was dangerously low. They almost lost her on the operating table. We immediately turned the car around after hearing this news and drove straight back to the hospital. They said the next 12-24 hours were crucial.
And now, on Monday, obviously the 12-24 hours have passed. Meredith is still fighting. The doctors have been monitoring her closely and they've managed to reduce her blood pressure medication and do another surgery to stop some of the leaks in the new heart.
Anyway, I thought you'd like to read the latest. She has stabilized after the operation, although they've kept her chest open in case they need to get back in again and fix things. If anything, all this scariness happening on Easter Weekend has been teaching me about fresh starts and new beginnings... Jesus rose from the grave to give us HOPE and LIFE and to MAKE ALL THINGS NEW. And I know He has given Meredith a fresh start this weekend with a new heart, even if it is a rocky fresh start.
We covet your prayers. Our whole family is exhausted and overwhelmed.
i am sending prayers your way. wow.... i can't imagine what your family is going through right now but praying you all stay strong. meredith will make it throughh.
ReplyDeleteMy son had a lung transplant and I well remember the helpless feeling of waiting, waiting, waiting while his future was decided. The feeling of profound gratitude to the donor's family. The hope. The grief. Everything. When the dust settles and you are back to normal life again, you can write a thank you letter to the donor family. Send it in care of the transplant coordinator. If the family wants to read it, the coordinator will forward it. In that letter you can express your gratitude for their gift and your sympathy for their loss.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughts from a recieving end of organ donation. My father died unexpectedly last July, and as hard as it is to deal with that sudden loss, he was a donor. They were able to donate his eyes to someone that will now be able to see (imagine??!) and some tissue to a woman after breast cancer surgery. It comforts me to know that others will be able to enjoy their lives from a tragic event. For me to know that someone is looking into my Dad's eyes with love, is priceless. We all should be Organ Donors. Stay strong!
ReplyDeleteKris of Cricket Acres Studio
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ReplyDeleteI had a meeting at church the morning of Meredith's surgery. A few of the ladies joined me in prayer. Before we prayed for Meredith we prayed for the donor and the donor's family. What a bittersweet moment, life and death all bound up together. What an amazing thing to see life come from death, especially on Easter weekend. We continue to pray for Meredith, and also the donor's family.
ReplyDeleteStephanie Mosher
I only recently found your blog and even though we have never met, your family, especially Meredith, will be in my prayers. I do believe in the power of prayer. When you have nothing left emotionally, physically or mentally to give, prayers from a complete stranger just may do the trick. If God leads us to it, He will lead us through it.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to say Thank You for sharing something so very personal. It’s not easy to have that overwhelming joy knowing someone else gave their life to bring that joy. I was born with one kidney and although I am strong and healthy, it occurred to me about a year ago that one day; there is a really good chance that I will need an organ donation. That is a very real, scary reality. I signed up immediately to become one. Those of us that have signed up and made our wishes known to our families know that the gift we are leaving comes with a price but I would not want it any other way. If I can give someone a fresh, new start (rocky or not) on life when my life is drawing to a close, I have served my purpose.
I started following your blog a couple of weeks ago and it must have been a God thing:-) My son received a new heart when he was 2 months old and I totally understand the roller coaster that it onvolves. My husband and I really struggled praying the prayer to save our child knowing that someone else would lose their own. That is a tough prayer to pray!
ReplyDeleteI will be praying for Meredith and your whole family. I pray that she will recover from this and resume a healthy life. It is truly amazing that they can transfer a heart to someone else and make it work. You are taught a total lesson on complete faith and trust in God. Also, your family will gain a whole new perspective on life and the gift that each day truly is! I will be praying specifically for Meredith but also the family because the journey can take its toll but it's totally worth every hill and valley you go through.
keeleyandryan.blogspot.com
Love and prayers going your way! Ginny Keith
ReplyDeleteTons of T & P for Meredith and your family coming your way!
ReplyDeleteI think it's so kind of you to be thinking of the donor family. Hopefully the donor was a Christian and spent his or her first Easter with our Lord and Savior yesterday. What an incredible Easter for both of you!
ReplyDeleteIt's a pretty incredible imagery of Christ's sacrifice so that we may live. She's in my prayers!!!
Continued prayers for Meredith, you
ReplyDeleteJen, AJ and Family, placing all in
His healing and comforting embrace.
May peace and tenderness of spirit
surround you all and bring "Merry"
to complete and certain recovery...
Maury ~ I would like to think that
the donor, Christian or not, spent
this past Sunday in the loving and
glorious Presence of a mericiful
Lord and Saviour.
My prayers to your family and sis-in-law. And also to the family of the donor. You're such a good person to be thinking of them too. Can't imagine what a hard time this must be. Keeping you in my prayers.
ReplyDeletepraying for your family.
ReplyDeleteprayers heading your way for both you and your family as well as the donor family.
ReplyDeletePraying for Meredith, the donors family, and for your family, Jen. May you feel God's presence surrounding you.
ReplyDeleteJen- I'm sending prayers and good thoughts your way, both directly for your sister in law and for your entire family, you all need as much support as you can get.
ReplyDeleteDear Jen, I grew up with Candy and April and worked for your husband's Grandmother, Geraldine Raia at The Hubbardsville Manor Rest Home as a teenager. Candy and I were best friends, and in a different way, we still are. I have been praying, along with countless others, for Meredith and your whole family during this horrendously difficult time. I just read your blog and the last paragraph touched me so that I can't stop my tears. Jesus allows suffering in this life to bring us closer to Him, to understand Him, to aspire to be more like Him and to prepare us for our Eternal life some day. It really is as simple as this: He brings us home with Him when He decides to. He took someone home much too soon this weekend, there is no doubt. Yet, in so doing His decision was to give Meredith a fighting chance to be with us all longer here on Earth. His Will is Perfect and there is no other way to live, but to Trust and Obey Him. One day we will understand it all. We must believe and trust that it is all going to be all right as we continue to pray for God's design for Meredith. Sending love to your whole family, Cyndi
ReplyDeleteMy heart is heavy for your family. I will be praying for your sister in law and look forward to hearing good news!!
ReplyDeleteI am so thankful for all of you... I plan on writing some of you back but for right now, while I'm about to fall over exhausted... thank you for your support.
ReplyDeleteWhen my sister was 14, she was in a bad car accident. While in a coma in the ICU, she laid next to many children that needed organs. Some got them and some didn't. It was always bitter sweet for exactly the reasons you gave. It is overwhelming. I am glad that you shared. I had been thinking about Meredith and what your family, especially her mother, had been feeling. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope that it will convince more people to be organ donors.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your sister in-law. Have faith in her doctor...they can do amazing things. I pray that she does well. I became a donor years ago and my family has slowly, one by one, become donors too. I know its hard to think that someone had to lose a life in order to help save your sister in-laws but I am sure it gives the donor's family a sense of pride, a sense of hope that their lose wasn't in vain...that some good came of it.
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine what you are going through but remain strong.
Good luck.
Tery
I ams sending many prayers to you and your family. I can't evenimagine what this is like for you. God Bless
ReplyDeleteHaving just spent time at Dartmouth-Hancock Hospital as God was preparing to bring my nephew Matthew home, I can relate to the many emotions you and the family are going through. My prayer then, and is now for Meredith, for God's will knowing that his plans are perfect and that we are looking at the tapestry of life from the ugly back side with random threads and knots, not from the beautiful side that God sees. God is good, all the time. Thank you for the update on Meredith.
ReplyDeletePrayers for your family and the donors family...
ReplyDelete“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) We have the greatest representation of sacrificial giving – Jesus Christ. He died so that you and I might live. Thankfully, God offers a heart transplant to anyone willing to accept the gift, and with it, comes eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Place your heart in the care of the Great Physician. The very One who performs your surgery will also provide you with a clean and perfect heart.
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
When God the Father asked Jesus to be an organ donor, He said YES!
I just lifted Meridith and your family up in prayer.
ReplyDeletePlease keep us posted, as much as you are able.
No matter what the outcome is know that God is still the same and He never leaves your side or Meridiths. He is singing over her every morning (Zeph 3:17).
<3
I am relatively new to your site but knew of Meredith's hospital stay and will be including her progress in my prayers. I wish the best of fresh starts to your family and hope your next post includes some very good news about Meredith.
ReplyDeletexo,
Karen
My family will also be including you and Meredith in our prayers tonight. I was home in Hamilton to share Easter with my mother and prayers were offered for Meredith at the Baptist church. Now I am back in Boston and we will be in church each night as we move towards the Greek Orthodox Easter celebration next weekend. I will burn a candle for each of you each night. May god bless. John T.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I know how helpless you must feel but know that you are not alone. God is watching over you and your family.
ReplyDeleteHugs, M.
I am another relatively news reader but I wanted to tell you that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. My uncle passed away waiting for a heart donation many years ago so my family is a huge advocate for organ donation but we also understand that bittersweetness of when that call comes. The donor family is on my prayers too. Best wishes to you ask as you work through this hard time.
ReplyDelete