Hey babe, it's Kyra!

Hey babes💞 In my last post, I shared that the transplant team through Baylor Scott & White believes I’m a good candidate to receive a liver transplant, and we’re moving forward with next steps.

At my initial consult with the transplant surgeon, he explained that ideally I would receive a new liver and bile duct from a deceased donor. This is the best-case scenario because it’s an entirely new organ and a more straightforward surgery (well… as “straightforward” as a major transplant surgery can be lol).

But he also explained that deceased donor livers are allocated based on your ranking on the national transplant list. Right now, I’d rank around a 7, and most people who receive those organs are in the 20s. They can submit an appeal to try to raise my score, but he was honest that it’s extremely rare to jump that high — basically, very low to almost impossible odds.

Because of that, my only realistic option is a living donor transplant. This is pretty standard for people in my situation since everyone with this type of cancer faces the same donor list challenges.

The surgeon explained that with a live donor, the vessels are smaller and more delicate to work with — and the biggest complication is that I have bile duct cancer. That means with a living donor, I would be getting a new liver, but keeping my original (PSC-diseased and cancerous) bile duct.

He described the overall plan like this: they would take a large portion of a living donor’s liver and transplant it into me, then remove the cancerous parts of my bile duct and use a portion of my intestine to “re-plumb” a new bile duct system.

Of course, there are all the usual major transplant risks — complications, rejection, etc. — but for me, the scariest part is that this cancer has a very high recurrence rate. That’s why they only do this surgery case by case. I think because I’m young and we caught it relatively early, they’re willing to go for it — but I can’t help but think all the odds are already stacked against me. But I’m staying positive and trying to focus on taking everything one step at a time.

I’ve already had a few amazing friends and family members apply to be potential donors 💕 we’ve already gotten some rejections, but I feel beyond grateful to have people in my life who would consider doing something so selfless.

After reading more about the process the donor will go through — the testing, surgery, long recovery, etc. — it honestly felt overwhelming and almost impossible to imagine asking someone to do that. I was definitely crashing out, crying over even the thought of it. But after talking with friends, family, and my therapist, they all told me the same thing: focus on me, and it’s not my job to stress about this part.

My therapist asked, “If the roles were reversed, would you do it for your friends or family?” and of course my answer was absolutely, without a doubt. She said, “Exactly. There are people in your corner who would do the same for you — you have to believe them when they say it.”

I’m definitely feeling better about the situation now, and again, feeling so lucky I have my people. I just know whoever ends up being my donor is getting free cookies for life!! 

If you’re also interested in learning more about being a living liver donor or want to see if you could be a match, you can visit this link and fill out an application: https://livingdonordallas.org

Tomorrow kicks off two full days of appointments — testing, consults, and both mental and physical screenings to make sure I’m healthy enough for surgery.

As always, thank you all so much for the love, encouragement, prayers, texts, gift baskets, and cards. 💖 I feel so supported and so, so loved.

xoxo,

Kyra 💋✨