A Call from the Transplant Team

Every time my phone rings with a Colorado number or a No Caller ID, I hold my breath. Could this be "The" call I've been waiting for? Do I dare to hope?

I received such a call today. I held my breath as I said Hello. "Hi, this is Bethany from the transplant team." All I could think was "Oh, please. Oh, please." Instead of being the call I was hoping for, they had called to tell me since Noah needs to go back to the cath lab to restretch the hole in his heart, they have decided they needed to up his chances of receiving a heart quicker by posting him as ABO Incompatible. What that means is now he can receive any heart regardless of the blood type. Most of these types of transplants have been done in Canada with great success. It's said that babies don't begin making anti-bodies for different blood types until after 6 months old. So if we give him a heart with a different blood type before then, we can trick his body into accepting it. The only thing they do differently is right after surgery they give him slightly higher doses of immunosupresents than if it had been his blood type. I asked the Transplant Coordinator if this would really help his chances of getting a heart quicker and she said it would since now he has several options. He is waiting for a normal transplant, he's on the list for a DCD heart, and he can get a heart regardless of blood type. Plus, he's listed as a 1A which means he's the top of the list. I sure hope "The" call comes soon.