‘I was ready to meet my maker’

When Andrew Barnshaw’s health was at its worst and he had no guarantee of receiving a crucial liver donation he began making preparations for the worst.

He was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, as well as a host of other complications, and doctors were giving him between six to eight months to live. In his own words “I was ready to meet my maker”.

Two years on, after receiving a new liver, he and his family are planning a big sailing trip in their 52-foot boat. Life is back to normal and he has clearly regained a lust for life. 

Speaking to the Bermuda Sun during Organ Donation Week, Andrew, who worked at the boat yard and as a pool cleaner, told us about the deterioration in his health and his road to recovery after his wife Karen donated 60 per cent of her liver to him (a living donor’s liver is able to grow back to its original size).

Around two and a half years ago, Andrew’s health began to deteriorate rapidly — he was feeling sluggish and tired and after some time his body began to bloat. At first, he had to visit the hospital every ten to 14 days to drain the fluids building up in his abdomen as the liver was not doing its job. That increased to once a week and then twice a week. The build- up in fluids also affected his brain and he found it difficult to concentrate or remember things. What’s more, his skin was turning yellow due to the resulting jaundice. 

Doctors at Lahey Clinic in Boston informed him that he needed to find a liver donor or he would not survive.

“Firstly you contact your family to see if they a: are willing to donate and b: they are a match,” said Andrew, 61. 

He tried his two siblings but, either for health reasons or geographical location, they were unsuitable. His 18-year-old daughter offered to donate to her father but he declined saying he didn’t want his young girl to have a big scar. 

Meld list

So Andrew was put on a Meld List that determines how sick you are and how urgent your need for donation is. He was already high up on the list and his options were running out. 

“You just start finalizing your details because you don’t know if you will get an exact match or not. I didn’t know what to do at that time plus I was wandering in and out of reality with this fluid attacking my memory. I had resigned myself to the fact that the worst could happen. They explained all the details to me in previous meetings at Lahey — they make you go through psychologists so you are well prepared mentally for everything. I was more stressed out about what would happen to my family.”

It was at this point that his wife Karen, who was with her husband on one of his hospital visits to Boston, she said she wanted to be tested to see if she was a match. It turned out positive. 

She was tested in November 2010 and they had the operation in January 2011.

“Obviously I was happy it was a match,” said Andrew,  “But then I had a lot of trepidation about how it was going to affect her and what would happen if things didn’t work out for me. Lots of things could still go wrong. We were prepped in beds next to each other and I went this way and she went that way.”

A husband and wife surgeon team operated on Karen and Andrew with a team of 12 surgeons each. The following day Karen was up and just about walking whereas Andrew spent about ten days in hospital after the operation. 

“When I woke up I was up to here with medication,” he said pointing to his head. “There was no intense pain. Their job is to make you as comfortable as they possibly can and believe me, if you need anything done, that is the place to be. They do take care of you and do as much pain relief as possible. It felt like doing 100 sit ups and then being violently sick afterwards — that is how your insides feel, just tensed up and sore.” 

After that, he remained in Boston staying at a hotel for just under a month before returning home. Now he only has once yearly visits to Lahey for check-ups. He said it took him about nine months to feel normal but now he feels like a new man.

“It has had a huge impact — I was a mess just before the operation. 

“We have a 52-foot boat and I’m hoping to have her ready for next month — I want to take her for a trip either to Halifax or Boston. If I miss the window to go north then I will wait until the end of the year and go south. You’ve got to live it while you can.” 

Donor cards are available at doctors’ offices, post offices and at TCD. For more information, contact The Bermuda Organ and Tissue Donor Association at 236-1275 or visit www.bermudahospitals.bm/bhb/donor/donate-organ.asp

Debunking the myths about organ donation

• Myth: Doctors will not try to save my life if they know I want to be a donor.

• Fact: The medical staff trying to save lives is completely separate from the transplant team. Donation takes place and transplant surgeons are called in only after all efforts to save a life have been exhausted and death is imminent or has been declared.

• Myth: People can recover from brain death

• Fact: People can recover from comas but not brain death. Coma and brain death are not the same – brain death is final.

• Myth: Your religion prohibits organ donation.

• Fact: All major organized religions approve of organ donation and consider it an act of charity. 

• Myth: The rich and famous on the US waiting list for organs get preferential treatment. 

• Fact: The computerized matching system does not select recipiencts based on fame or wealth. Organs are matched by blood and tissue typing, organ size, medical urgency, waiting time and geographic location.

• Myth: I am too old to donate organs.

• Fact: People of all ages may be organ and tissue donors. Physical condition, not age, is important. Sign a donor card and doctors will decide whether your organs and tissues can be transplanted.

• Myth: My family will be charged for donating my organs.

• Fact: Donation costs are not the responsibility of the donor’s family or estate.

• Myth: Donation will disfigure my body.

• Fact: Organs and tissue are removed in procedures similar to surgery and all incisions are closed at the conclusion of the surgery. An open casket funeral is possible after donation. 

• Myth: Organs are sold with enormous profits going to the medical community.

• Fact: Federal law prohibits buying and selling organs in the US. Violators are punishable by prison
sentences and fines. 

• Myth: Marrow donation is painful.

• Fact: Marrow donors do not feel pain when the marrow is removed because anesthesia is used. Soreness and or stiffness may be felt for a week or so post-donation.