My experience with the gift of life 

Brigit Bastianon taking a short walk around the transplant unit, post-donor surgery.  

My experience with the gift of life 

By Brigit Bastianon 

 

With the giving season upon us, I can’t help but think of the thousands of Canadians waiting desperately for a life-saving gift: an organ donation. Until this year, I knew very little about the world of organ transplantation or the shortage of organs in Canada. That all changed in early April, in the most ordinary of settings. 

As I sat eating dinner with my parents and brother here in the Glebe, my dad happened to mention that his friend’s wife, Carolyn, was urgently looking for a liver donor with an O+ blood type. Carolyn had been fighting Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune disease that attacks the bile ducts in the liver, for five years. Her liver was beginning to fail, and her options were limited: wait years on the deceased donor list or try to find a living donor as soon as possible. 

While I’d never met Carolyn, her story deeply resonated with me. I’ve never faced a chronic illness, but I’ve struggled with my mental health. Like many, my mental health took a nosedive during the pandemic. My motivation, self-esteem, and love for life vanished. Slowly, with therapy, medication and the support of those who believed in me when I couldn’t, I climbed out of that dark place. This experience gave me a glimpse of what it’s like to feel hopeless and watch your quality of life slip away. Carolyn was living her own version of that struggle, but unlike me, her way out depended on finding a new liver. I thought to myself: I am a healthy, 22-year-old who has the opportunity to make a huge difference in someone’s life, I should step up. So that’s exactly what I did. This summer, I donated 40 per cent of my liver to Carolyn at the Toronto General Hospital. 

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as deciding and heading into surgery. I had to travel to Toronto for a series of tests to see if Carolyn and I were an anatomical match. Once it was confirmed, I met with a whole team of medical professionals over the next couple of months. They prepared me for everything, explaining the risks and complications, making sure I knew I could back out at any time. I also had to have some tough conversations with family and friends who were understandably anxious about the process. Despite my own fears and uncertainties, I never wavered in my decision. It always felt natural and unquestionably right. 

As you may have guessed, the surgery was a huge success. In fact, just two days after the transplant, Carolyn’s jaundice had disappeared. My liver was already working hard to restore Carolyn’s health.  That said, recovery wasn’t easy, for me or for Carolyn (but that’s her story to tell). I spent six days in the hospital dealing with nausea, intestinal pain and exhaustion. After I was discharged, things were still rough. I felt wiped for a couple of weeks, had to give myself blood thinner injections every day for six weeks, lost 10 pounds, couldn’t swim all summer and looked like a ghost from the blood loss. But all of that was worth it knowing that Carolyn now has a second chance. Her future is now bright, and this difficult chapter can be left behind her. 

Unfortunately, not every story ends this way. Every three days, a Canadian dies waiting for an organ transplant. Obviously, not everyone can be a living donor; it’s a big commitment, and there are risks involved. However, there’s one thing almost all of us can do: register as an organ donor. It takes two minutes, and your selfless act could save up to eight lives in the event of your passing. 

Reflecting on my own experience, I’ll share this: Throughout the donor process, the transplant team was adamant about making sure my decision was entirely my own. They wanted to be absolutely sure that I wasn’t being coerced or pressured into doing something that in my heart of hearts I didn’t want. I’ll never forget when a social worker candidly asked if I was expecting to receive a large sum of money after the surgery (I joked, “No, but I’m getting a Ferrari.”). In all seriousness, though, this experience has been worth more to me than a million dollars. It’s given me a new appreciation for life, for my family, my friends and my health. Sometimes, the gifts we give end up giving give just as much back to us. So, thank you, Carolyn. 

Brigit Bastianon is a fourth-year social work student at Carleton University passionate about improving others’ quality of life. Born and raised in the Glebe, she lives in her childhood home with her parents and brother. 

Share this