An Okotoks family has received the greatest Christmas wish on its list.
The Mitchell family received the call they’d been waiting on for almost eight weeks when they were told around 3 a.m. Dec. 16 there was an organ donor for their one-year-old daughter, Lukah, who was in need of a multivisceral transplant.
“When I was on the call and they said the donation had come through, my initial thought was, ‘This is the greatest news ever,’” said dad Kody. “Then you immediately realize what that donation means for another family, so we are eternally thankful for the family that donated these organs to Lu.”
Lukah was airlifted to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton on Oct. 24 following complications from surgery to remove a benign tumour in her abdomen. The tumour had one of her arteries through it, and had been taking up much of her blood supply.
Initially she was flown to Edmonton for a liver transplant, but upon arrival doctors realized her other abdominal organs were also failing due to the lack of blood flow. The only way to save her was a multivisceral transplant, which for Lukah meant replacing the small intestine, half of the stomach, the liver and the pancreas.
When they first arrived in Edmonton, the Mitchells were told their little girl wouldn’t make it through the first 12 hours. It was touch and go at times, but Lukah fought through until the call came, said Kody.
“We were actually at the Ronald McDonald House when they called,” he said. “It was 2:56 a.m. I still have that time, because I looked at it and was wondering who was calling me at this time right now?”
She went in for a nine-hour surgery late in the afternoon on Dec. 16.
At 1 a.m. she was out of a surgery the doctors said was much more complicated than expected, because her body had spent the last several weeks taking matters into its own hands.
“Her organs were completely necrotic, so they were basically dead and they had actually encapsulated themselves, quarantined themselves, so they had to get through that,” said Kody.
There were trace amounts of infection found, which doctors think they cleared away, but there is always a chance it could come back, he said.
Otherwise it’s a good news story so far.
By 2 p.m. on Dec. 17, Lukah had been extubated and was playing with her soother in the hospital bed, he said.
“Originally she was intubated coming out of surgery, but they said she’s doing really well right now so they could pull the breathing tube from her,” said Kody.
The biggest concerns now are the possibilities of infection or organ rejection, he said. The first 10 to 12 days will be the most vital.
Lukah has been placed on immunosuppressants to prevent her body from fighting against its new organs as they begin to function, and she will be on the medication for the rest of her life, said Kody.
The Mitchells will spend the next three to six months at the Stollery Children’s Hospital so Lukah is close to the transplant surgery team should anything go wrong, he said.
But having the bigger picture somewhat painted out for them is a lot different than how the future looked a few days ago, he said.
“We’ve been living hour to hour, day to day with her, just kind of biding our time, just enjoying what we’ve thought were the last few moments with her,” said Kody. “The fact that now that we have this transplant we’ve taken a bigger step forward to getting her back home with us.”
He said the past few days have been surreal and an emotional roller-coaster. It was difficult to watch Lukah go back into the operating room, he said.
After weeks of waiting for a call they thought would never come, he said it didn’t seem real when he answered the phone on Sunday morning.
“We’ve been hoping for this call for seven and a half weeks, but we never expected this call,” said Kody. “So when they called I was in complete shock. I was just saying, ‘What?’ and I was very confused.
“Just the fact the size was perfect for her and the blood type was perfect for her, it’s just amazing.”
He said he hopes Lukah’s journey inspires others to sign up as organ donors.
The Mitchells are thankful for all the doctors, nurses and other care teams they’ve been working with in Edmonton, as well as their many family and friends who have been standing behind them and sending messages of support and prayer over the past two months, he said.
“We’ve had people saying, ‘You guys inspired me to be better,’ and stuff like that, but we’re not really doing anything,” said Kody. “It’s all Lukah right now who’s doing everything, and we’re just along for the ride.”
