Not today! The one person I refuse to let down

Being a dad is my greatest joy.

I'm the proud father of two beautiful girls, Rachel and Ellie. Just last week I was able to celebrate both of their birthdays, Rachel turning 6 and Ellie turning 3. Due to the generous gift of life and the amazing talent at Nebraska Medicine, I am alive and well.  

I have always been a relatively healthy guy and taken good care of myself, so when my primary care doctor said I had some elevated liver enzymes, I was concerned, but not overly worried. My doctors monitored the enzymes with periodic lab work and subsequent liver ultrasounds and biopsies. No one could find the reason for the enzymes until an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogram (ERCP) was performed. That day changed my life. 

The doctor came out of the procedure room and told my wife, who was holding our 6 month old child, that I have primary sclerosing cholangitis and would need a liver transplant. A friend of mine had a father-in-law who had the same disease and was a 15-year survivor from his liver transplant. His name was Dave Eggers and he was a Nebraska Medicine employee who worked the concierge desk of the Lied Transplant Center. (Dave recently passed away on March 29, after his liver started to fail and he was relisted for a transplant.)

With Dave's support, he helped guide me through the transplant journey. He suggested I see his gastroenterologist, Timothy McCashland, MD, who fought hard for me to have a second chance at life. That gift came via a phone call on March 20, 2016, while I was getting a few groceries.

They told me I was the lucky one who was a match for a new liver and that I needed to make my way to the hospital. I rushed home, gave hugs and kisses to my kids and headed for Nebraska Medicine - Nebraska Medical Center. It was surreal sitting in the hospital bed knowing that while my family was in high spirits because my life was about to be saved, another family was grieving due to their loss. I haven’t met that family yet, but I hope to someday and thank them in person. 

I woke up on March 21 with a new gift, feeling great. Unfortunately, I was notified the next day that my old liver had some crummy cancer in it, so I had to undergo another operation on March 25. Again, the amazing surgeons at Nebraska Medicine operated on my newly implanted liver and resected what they could to make sure I had a clear margin. 

It is 13 months to the day that this operation was performed and I am still alive! In fact, I got up at 5:00 a.m. this morning, ran a couple miles and did a couple hundred pushups. Every day I do a set of pushups and I try to do one more than I did the day before. Some days are tough, but when I start to shake and feel the weakness coming on, I think of a handful of important people watching over me and I tell them, NOT TODAY! Today is not going to be the day that I don’t get better. 

Sometimes those people watching me are my surgeons, hepatologists, oncologists, the generous donor or my two daughters. Because of my organ donor I was able to celebrate Christmas with my family, attend my daughter's first day of Kindergarten and take my girls fishing. They love every minute of it. The thought of them watching me has led me to instill that philosophy into my every day life, NOT TODAY! So, I encourage you all to take that same approach, whether that’s your career, family or your health. I’m not going to let down the donor or their family, not today, not ever! I am going to live life to the fullest and be grateful for every sunrise that I get. 

To schedule an appointment with a liver transplant specialist at Nebraska Medicine, call 800.922.0000.

Update: Sadly, Chris passed away in June of 2018. He will be missed be all who knew him at Nebraska Medicine.