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Nurse of The Quarter: Nurse Donates Part of Her Liver To Save a Boy's Life
By April Rowe, RN
JUST WHEN LOGAN SALVA’S MOTHER started to lose hope that her baby boy would find a donor to save his life, an unknown guardian angel swept in to change their world forever! In a remarkable act of bravery and selflessness, a nurse became a hero by saving a young boy’s life through a living donor transplant. This is an incredible story of love, resilience, and remarkable bravery and selflessness that embodies the power of human compassion and the profound impact it can have on someone’s life.
It’s the most incredible gift that you can give. Whether we realize it or not, we all have the power to literally save a person’s life. - RASIKA SALVA
Logan Salva, from Ocala, Florida, was born with Alagille syndrome, a rare genetic multisystem disorder that often affects the bile ducts and liver. A person with Alagille syndrome may be born with too few or malfunctioning bile ducts that cause a backup of bile in the liver, leading to liver damage. The heart, kidneys, brain, eyes, and skeletal system can also be affected. The classic sign of this syndrome is jaundice or yellowing of the skin and eyes.
SUDDENLY, THE SALVAS’ LIVES CHANGED
At the tender age of two months, Logan’s mother, Rasika, noticed that he was becoming markedly jaundiced. At his pediatrician’s visit, Logan was immediately sent to the hospital for testing. After his lab work was completed, it was clear there was a serious problem. Rasika remembered the call she received from the doctor, “She said, ‘I called the hospital in Orlando; they’re getting a bed ready for him, so you need to head down there right now!’”
Scared out of her mind, Rasika quickly packed up some things and made the hour-and-a-half drive to Orlando, Florida, where they spent over two weeks getting every test imaginable done to determine what was causing his jaundice. Genetic testing confirmed that he had Alagille syndrome and was going into liver failure.
“The pruritus [itchy skin common in liver disease] got so bad that he would wake up in the middle of the night screaming because he would make himself bleed from itching. He also had liver pain. He would suddenly scream out like he was in pain. He was on a bunch of medications. We couldn’t take him anywhere because his immune system was compromised. He didn’t get to have a normal life,” recalled Rasika.
DESPERATELY SEEKING A DONOR
Logan’s only hope was to get on the list for a liver transplant. Being just a small baby, it was even more difficult to find a deceased liver donor whose organ could fit in his tiny body. Finding the right match could take months to years, and Logan was running out of time.
“I had my phone on day and night, ready to jump out of bed and take him to the hospital for a liver transplant, but nothing happened. After six months [of hoping for a deceased donor], I got tired of waiting. I was done watching him get worse and worse,” said Rasika. But she would never give up trying to save her baby.
Luckily, there was another, less-known option available. He was able to get on the list for a living donor liver transplant, where a healthy living person could donate a portion of their liver to Logan. Both the donor and the recipient’s liver regenerate to form a full-size functioning organ. They just needed to find the perfect match.
A SELFLESS NURSE SAVES A LIFE
Makenzie Beach, a cardiovascular registered nurse from Eerie, Pennsylvania, had initially put herself on the list to be a living donor for one of the physicians she worked with who desperately needed it. The physician ended up getting a deceased donor liver transplant, but instead of removing herself from the list, Makenzie decided to stay on it in case she was a match for someone else.
Rasika recalled the moment she learned Logan had a donor. “I remember when we got the call, and they said we have a match. It was such a relief and a huge weight that came off my shoulders. It was actually good news for once, and we were so excited. We didn’t know who the donor was. All I knew was that my baby was going to get a second chance at life.”
I feel like I was part of a real miracle. I had this direct impact on one individual’s life. And he can now proceed with hopefully a normal life.- MAKENZIE BEACH
Just before the surgery was to take place, Logan became sick, and the surgery had to be delayed for a month. The Salvas were terrified they would lose the donor, but Makenzie adjusted her schedule for the delayed surgery. Finally, at 20 months old, Logan had a chance at life.
Makenzie recalled, “When I was recovering in the ICU, I received the [photo book] that Logan’s family made for me, and that’s when I learned who my recipient was. When I found out it was for an 18-month-old, I just lost it. I was sobbing.”
“This experience helped me grow as a nurse, and it helped me see things from the patient’s side. I learned what so many of my patients go through. It was open abdominal surgery that took six hours. I spent one night in the ICU. The surgery was on Thursday, and I was discharged on Monday,” said Makenzie.
After a week, Makenzie was starting to feel back to normal. They also had to remove the gallbladder for this type of transplant, so Makenzie needed to make some dietary adjustments following the surgery. She was surprised at how easy her recovery was.
“[This experience] has made me a much better nurse, and I have a whole different level of empathy for my patients now. I’m so proud of myself for doing this. My life hasn’t always worked out the way I wanted it to. [For example], we weren’t able to have children, but all those things that panned out that way made me end up doing this. I don’t think I would’ve been so willing to do this if I had my own dependents. Everything worked out for a reason and put me in a position to go through with the surgery,” Makenzie said.
SPREADING AWARENESS OF LIVING DONOR TRANSPLANTS
Living donor transplants play a vital role in saving lives, yet many people are unaware that this type of organ donation exists. The most common types of living donor transplants are donating an entire kidney or a portion of the liver. There are over 100,000 people on the national transplant list, and 17 people die every day waiting for a donor. Spreading awareness about living donor transplants is crucial to address this issue and provide hope for those in need.
Rasika and her family now understand the importance of living donor transplants and spread the word about it whenever they can. “You can take a chance to do something incredible for a perfect stranger or family member or somebody in your community who desperately needs this help. It’s the most incredible gift that you can give. Whether we realize it or not, we all have the power to literally save a person’s life, so it’s good to spread awareness,” said Rasika.
Makenzie remarked, “I feel like I was part of a real miracle. I had this direct impact on one individual’s life, and he can now proceed with hopefully a normal life. I wanted to give back, and it was a way for me to show gratitude for what I have and what I’ve been blessed with. It’s probably one of the most amazing things I will ever do in my life.”
Being a donor is an incredibly fulfilling act of selflessness that brings hope and life to someone in desperate need. Makenzie gave Logan the ultimate gift of life and the chance to be a healthy, happy, thriving little boy, and for this, she is our amazing Nurse of the Quarter!
LIVING DONOR TRANSPLANTS
For more information about living donor transplants.
check out the United Network For Sharing Organs.
Unos.org
References:
liverfoundation.org
organdonor.gov
