HUMANS OF THE PFISTER | AUGUST 2016 | Being “August” | Continued

HER: I’ve had good things happen to me and bad things happen to me.  A few years back, I was unhealthy, mentally and physically.  The most auspicious thing that I ever did was moving away from Milwaukee to Kansas–and starting over.  I hadn’t been self-sufficient, and moving turned everything upside down–in a good way.  I found myself in a healthier spot in my life.  I was away from a relationship that was unhealthy, my sister from Chicago moved in with me with our dog, I met a nice guy.  You don’t know how hard it is to meet friends like him.

HIM: I’m an anesthesiologist.  Ten years ago I used to do liver transplants (the process now is a lot smoother than it was back then).  There are very difficult cases: people come in so sick, their day-to-day living so different from normal.  Back then, they’d get a page (they probably get a text now) and they’d have to go to the hospital the same day because a doctor had harvested (they say “obtained” now) a liver from someone within the region (sometimes the doctor would have to fly to a nearby state).  The liver was supposed to be in the new person within 12-24 hours of being obtained.

Whether it was back then or today, seeing someone after an operation is lilke night and day.  The transplants make such a difference in people’s lives: 180-degree turns.