2012年4月,迈克尔·斯科菲尔德接受了第一次胰岛细胞移植治疗糖尿病, 他写了一封信,感谢他的捐赠者的家人. 过了一年多他才收到捐赠者母亲的回复. 就在那时,他发现他们比斯科菲尔德携带的那个年轻人有更多的共同点.
胰岛细胞移植受者会见供者家属
In June 2013, 当时他正从亚利桑那州的家中出发去见捐赠者的母亲, 这时他得到了另一个令人兴奋的消息:加州大学旧金山分校为他的第二次胰岛移植找到了捐赠者. 在一周的时间里,他与一位捐赠者的家庭建立了联系,并开始与另一位捐赠者的家庭建立新的联系.
How did you hear from the donor's family?
一天早上,我坐在星巴克里查看电子邮件. 有一封来自某人的电子邮件——我不知道是谁——告诉我关于她儿子的一切. Eventually I realized it was my donor's mother. 在邮件的最后,她写道:“十大赌博平台排行榜真小,不是吗?" It turned out she works for AT&T, just like me. Her name is Liz. 她在公司工作了32年,是帕洛阿尔托联络中心的主管. We started texting back and forth on AT&T的内部系统,谈论她的儿子迈克尔.
Did you want to meet each other?
我们约好了下次我去旧金山的时候见面. 我定期去那里取我的免疫抑制剂. I was on my way there from Arizona, 在奥兰治县的约翰韦恩机场换机, 当我收到消息,说加州大学旧金山分校已经有捐赠者了,我应该马上去做第二次胰岛移植手术. 我正要去见我第一位捐赠者的母亲. 我对自己说,也许有人在看着我,想着:“这是一件伟大的事情. Here's another gift for you: another donor." That's what went through my mind.
Did you still get to meet?
I got the message from UCSF on a Friday. 第二天,我在39号码头的一家餐馆与莉兹和她的另一个儿子共进午餐. 她打电话说她穿了一件唐老鸭t恤,她会挥手让我找到她. We met up and gave each other a big hug.
我们聊天,分享照片,为AT拍照&T website. 我给她带了一张我和家人的相框. 她告诉了我她儿子死于那场事故的日期, and I realized it happened on my birthday, though I didn't tell her that. Then she said he had a 6-year-old daughter. I said, "When is her birthday? I'd like to send a gift." July 6, she said. That's my wedding anniversary. I didn't say anything, but wow! Then, after we said goodbye and I was walking away, 我的太阳镜像往常一样挂在脖子后面, she said, "Hey Mike, 你这样戴墨镜多久了? A long time?" I said, "No, just in the last few months.她说:“我儿子过去10年都是这样戴墨镜的。."
Was it emotional meeting her?
Oh my God, yes. It was a happy moment, but also a sad moment. 我自己也有三个十几岁的孩子,我无法想象她的痛苦. We still text back and forth quite often. 因为事实是,你有好有坏. On bad days, she needs a little lift.
Meet Michael's care team
Did she give you a picture of Michael?
Yes. 我把他的照片挂在浴室的镜子上,还有他妈妈给我做的十字架. 有时候我会对着照片说,“今天会很难熬”之类的话. All in all, the guy's a part of me now.
你跟她说过你要再做一次移植手术吗?
Yes, (下次)手术那天,她给我发了一条短信:“嘿, I know you've got the procedure today. Don't worry. 我的儿子在你心里,他会保护你,所以微笑吧."
Were you expecting to have a second transplant?
我一直都知道我有可能要生两个孩子. 第一个给了我75万个胰岛细胞,而你需要超过100万个细胞. 移植后服用的免疫抑制药物不允许这些供体细胞繁殖. The heavier you are, the more cells you need. I weigh 192 pounds; I cycle a lot and have a lot of muscle mass. 通常情况下,人们会在第一次移植后的六到七个月进行第二次移植. For me it was 13 months, so I was lucky.
你的第一组供体细胞有问题吗?
我没有低血糖发作,但我的血糖开始上升. 我骑摩托车从亚利桑那州到不列颠哥伦比亚省,骑了104英里, 两次我都让自己脱水到一些细胞开始死亡,我的糖开始上升. That's something I will never do again.
Are you sure that killed some of the islet cells?
一定是这样,因为我注意到我的血糖开始上升. So I always hydrate a lot now.
You had been insulin-free. Did you have to start taking it again?
I started again when I noticed my sugars rising. Just a tiny amount to bring my sugars down. 我刚做了第二次移植手术,两三个星期后就停药了.
Was the transplant procedure the same as the first?
Yeah, it was. I asked Dr. Andrew Posselt(加州大学旧金山分校医学中心胰岛移植项目的联合主任),如果我能看到胰岛细胞, because I'd heard they look like gold dust. 他说:“给。”然后拿出一小瓶细胞,这是真的——就像在看金粉一样. It was amazing.
How many were transplanted into you this time?
I think about 850,000. 所以如果你算出有10万人死亡,我还剩1人.4 million overall.
你注意到第一次和第二次移植有什么不同吗?
这一次,我想要认真对待移植的胰岛细胞. So I used insulin on occasion at first, 就像我在一个商务宴会上,我知道我会吃得比我应该吃的多. I want these babies to latch on and be good.
How are you feeling?
I feel fantastic.
Will you contact this donor?
Absolutely. 我只是需要一些时间来冷静下来写封信. By the way, when I met Michael's mother, she said other people got her son's heart, liver and lungs, but they never sent a thank-you letter. I was the only person to do it.
移植团队是否建议接受者写信给捐赠者的家人?
这取决于你,但有些人选择不这样做. I'm not built that way. 我认为说声谢谢很重要——这就是我看待生活的方式.