Thanks to all who kept my wife in prayer last night -- we certainly appreciate your efforts and the comments and e-mails we received. Unfortunately, this situation didn't turn out to be the right fit. We found out early this morning, and we spent the intervening time catching up on our sleep.

Pancreas transplants are more problematic than kidney transplants. For the most part, as long as the donor is or was healthy, the kidney will make a good transplant. Pancreases are more sensitive, both in condition and age, and the donor was just at the outer edge of the age band anyway. Not only that, but the surgery for the recipient is more extensive and tougher to ensure that rejection doesn't occur. When the organ was removed, the doctors decided that the health of the organ would not be worth the risk to use for a transplant, for the First Mate or anyone else.

We have only been on the pancreas transplant list for about four weeks, so the call came as a complete surprise to us. We expected to get to the top of the list sometime in the summer. While we're disappointed that this one did not work out, we're not crushed and we're actually optimistic that we will get another one soon, and hopefully that one will work out.

Meanwhile, a family on the East Coast (as specific as the transplant team got) mourns the loss of a loved one. Please pray for comfort and support for them today.

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