January 02, 2013 BATH — Scott Hancock needed a new kidney. His first transplant, which took place in 1997, gave him a kidney that lasted twelve years. Three years of dialysis was Hancock's fate after that.
He was informed that finding a match to receive a donor kidney would be really difficult. The odds of a match, the Hancocks were told, were put at one in 300 million. As his wife Crystal noted, Scott's chance of a match would be like either winning the lottery or "getting struck by lightning twice."
This meant Scott and Crystal "just accepted that we would be continuing dialysis," she said. "We kind of lost hope," Crystal continued. "We lived our life the best we could," she said to summarize the difficulty in dealing with dialysis while waiting for a new kidney.
Then, the miracle kidney became available in early December. After a call about the possible donor match, the Hancocks made their way to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon. Because of the difficulty in finding a match, Crystal said, "This was his kidney."
The transplant surgery began about 8 p.m. on December 6. The difficult surgery, expected to take three hours, took seven. It was 3 a.m. on December 7 before the transplant was completed, Crystal said. Scott was discharged two weeks after the surgery.
The good news kept coming this month. At a follow-up visit last Wednesday, the Hancocks were informed that Scott no longer needed to be on dialysis. The new kidney was functioning perfectly just three weeks after the surgery. Scott and Crystal thought that about three months of post-surgery dialysis would be necessary to give the new kidney time to start working normally.
This was another piece of unexpected great news. "Everything's starting to work perfectly," Crystal noted. "We are just in shock," she continued. "We waited so long for something good."
Even with the end of dialysis, twice weekly visits to the hospital are required for now, Crystal said. This is a way to catch signs of possible rejection of the new organ, she said.
Crystal, who is a nurse, also volunteers for the Lisbon Life Squad. Her mom, Jody Gagnon, is the director of the life squad. Gagnon said that the amazing story of Scott's kidney and recovery truly is a miracle.
Crystal said that having a clinical background can be a blessing when dealing with serious health conditions in the family. However, she also said that her professional training makes her more nervous at times. For example, she said that the very long surgery this month made her wonder if something was wrong.
Then there are the difficult emotions of getting a donor kidney, Crystal said. The miracle that gave Scott his kidney meant that another family was grieving for the loss of a loved one.
One point Crystal learned is that organ donation can turn grief into a new chance at a better life for someone in need of a transplant. She hopes that more people will look into organ donation in order to assist those on waiting lists.
She also wanted to thank the transplant team at the hospital. Crystal noted that some on the team knew Scott from his first transplant 15 years ago. "We have had such a great team from the start," she concluded.
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