Local woman recovering from liver transplant

Some might call it a miracle.
After slipping into a coma due to complications with her liver, local resident Carolyn Stamarski underwent a liver transplant Sunday in London, Ont. and currently is making good progress in her recovery.
“Things are looking positive,” Stamarski’s youngest sister, Ellie Grant, said yesterday. “It’s just amazing. I thought for sure when they were flying her to London, it was a last-ditch effort.
“When they were talking transplants, I thought we’d be waiting months. To get one just like that is amazing,” she added.
The roller-coaster ride of events began Monday, Oct. 4 when Stamarski, who had been feeling ill for about a month, went to see a hematologist at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg with her husband, Rick.
She had taken blood tests here, and it was found she was producing too many bed blood cells, said Grant.
But when she went for her appointment with the specialist, she was chatting with the receptionist when all of a sudden she became very weak and fainted, Grant added.
“She just kind of faded quite drastically,” she remarked.
By that night, Stamarski was in a coma and breathing with the aid of a ventilator in the Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU).
The next day, her kidneys failed due to a blockage in the blood flow to her liver, and the doctors called her family in. “They didn’t expect her to make it,” said Grant.
Grant, along with Stamarski’s youngest son, Andrew, mother, Dorothy Bergstrom, sister, Barb Holland, and nephew, Hans Holland, all went to Winnipeg to be at her side.
Her eldest son, Chris, attending the University of Windsor, also flew in.
“When we saw her Tuesday night, we thought she’d be gone. Her chest moving up and down was the only indication she was alive,” recalled Grant.
On Wednesday, Oct. 6, Stamarski was taken to St. Boniface Hospital for a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure, which would create a bypass to her liver.
Without the operation, noted Grant, Stamarski may have had only a few more hours to live.
The TIPS took about three-and-a-half hours, during which the family was kept informed of the progress by a nurse that had escorted Stamarski from the Health Sciences Centre.
By that night, when the relatives got to see visit her, Stamarski had some colour back in her complexion and already “was looking better,” said Grant.
“We were ecstatic, of course!” she remarked, adding her sister was even capable of squeezing her hand and trying to blink and move her eyes.
Stamarski’s condition seemed to be improving Thursday, Oct. 7 and during the day of Friday, Oct. 8, but then began to worsen that evening.
“She took a step backward. She stopped responding, stopped grasping,” said Grant, who earlier that day had returned to Fort Frances and was getting updates from Rick.
The situation turned again by Sunday, however, as Stamarski opened her eyes and could respond to questions with nods.
By the next day, she was moving her fingers and toes, and by Tuesday, Oct. 12, the day after Thanksgiving, she was moved to the general ward and taken off the ventilator.
The physiotherapy department at the Health Sciences Centre had been working with her, with the goal to get her sitting up in a wheelchair by the end of the week, said Grant.
Grant and Bergstrom returned to Winnipeg on Wednesday, Oct. 13 and they found Stamarski very tired, but actually trying to talk. “Things were looking good,” said Grant.
But the family got another scare as Stamarski stopped being responsive during a dialysis treatment that evening. She’d been taking these treatments all along during her time in hospital to remove the fluid from her body as her kidneys hadn’t become fully functional yet.
By 11 p.m., she was back in the Intensive Care Unit, on a ventilator, and “in a lesser state of consciousness,” said Grant.
On Thursday, Grant noted her sister was looking “puffy” as the dialysis didn’t seem to be getting fluid out of her, adding it looked like she was pregnant with twins or even triplets.
Stamarski was sent back to the MICU at St. Boniface Hospital on Friday for an examination to see if the bypass procedure was holding out. But doctors discovered her liver was suffering damage and decided to fly her out to University Hospital in London, Ont. that night.
“They felt they had a very small window of opportunity to fly her in there and do something,” said Grant. “They were racing the clock.”
She explained that Stamarski was retaining so much fluid, it eventually would make her brain swell and lead to her death.
On Saturday, the hospital did tests on Stamarski to see if she would be a viable candidate for a transplant. Miraculously, that same day, a suitable match was found and surgery was scheduled for Sunday morning.
“Apparently, that was like winning the jackpot,” enthused Grant. “We’re really lucky she happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
The transplant took 11 nail-biting hours as family awaited word from Rick as to what was happening. When he called, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as he noted the doctors said the situation looked optimistic.
Rick and Chris then reported Monday that Carolyn’s kidneys had started to work, but she was still unconscious and on a ventilator and dialysis.
By Monday night, her kidneys were “doing great,” her liver was working, she could move her fingers and toes, and nod and shake her head. She also was making efforts to talk.
“She even recognized Chris and gave him a dirty look for not being in school,” laughed Grant.
Grant said her sister will be staying at University Hospital in London until mid-November. At that time, the doctors either will keep her there for an extended period of time or send her back to Winnipeg.
“Things are looking positive. But after the slide backwards, I won’t be happy until I hear her voice,” she noted.
Nearly as amazing, said Grant, was the public’s response when they heard that Stamarski was first hospitalized two weeks ago—and then getting an organ transplant this past Sunday.
“Everybody’s been so concerned. It’s really heart-warming. People on the street want to come up and give us hugs—it’s amazing,” she remarked, admitting she doesn’t even know many of the folks who come up to her and ask about her sister.
“Total strangers have been offering us their thoughts and prayers. They’ve been so nice,” added Grant. “Two Sundays ago, I said that it seemed half the town was praying for us.
“This past Sunday, I’d say it must have been three-quarters.
“All the calls that people have made to us offering us help have been greatly appreciated,” she stressed.
Grant added Plaza Lanes, where the Stamarskis are very well-known, is holding a benefit tournament for the family this Saturday (Oct. 23) at 6:30 p.m.
The cost is $20 for four “fun” games.
Grant also noted the family has been impressed with the capable and understanding medical staff in both Winnipeg and London.