For those of you involved in Bob's battle with liver disease I would like to briefly share my story and be available to anyone interested in being a member of "Bob's team". In November of 2000 I was the recipient of 60% of my older brother's liver. I had been on the transplant list at NEMC (New England Medical Center) for over two years. As I was losing a long battle with HCV, together with my doctors both in Maine and at NEMC we started looking at the option of a living donor, a procedure that was only begining to be used with adults after having some 10 years of sucess between adult and child. My brother, Carlos, who was 55 years at the time and was one of the few people aware of my condition, volunteered to be tested as a possible candidate and, after anxious months of testing and waiting to see if he would meet the strict guidelines, was deemed eligible to donate the gift of life. I cannot say enough about the wonderful support that I received from friends and, obviously, my family throughout this ordeal. As I reflect back on the experience, the contributions of others continue to amaze me, their generosity and caring knew no limits. The burden on them was much greater than on myself; for the person who is sick everything is kind of a blur, you just slowly sort of fade away. You have no major decisions to make, no bills to pay, no great problems to solve, just a deepening fatigue and tiredness that borders on fantasy. Your spouse and your care givers however have to worry, and struggle with the pain of seeing a loved one slip away. My admiration for the incedible courage of my brother, my wife and my family and friends has no limits and has made me a much more caring and decent human being. The transplant team at NEMC prepared us all extremely well for the journey that we embarked on and led us through very much a part of a team effort with everyone participating equally. Within 14 days I was home and working a rehab program that I religiously follow to this day. I have been extremely blessed and can't find enough wood to knock on to explain my recovery. I was back in the gym within two months and back at work within three months. I take a fair amount of medication and, as I still have HCV, have been treating that as well. Best of all, my brother had a full recovery and went quickly back to his regular routine with his business, his family and his health all doing extremely well. There is much more that I could talk about and would be pleased to share any part of my story with anyone who is interested in finding out more about this process. I am going to encourage my brother to log on as he has talked to several potential donors over the years in sharing his experience. My wife, Meg, would also like to be of assistance, she probably knows more about this than anyone I can think of and her perspective as a care giver is invaluable. Thanks for this opportunity. Be well all. Paul Quijano

Life creates many crazy  coinscidents...I was online looking for a new car at Bob Massie Toyota and then bam !! My sister had a liver transplant at the  Cleveland Clinic 5-9-05....a true  miracle for her and us!  I can relate to your frustrations about the process...daunting. Dont give up...Judy was on the ventilator,maxed out on pressors,and in a drug induced coma when we got 3 calls-three  rejected organs and then THE ONE! I truly believe that the hundreds of people praying for her made all the difference. I will pray for you  Bob and for your family and caregivers. God Bless.      missy