The following is excerpted from this article on Dandavats:

“In a fast evolving turn of events, His Grace, Shyamasundar Prabhu, initiated in Jan. “67 in SF, who carved the original Jagannath deities that are still worshipped to this day in Berkley as well as three other sets,who was the beloved personal secretary for Srila Prabhupada during the early seventies, who is the one who introduced Srila Prabhupdada and Hare Krishna to the Beatles and asked George to pay for printing of first edition of the Krishna Books, etc, is in need of a liver transplant.

“The ideal solution would be from a “Living Donor,” where a healthy person gives a portion of their healthy liver to the reciever and, in both instances, the liver regenerates itself to full size and capability. (This proceedure was successfully accomplished earilier this year for a devotee in New Vrindaban.)

“Shyamasundar’s daughters were both willing to donate, but neither one’s blood matched. His liver is infected with a very large tumour and it must be replaced if Shyam is to live. Myself and Radhanath Swami heard this news and felt there must be someone out in the greater community of Vaishnaves with the health, compassion, and blood type who could come forward and help at this time…”

I placed the following comment on this:

I am the devotee who received a living donor liver transplant. My son was the donor.

I may not be the best one to motivate someone to do this, but I might be able to help someone who has already made the decision to do so, and is a match.

I can speak to the experience of my son, although his experience may not reflect that of someone else. He was in his early twenties, in the US Navy at the time, and in soccer playing condition.

He was out of the hospital in the minimum time, 7 days. Two months after the surgery he drove his car from West Virginia to Florida round trip, doing all the driving himself. One year after the surgery he went through US Army basic training. In a unit of 66 soldiers, he had the fourth best time in the unit in the 2 mile run, doing it in 13 minutes.

He bounced back fast, but older, less fit donors may not do as well. I don’t want to give unrealistic expectations based on his experience, but it is a doable experience. A couple weeks in the hospital might be more normal.

There is some danger, though the center we did ours at has a zero percent mortality rate. They have never lost a donor.

There are a couple of weeks after the surgery that are rather unpleasant, but that passes. There is also a very large scar, so kiss that dream of being a calendar model goodbye.

Another down side is that for the first couple of weeks after, it is excruciatingly painful to laugh, so anyone who makes you laugh has to be avoided, or strictly regulated. We found it quite easy to laugh, unfortunately. :-)

Anyone who is strongly called to do this, who would like to get some insider background info on the procedure, feel free to contact me by commenting on my blog which can be found by googling “View From A New Vrindaban Ridge.”

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