It was July of 2022 when Kevin Tucker got the news: he had cancer in his liver and needed a liver transplant.
Time was not on the Vancouver Island resident's side; the cancerous lesion had to stay below a certain size or a transplant could not be done.
“Their maximum is five centimetres and when they discovered mine, it was at three-and-half centimetres,” said Tucker.
In addition to dealing with the expected fears and anxieties accompanying such a diagnosis, Tucker was also faced with an unusual request. BC Transplant was involved in the production of a documentary on the transplant process, and reached out to see if he would be interested in participating.
The Cumberland resident man said yes.
“I’m not one for being in front of the camera but what they were doing was low-profile and I figured this would be a way of giving back and trying to help out. If I can get the information out there about how important it is to be a donor and the whole process, it’d be me giving back to the process.”
While it was initially not a great experience having cameras follow him around in his life and doctor's appointments, he soon became accustomed to the experience. As the process followed his journey, the cameras helped calm his nerves, distracting him from the surgery he was facing.
To keep his lesion from growing and taking him out of the running for a transplant, Tucker had to undergo targeted radiation treatment.
“They put little beads of glass with radiation on the outside and they implanted that in the liver right at the spot so I didn’t have a large amount of radiation. It was all very targeted to that area. That was done through an artery.”
He also had to undergo several tests and imaging leading up to even being placed on the transplant list. The Vancouver General Hospital team wanted to ensure he was a good candidate in all ways. This included checking for abnormalities in his heart, a psychological assessment and his general well-being. The testing found that Tucker had a leaky heart valve but it wasn’t bad enough to stop the transplant from going forward.
After a round-table discussion of Tucker’s case, the various doctors, social workers and other hospital staff approved Tucker’s placement on the transplant list. He received a phone call from the transplant administration team who gave him the good news.
“[The call] was relieving and anxiety-inducing. I’m on the list now and it’s the uncertainty of when it’s going to come and how’s it all going to play out — knowing that I would have to get myself from the island to Vancouver on short notice and then spend up to three months in Vancouver afterward.”
After finding out that he had made the list, Tucker waited four months for a donor liver to become available for him.
“I was listed in April and by the end of August, I got the call. It actually turned out to be the third call though. I had two dry runs where they had called me and said there was a possibility of a liver and to get ready but then they didn’t work out. The third time was the charm.”
The documentary follows Tucker into the operating room and through his surgery. It may be graphic for some viewers but it also showcases a side of surgery no one, including the patient, gets to see.
“I was really nervous being wheeled into the operating room. It’s a big operation and they sit you down and make it known that there is a small chance that you may not even make it through the surgery. That’s what got me.”
The transplant surgery took five hours and 38 minutes to complete.
The surgery went extremely fast with him being able to stand on his own in the ICU within 24 hours. He even ate after his operation which staff said was usually unheard of.
“They were amazed, they never send food to the ICU.”
During the end of Tucker’s surgery, the audience can see him closed up with approximately 55 staples being placed along his belly. Unfortunately, one of the staples failed and he had to have some stitches put back in again when the incision opened up.
In one of the interviews after surgery, the film show Tucker becoming emotional when thinking of the donor and what they did for him to have a new chance at life.
“I’ve sent a thank you letter, giving a little bit of information about myself but I haven’t heard anything back.”
He has one message he would like to share from his experience with working with BC Transplant and receiving a donated liver.
“It is so important to get the word out there, about how good of a job they are doing and how important it is to sign up to be a donor.”
The donated liver could extend Tucker’s life by more than 15 years.
His episode airs on the Knowledge Network on Dec. 10 and is free to stream on Knowledge.ca.
On average, more than 100 liver transplants are performed at Vancouver General Hospital each year.
To register to be an organ donor, visit register.transplant.bc.ca. The registration includes an optional message to leave for loved ones that will be presented at the time of donation. There are 612 people in B.C. waiting for an organ transplant at the time of publication.
