Antigonish’s Earl Mattie went through two liver transplant surgeries earlier this month and is now in an extended stay at Halifax’s Victoria General Hospital. (Submitted photo)

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The word ‘miracle’ gets thrown around pretty casually these days but for Antigonish’s Toni Mattie, it’s exactly that right word.
“Having the second liver, having the second surgery, that would classify as a miracle,” Toni said last Thursday from her husband Earl’s hospital room at the Victoria General (VG) Hospital in Halifax.
Earl, suffering from sclerosis of the liver followed by cancer, went to the VG late last month to have a liver transplant operation.
During the week of Jan. 30 to Feb. 3, Earl ended up having not one but two liver transplant surgeries after a blood clot was discovered in the first liver.
The first surgery was on Tuesday. The second only a day later.
Toni talked about the ordeal.
“The next morning (after the first surgery) they did an ultra-sound and they found a clot in one of the vessel and inside the liver,” she said. “They told me he would have to stay in the hospital until there was another liver to do another transplant but only 10 minutes after that, the doctor comes to me and tells me they have another liver and he (Earl) was going in at 2 p.m. for surgery. I was terrified… I can’t even explain how I felt.”
Talking over a week later, Toni said things seem to be going better good although Earl, understandably, is still very weak, tired and “in a lot of pain.”
“The second liver though, as soon as they hooked the bile duct up, the liver started to function right away,” she said, the sudden energy in her voice reflecting the relief of the moment. “It produced bile and that was good sign that it did that right away.
“They’re trying to regulate his diabetes now because of his new medication. His white cells were up but I was told by the doctor this morning they had dropped… not normal yet but they had dropped.”
Toni talked about the fear while waiting through the surgeries and then seeing him coming down the hall following the second operation.
“When I finally got word he was on his way I stood in the hall, waiting for him to come down and you know when something goes right and you go ‘Yes!’ and bring your arms down to your side, that’s what I did twice and said, ‘I don’t ever have to win the lottery, I just did.’”
She remembered Earl trying to comfort her following his second surgery.
“Shortly after Earl woke up from the second surgery he held my hand and said, ‘I put you through hell twice’ and I looked at him and said, ‘you had to be tough twice.’”
She also credits the support she had with her at the hospital for helping her through, especially friend Carol Cameron from Antigonish, and only wishes that she could remain in Halifax to support Earl as he goes through his slow recovery.
“I can’t even guess how long he’ll be in the hospital,” she said. “The normal or average time is three weeks (hospital) plus three weeks (Point Pleasant Lodge – nearby accommodations for those with medical needs) but right now, from what I understand from the doctor with Earl’s case, it’s day-to-day thing (no timetable yet).”
Toni’s desire to stay with Earl as he goes through the recovery has been the goal of friends and supporters of the couple. The group has organized and set-up a fundraising campaign that would allow Toni to extend her stay in Halifax and be near her husband.
Shirley DeCoste is one of the supporters and she offered up her phone number 232-2208 for those who like to make a donation and is reminding everyone a fund has been set-up at the Bergengren Credit Union.
“People will track me down,” DeCoste said. “Some people can’t get into the Credit Union so they’ll ask me to do a pick-up and I’ll certainly do that.”
DeCoste noted there are also jugs for donations set up at different business and a possible fundraiser is in the works.
Toni said she knows their circumstance isn’t totally unique but she just wants to be close to Earl so she can help him out and, of course, in case anything goes wrong.
“I know there are a lot of other people out there who go through this type of thing but I’ve never been through anything like this, with a friend or any family member, ever in my life,” she said.
“I always think I’m the best person to care for my loved ones. I was like that with my kids too. As long as I can be close to him, even if I’m just there until about the time he comes home, where he is up, walking on his own and I know that he could look after himself without me, which would be of great piece of mind.”