"That is when the Transplant Coordinator Nurse told me that they are Republicans."

[kpete]

Monday, November 11, 2013
Woman denied Kidney transplant after University of Nebraska Medical Center learned she's transgender

Mika Covington is a genderqueer who prefers the pronouns sie and hir. Sie lives with end stage (stage 5) Nephropathic Cystinosis which affects approximately 1 in 100,000 to 200,000 newborns. There are only around 2,000 known individuals with cystinosis in the world.

Mika began dialysis in May of 2011, when sie was still a patient at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). At that time Sie began the arduous process of preparing for a Kidney transplant which would eventually would become necessary as dialysis takes a huge toll over years on a body.

Up to that time Mika had yet to discuss sie's trans status probably thinking it inconsequential. But after Mika revealed sie's trans status the University of Nebraska Medical Center's staff became more difficult.



Mika wrote on sie's blog

"However, this is when I told them that I identify as Mika and prefer female pronouns. Everything seemed to be okay, except for a little confusion. Until they asked me what I do in my free time and I told them that I volunteer with non-profits to work towards equality for the LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual) community and I volunteer on political campaigns and plan to help out on the Obama campaign. That is when the Transplant Coordinator Nurse told me that they are Republicans. Everything changed."

http://planetransgender.blogspot.com/2013/11/woman-denied-kidney-transplant-after.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/11/1254743/--That-is-when-the-Transplant-Coordinator-Nurse-told-me-that-they-are-Republicans

[gopiscrap]

1. that's fucked up

once again why healthcare should not be privatized!

[enlightenment]

2. University of NE is a state school

and their hospital - like most university hospitals - is public, not private . . . but I get your point. My city has ONE public hospital (associated with the university) and more than a dozen private hospitals. There's a running unfunny joke here that in this town, the first place you should head when you get sick is the airport.

[Ms. Toad]

3. Hate it when my worlds collide.

My high school sweetheart, and one of my closest friends more than 4 decades later, is trans. My daughter will require a liver transplant, and I began the process to be a live donor for a different individual (because I will have aged out by the time my daughter needs a liver). So I know a bit about transplants and live donors,

I also know many people who are organ recipients - or potential organ recipients - who do not understand the physical and emotional mechanics of what is an extremely complex situation. That complexity grows enormously when there is a live donor involved.

I obviously do not know this woman's situation, but some of what sie cited is normal process with a live donor. Sie may not have realized this because from my reading of the article, sie informed them of the live donor around the same time sie informed them sie was trans.

If it really was bigotry, it is beyond the pale - and I hope they find a good attorney who can sue the pants off the Nebraska Medical Center.

But, unless you are deep in the midst of the transplant process (and sometimes even when you are) many of the things which seem inexplicable by anything other than bigotry (or money, or valuing certain people more than others) may well just be (1) the changes necessitated from switching from a cadaver donor to a live one (2) or concern about complications from undisclosed medical conditions that needed to be fully evaluated (or concerns that if this condition which might have implications for the success of a transplant was not disclosed (and nearly everything does), there may be other undisclosed conditions.

And, even if the issues started as a miscommunication - they may well have escalated to the point at which it was not ethically responsible to remain caregivers for hir.

I hope people won't jump to conclusions in this case, at least in ways which decrease the number of organs available. I have lost two friends and three acquaintances in the last 45 days either directly or indirectly due to the unavailability of livers for those who need them.

[riderinthestorm]

5. Hi Ms Toad

Thought we'd see each other on this thread!

[Ms. Toad]

6. Yup.

Education...education...education!

[riderinthestorm]

4. Hmm. I'm pretty sure there's other factors in play here. Like the missed appointments

My sister is 18 months past her double kidney liver trsnsplant. As her primary support team member I'm very aware of the protocols involved.

All living donors get counseling before they donate. Mika's donor wasn't singled out. Its a lie to state that was some kind of special burden placed on her donor because of Mika's gender or politics.

Two missed apppointments would be a sure fire way to get booted off alone. Depending on which appointments she missed she would have missed being seen by as many as 6 doctors and the RD. Every visit is incredibly important as they are monitoring and evaluating the persons health, stamina, mental capability to manage the drug regime post surgery as well as patient compliance.

Compliance is HUGE. Organs are precious and if it appears you can't even make the pre- surgical appointments you will get booted.

Lastly even I had big trouble remembering the pronouns. Sie and hir would be pretty hard to remember for busy nurses and MDs imho.