“It was an interesting experience, I will tell you that,” laughed John Greig.
This October will mark 28 years that Greig didn’t think he should have had.
In was in the early 1980s that Greig had liver problems start up, but it was a flare up in 1987 that almost did him in.
He was in Rochester, Minn. at Mayo Clinic when during a routine check; the doctor informed him that he would need to have a liver transplant.
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“At the time, all organs were from local donations,” said Greig. Mayo started their national donor program in October 1987.
It was Sept. 23, 1987, that Greig went to Mayo because he had gotten very sick.
When the liver flares up, it causes poisons in your system, so you get confused, said Greig.
By late September, Greig said he really didn’t know anything due to the confusion caused by the poisons.
“The last day I remembered was the last day of the World Series. That’s when the Twins won the World Series in late October,” said Greig.
They had found a liver, but the relatives decided they couldn’t go through with it, said Greig.
“Which is perfectly alright. Donations were so new then that there wasn’t really any organization out looking for organs,” added Greig.
It was Oct. 7 that the doctor recommended the family come up, concerns were that Greig was not going to make it through another night.
However, at 10 p.m. that night, Mayo received a call from UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles that a team of doctors had harvested a liver in New Mexico and their patient had died.
“They went to this new system and I was the next one on the list,” said Greig.
The liver was then brought up to Mayo immediately and they performed the surgery.
While most liver transplants do not require a lengthy time in hospital, Greig was an exception.
“I jokingly say that after I got the transplant, everything went down hill,” said Greig.
After the transplant, Greig suffered from a perforated colon in which the doctors did not know if he’d make it through it because of the infection. After that, his kidneys stopped working and he was placed on dialysis. Once they were functioning again, Greig was diagnosed with CMV, a mild flu type virus, which had come with the liver.
It was about that time that a new anti-virus for CMV had just came out and he was one of the first people to receive the vaccination, which was still experimental at the time.
After three weeks Greig recovered from CMV, but then was diagnosed with a fungal disease that had settled in his lungs. He then had to have surgery at the beginning of December to remove the disease, which included taking out half of one lung.
After a few more trips to the doctor from January to beginning of August, Greig was cured and back home for good.
“I was a tough patient that way,” said Greig in regards to his multiple setbacks. “But neither Connie nor I ever got down and out. We always figured we would make it. It’s that positive attitude that brings you through those things.”
“He came out weighing about 120 pounds and could hardly walk,” said his wife Connie Greig.
Shortly after getting out of the hospital in August, Greig’s son asked if him if wanted to go horseback riding in the mountains in Montana and Greig said yes.
It was around Labor Day when the two left on their trip. Greig recalled getting to the top of Big Horns and his son helping him on to his horse and them riding for five hours or so. They made camp in the wilderness and because he could barely walked, he laid around camp and did much of the cooking.
“That’s what saved my life because it gave me that attitude that I could do anything I really wanted to do,” said Greig about his trip.
One thing Greig has been asked to by Mayo and has done because of his experiences is speaking and counseling people who are in need of a liver transplant, but are unsure about going through with it or fear they won’t have a normal life afterwards.
“You got kinship with someone else who is going through the same thing as you did,” said Greig. “I had gone through a lot of things and was successful.”
While Greig said much has not changed in his life, he admits that not much bothers him anymore.
“I have had more years than I should of. You don’t sweat the little things,” said Greig. “I have gotten so much good out of things and I figure I am one of the luckiest guys in the world.”
For Greig, it is all about attitude.
“The attitude is, you get up every morning and I don’t care how bad it is, it is a good day,” continued Greig.
The saddest thing that happened is the two people whose lives were sacrificed for him said Grieg. The first was the man who died in New Mexico and the second is the lady in California that should have got the liver but died beforehand.
“Most mornings I think, ‘hey, two people gave their lives for me,’ and that attitude says you have to do things back,” said Greig. “That’s why I get so thrilled about helping other people because I was helped by two.”
While the cause of Greig’s liver failure was never found, Greig has gone on to live a normal life, doing the things he likes to do including more horseback rides in the mountains, RV trips to Mexico, Texas and the mountains and helping his sons on the farm occasionally.
He also served on the Board of Regents while he was sick and served in the Iowa State Legislature for six years after his transplant.
Greig has been married for 57 years to his wife Connie and has two sons, Will and Joe Greig.
“I am thankful and like I said, I am the luckiest guy in the world,” said Greig.
Date: June 14, 2015