Claire Montour, a long time resident of Denver, Colorado, was the recipient of a triple organ transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN on May 20. She received a heart, a liver, and a kidney.
The transplants were necessary because Claire was born with a genetic predisposition due to a familial amyloid gene. The amyloid causes her liver to produce a protein that destroys the organs by making the organs become a cement type of structure so that they can no longer function. By December 15, 2007 Claire was in very serious condition and was flown by air ambulance from Swedish Hospital to the Mayo Clinic where she waited for six months for a donor.
Her surgery, done by three different teams, lasted twelve hours. On June 9 she was transferred to the Gift of Life Transplant House where she can be monitored by Mayo Clinic doctors as she recovers.
The first Gift of Life Transplant House was opened in 1984 after years of work by Edward Pompeian. Pompeian had a kidney transplant in 1973 and believed that the health and well being of transplant patients would be better served by living in a home-like setting during their recovery. The current Gift of Life Transplant house is the Judd house just five blocks from the Mayo Clinic. This is where Claire will be staying for the next three months.
This whole process has been miraculous even from the beginning. The symptoms manifested about 20 years ago but Claire wasn’t aware of the Familiar Amyloidosis condition until informed during a chance contact with a cousin who has the condition. Claire thought that heart problems ran in her family. In reality her father and uncle died of the undiagnosed Familiar Amyloidosis. Because of the information from the cousin Claire could begin researching and getting help for her condition.
After being so ill for so long and having three organs transplanted she was able to leave the Mayo in less than three weeks. One doctor, shortly after the surgery, said that she looked more like she’d had an appendectomy than a triple organ transplant.
Another miracle of sorts was the donor. Claire has type O negative blood so the donor pool was reduced since O Negative types can receive blood and organs only from someone who is O Negative. And yet she was able to get three organs within six months.
Claire was employed as an accountant in the Department of Human Services Department for the State of Colorado for thirty years. She was involved in the Denver Contra Dance community and the Denver International Folk Dance community. She volunteered for the Friends of Old Time Music and Dance Organization (CFOOTMAD) and was on the board of the Eaton Senior Services Program.
The Denver and Boulder Dance Community will be holding a benefit dance on October 19th at 2:00 at the Avalon Ballroom, 6185 Arapahoe, Boulder. A fund has been set to help with expenses at the Credit Union of Colorado: “Claire Montour Medical Fund”.
