Southwest Transplant Alliance

Transplant recipient Cynthia Venegas-Jepsen, 50, of Dickinson, met her donor’s family for the first time Saturday, almost a year to the day a Beaumont man lost his life and Venegas-Jepsen started a new one.

She planned to take a letter and a gift to the family for the event, a program presented at the Beaumont County Club by Southwest Transplant Alliance honoring area donors and their families.

“What do you give somebody who saved your life?” asked an emotional Venegas-Jepsen, speaking by phone from her home.

“The words can’t even say ‘Thank you’ enough for me.”

Venegas-Jepsen’slife has changed dramatically since the spring 2009. She was a Women, Infants and Children clinic coordinator for the University of Texas Medical Branch when she became so ill she had to quit work. An autoimmune disease had badly damaged her liver and moved her to the top of the liver transplant list in April 2009.

Doctors estimated she had about two weeks to live.

Meanwhile, in Beaumont, James Caleb, 51, woke up early on a Sunday morning, eager to get ready for church. He was a man known for his sense of service, quietly helping others, like the time he cut the lawn of a friend who was hospitalized.

He and his wife, Stephanie, had been friends since they were teenagers. They had been married more than 30 years, had three children and one grandchild.

But that Sunday morning, Caleb suddenly collapsed, apparently the victim of cranial bleeding. Doctors told Stephanie Caleb there was no hope.

“It’s so weird the way our stories parallel,” Venegas-Jepsen said. “We were both in such bad condition. He ended up dying, but because of him, I ended up living.”

Stephanie Caleb thought organ donation was the right thing to do.

“In the worst time of her life, in the pain and agony of losing her spouse, she thought about helping someone else,” Venegas-Jepsen said.

The date was April 24, 2009. Dr. Luca Cicalese was the surgeon and head of the transplant team, which included surgeons Emad Asham and Philip Thomas.

Internist Dr. Pam Havlen and liver specialist Dr. Andrew Hewlett also worked with Venegas-Jepsen. Her support team includes three sisters; husband, Dave Jepsen; friends, Roland Morales and Bonnie Horton; and transplant nurse, Nan Hocking.

Almost a year later, Venegas-Jepsen is back working at the medical branch, in outpatient services and valuing each day.

“It’s been a true miracle,” she said.

She remains on anti-rejection medication and still struggles with the emotions of it all.

“I feel so guilty sometimes that I’ve been so blessed, whereas, I know she (Mrs. Caleb) lost somebody so, so important in her life,” Venegas-Jepsen said. “The way she described him, it seemed like he was the love of her life.”

The two women spoke by phone last month, encouraging one another.

“She said he was a wonderful person, and he liked giving people things,” Venegas-Jepsen said.

“She said, what better tribute for him at the end to give part of his body to others so they could live.

“And I think that says it all.”

+++

Details To Note

April is National Donate Life Month. For information, check the website, www.donatelifetexas.org<http://www.donatelifetexas.org/>.

This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com<http://khou.com>’s partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.