Organ donor gave gift of life to man who showed him how to be a ‘fixer’

They were neighbors for more that 20 years and when one man needed a liver, the other one said, “yes.”

By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist, tfender1@iuhealth.org

There’s some irony in hearing Shane Otis tell about his relationship with Mike Bushman. They were long-time neighbors and Otis credits Bushman with encouraging him to be a “fixer.”

“Mike was always the type of guy who was a helper. Rain or shine he was there to help and taught me to become a do-it-yourselfer,” said Otis, 53, Fishers, Ind. “I like to solve problems - if something is wrong with my car, I’ll go to YouTube and figure out how to fix it.” With his dad living in Fort Wayne, Otis looked up to Bushman as a role model who lived nearby.

When Otis moved out of state for a time, he’d come back to visit and learned that Bushman’s health was deteriorating. He needed a liver transplant. Otis looked at his gift of health as another option to help fix something.

“First and foremost, God gave his son and that was a sacrifice for all. I grew up with loving parents who taught me well. If you can do something to help someone, you do it,” said Otis.

Bushman, who turns 68 on November 24, was diagnosed with non-alcoholic cirrhosis. Married 40 years to his wife, Margaret, he is the father of two daughters and four grandchildren with a fifth one on the way. He’s spent most of his career working in IT. At his sickest, he said he was so weak that he passed out causing him to break multiple bones.

“I like to fix just about everything. That’s how Shane and I got to be friends,” said Bushman. One of his favorite projects was working on flying RC models. As his condition grew worse, he knew a transplant was the only way to repair his health.

Living donors do not have to be related to the recipient. Compatibility is based on blood type. Age and size are also taken into consideration.

Living organ donors reduce or eliminate the need for patients to spend years waiting for a deceased donor liver transplant. By donating a portion of their liver, living donors also help increase the number of livers available for those still on the waiting list.

An organ from a living donor can function better and last longer because the donor is healthy. It also functions better because the organ is transplanted into the recipient shortly after being removed from the donor. Because of these factors, patients receiving an organ from a living donor often have better outcomes than patients receiving an organ from a deceased donor.

To ensure the best outcomes, living donors undergo an initial screening, multiple tests and evaluations. The transplant involves removing a portion of the donor’s liver and then using it to replace the diseased liver in the recipient. The liver regenerates and returns to full function within a month. Both kidney and liver donors are typically discharged from the hospital within a few days.

In the care of Dr. Chandrashekhar Kubal, the transplant took place on March 18. Exactly 24 hours before transplantation, Otis became engaged and has been married for the past four months. He has three children from a previous marriage ages, 14, 21, and 22.

“After all we’ve been through, I consider Shane a close friend,” said Bushman. “So we can joke and in any little instance of something going wrong I say, ‘it’s because he gave me a puny liver.’ But in reality, I appreciate him more than I can say.”