Soon after Tiffany Eastin learned she was in the last stage of liver disease came the news her kidney also was failing and she was put on the transplant list for both organs.
“I was just having faith and had people praying for me,” said the St. Rose resident, fighting back tears. “I was sitting in my living room with my middle daughter, Saige, on June 18 and got a call from a nurse who said, ‘Ms. Eastin, we have a donor of a liver and kidney.’”
The call was soon followed by another giving a date to report to the hospital, which set her life into what seemed like a whirlwind.
“It was overwhelming and beautiful at the same time,” she said. “I was so scared.”
At the hospital, her donor was on life support and provided both organs.
Eastin was fearful her body would reject the transplants, which she had heard occurred in as many as 80 percent of recipients, but it went differently for her.
“I was in disbelief,” she said. “God took me and carried me the whole way. I woke up with a new liver and kidney.”
The surgery took 6-1/2 hours.
Her daughter, Saige, said her mother likes to say she graduated after the surgery, weekly visits and now regular blood work.
At age 48, she’d gotten a second chance and hopes to thank the family of her donor who saved her life.
“By the time I got the transplants, I was in the end stage of liver disease and I was on dialysis, too. I was very sick.”
Eastin, who was in alcohol rehab when she learned about her organs failing, had already committed to changing her life. But she didn’t believe she deserved the transplants because of drinking until her doctor explained that alcoholism is a disease and she deserved the help.
“I didn’t know what I was doing to myself,” she said. “I knew it was bad, but I couldn’t find a way out.”
This is when she went to rehab in early January and, by then, she was so yellow from liver failure that friends called her “Minion.” Her last drink was on Dec. 17, 2017, and life has changed significantly for her.
Now, Eastin said she feels good and is thankful.
Her recovery has been equally good in that she only revisited the hospital twice – once to get drugs that helped her body accept her liver and then again for a minor issue. Considering herself a miracle, Eastin’s committed to her healing and better life.
She hopes to return to her work soon as a set painter for movies, but for now she’s refinishing furniture for family and friends. She also colors every morning in a coloring book themed for a stress-free life.
As a member of local union 478, she’s painted sets for productions like “Twilight Saga – The Breaking Dawn,” including the wedding cake of bodies, their honeymoon suite and numerous finishes on sets that she said no one would know was her work, but it’s there.
She also worked on Season 2 of the Queen Sugar television series and the movie, “The Long Night.” [pullquote]“I was in disbelief. God took me and carried me the whole way. I woke up with a new liver and kidney.” – Tiffany Eastin[/pullquote]
Most of her work was done at warehouses in New Orleans and River Ridge. She started as a house painter but also did murals for babies until the boyfriend of a friend saw her work and invited her to do set work on the movie, “The Expendables.”
In her recovery, Eastin has also come to see her world differently.
“I just think that people are better than you think,” she said. “There are good people out there. To donate can save a life. I look at life clearer now. I don’t sweat the big things. I feel confident. My faith is totally restored. I definitely believe there is a higher power and I do call him God. We do live in a beautiful place. We have to remember that.
“I’ve changed for sure not taking anything for granted. We don’t have a lot of time here so we need to make the best of it, and I’m very grateful.”
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