Monday, November 17, 2003 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

Teacher chronicles lessons learned as he waits

Seattle high-school teacher Jack Slater has advanced hepatitis C. Doctors say a liver transplant is his only real hope, and placed him on a transplant waiting list about a year ago. The months since have been dictated by his health — sometimes passable, sometimes horrible — and by the pager he wears to alert him to a waiting liver.

Slater is recording his journey in occasional essays about his personal struggles and lessons, revealing his humor, fear and occasional confusion. His first piece ran in The Seattle Times on Oct. 19. When Slater saw it in print, his condition hit home hard. It also touched people around the country. He also writes about the night he was called to the hospital as a "back up" for a liver-transplant recipient.

We'll continue to publish Slater's essays, and monitor his progress, in the coming months.