CASSANDRA CRIFASI: My dad is who raised me, predominantly
as a single parent, with my sister and I.
And he is the kind of person who is always there for you,
whatever you need, no questions asked.
JIM KERCHER: I have been living with liver disease
for about 30 years.
I was first diagnosed with hepatitis in the early '90s.
Recently, I and my six month scan
and it showed up with having a tumor in my liver.
DR. MARK STURDEVANT: The first time I heard about Mr. Kercher,
and his daughter Cassandra, was at actually one of our liver
tumor boards where we were discussing him,
that he had a new liver cancer, which was of great concern.
Oftentimes, those patients are then
treated for their liver cancer and then
at some point about six months down the road,
they're able to start getting high enough on the liver
transplant list to ultimately get a transplant, which
still takes probably a year to ultimately get to that point.
DR. JORGE REYES: So because there
aren't enough organs to transplant all of our patients,
you basically have to get sicker and sicker in order
to get the next organ.
And that is very difficult for our patients,
and that's why they die, waiting.
CASSANDRA CRIFASI: The doctors were describing
different treatment options, and they
discussed the option of having someone
donate part of their liver.
DR. JORGE REYES: With living donors,
the patient can receive their transplant in an organized way,
and earlier than when they are very, very sick,
and that helps with survival and post-operative outcomes.
CASSANDRA CRIFASI: When I found out
that I was eligible to donate part of my liver to my dad,
I was thrilled.
It was so important to me that I could do this thing for my dad
so that he could be healthy and be
around in my life a lot longer.
DR. MARK STURDEVANT: It's a situation where someone
can really take control of their own life,
if they're lucky enough to have a loved one or a donor who
has been through the evaluation, and we really
feel that there will be a good liver donor.
It's just a great opportunity for somebody
to be able to move on to really the next most
important phase, which is getting a new liver transplant.
DR. JORGE REYES: Having all the options available, and being
performed at the highest level of expertise, is the best
you can get.
And that's why the University of Washington
is successful in something like this
and that's why it started here.
DR. MARK STURDEVANT: We are already
proving that we can give people chances and options that they
can't at all the other hospitals.
You know, we have patients who have now
been transplanted with living donors
for, you know, for indications for transplants
that are really innovative.
CASSANDRA CRIFASI: The team at the University of Washington
made it so easy to go through the evaluation process.
Living on the other coast, I was concerned
it would be logistically challenging to get taken care
of, but it was smooth and well communicated
and really took a lot of stress out of a scary situation.
JIM KERCHER: It wasn't like I was just
waiting for things to happen, things
were happening continuously, it was just really fast.
And before I knew it, I was there, in the hospital
and the operation was taking place.
CASSANDRA CRIFASI: Around two years ago,
I was talking with my dad, and he told me,
"I think I maybe had about five years left,
I'm just really not feeling very well."
And now he's talking about what he's
planning for the next 20 years.
He used to be tired all the time,
very fatigued and irritable.
Now and he's up and around, doing housework,
walking the dogs, cooking, enjoying life again.
DR. MARK STURDEVANT: Over 1,000 Americans
a year die waiting for a liver transplant.
So with living donation, you're really
able to rapidly start looking ahead
towards the actual operation that
will remove your diseased liver and this
makes a very immediate and long lasting
impact in the recipient's life.
JIM KERCHER: Without the living donor program,
I would not have lived long enough to have a transplant.
CASSANDRA CRIFASI: I'm so grateful for the team
at the University of Washington.
I'm so proud and excited that I got to be part of this,
I got to help my dad.
And I just really hope that more people
will choose to do the same thing for their family members
or loved ones.
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