Daughter donates liver to save mom's life

[Clark]

http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/daughter-donates-liver-to-save-mom-s-life/article_b6c12541-9cbb-5ab9-869d-63b7df2ec2ba.html

Daughter donates liver to save mom's life
BARRY EBERLING

Kimberly St. Clair-Davis calls donating a portion of her liver to her mother Sandy Zablosky a “miraculous opportunity.”

The miraculous part to St. Clair-Davis is a scenario that defies strict mathematics. Zablosky can have her entire liver removed, St. Clair-Davis can donate 40 percent of her own liver to Zablosky and both women can be made whole.

That 40 percent will grow to become a complete liver within Zablosky, replacing a liver damaged by an accident-related illness. Meanwhile, the 60 percent remaining within St. Clair-Davis will grow until it too is once again complete.

“The liver, in general, is the only organ that regenerates,” St. Clair-Davis said.

Total regeneration can happen within about two months.

Then there’s the opportunity part. St. Clair-Davis intended to donate organs after her death and is listed as an organ donor on her driver’s license. But now she’s donated and sees the results.

“I never thought I’d be an organ donor when I was alive,” she said.

St. Clair-Davis and Zablosky sat down to talk about the situation a week before the scheduled Dec. 11 operations by University of California, San Francisco Medical Center surgeons.

By happenstance, the dual operations for the donation were to take place amid the Christmas season. That will make future Christmases special indeed for the family.

“Every year, it’s going to be about life,” St. Clair-Davis said. “It’s going to be about the real meaning of giving and receiving.”

Zablosky’s need for a liver came about because of one life-changing second, a mere moment in time that sent her health on a downward spiral.

She moved to Napa from Ohio as a high school student and went on to become a nurse at St. Helena Hospital. In 1988, she got poked with a needle contaminated with hepatitis C, an illness that attacks the liver.

Symptoms became apparent after a few months and worsened over time. She worked another 10 years, then stopped because of the illness.

“Just not being able to think straight,” Zablosky said. “The liver is not able to do its job and the toxins remain in the blood.”

One of her main health complaints was lethargy.

Things recently took a turn for the worse because of swelling in the abdominal area that required periodic draining. Her doctor told her that the time had come for a liver transplant.

But obtaining a donated cadaver liver is hard. According to the UCSF Medical Center, there are more than 17,000 patients on the waiting list nationally and only enough donated livers for 5,000 transplants annually.

St. Clair-Davis and Zablosky already knew about the option of live liver donations. USCF Medical Center five years ago performed the dual surgeries on family members. St. Clair-Davis’ sister-in-law donated a portion of her liver to a niece.

That showed St. Clair-Davis and Zablosky firsthand that the live liver donations really could work.

“At that point, I said to mom, ‘I’ll give you a piece of my liver,’” St. Clair-Davis said.

To donate, St. Clair-Davis had to go through a battery of tests. But UCSF Medical Center looks at more than the physical components.

“The donor must want to give the gift,” the UCSF Medical Center website says. ”During the evaluation process, we want to make sure you are not being coerced to do this is any way.”

Zablosky hopes her case can serve as an example to others. She has advice for nursing and hospital staffs and anyone else who handles needles.

“Just be careful with needles and don’t rush,” she said. “This was a one-time stick for me, and I got hepatitis C.”

St. Clair-Davis, who works in administration for the Napa County Sheriff’s Office, said law enforcement personnel should show caution when searching someone, since that person could have a contaminated needle in a pocket.

Transplant aftermath
On Dec. 11, the dual operations took place and was a success. Four days later, St. Clair-Davis talked about the experience.

The reality of the event hadn’t really hit her yet. It might take another month before she can really reflect on the live liver donation, she said by phone from the hospital.

“We’re still in recovery, still in pain, we’re exhausted,” she said. “There’s a whole recovery period we have to go through. The reality of it will set in once we’re through this phase, once we go through the healing phase.”

But the big picture was apparent.

“My liver immediately started working in her,” St. Clair-Davis said. “There are always bumps and stuff, but nothing real critical.”

Zablosky expected to be taking a new federally approved medicine that she hopes will kill any hepatitis C infection still in her body. She is looking forward to a healthy future with a new liver.