Wellness Wednesday is sponsored by Intermountain Health.
Sometimes doing everything right isn’t enough.
Erika Morton was only 35 when she learned she needed a new liver. She was athletic and disciplined about her diet.
In other words, the picture of wellness. Unfortunately, that picture hid not one, but two deadly conditions.
“I am so healthy. Like it was weird to have to meet that so soon,” said Morton.
Erika’s pictures show what’s on the line. A life lived with joy, embracing adventures big and small.
Although she seems to be in good health, Erika knew about her liver disease, but thought she had more time before she needed to worry.
“It's a rare disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis or PSC for short. And I had known that I had this disease since around 2017-2018, so it had been a few years. And so, in my mind, I'm thinking 75, maybe I would need a new liver. So, to hear at 35 that wasn't the case was really scary,” said Morton.
Dr. Richard Gilroy is the medical director of liver transplantation at Intermountain Health. He is also Erika’s doctor.
“If you don't have a connection to the patients, there's not a lot of purpose to it. And so, I'm fortunate in that regard. But when you have a look at our organization, every individual has got a connection with the patients. Every individual here cares about the objective every individual looks at the fact that we provide people with lifesaving opportunities,” he said.
But that patient still needs someone else. Erika’s youth and overall health put her low on the list of recipients for a new liver. Luckily there’s another option.
"If it weren't for living donor, there's no way…there's just no way that I would probably be able to get a liver,” said Morton.
Erika’s loved ones volunteered, but they weren’t a match. Enter a complete stranger named Shaylin Crandall.
"I just I had the inspiration to sign up to be a living donor. Mainly because I just knew I had something in my body that I could give to somebody that could help them live,” said Crandall.
It really was that simple for her.
"I just was set. I had my mindset, and I wasn't there was just no question for me. It's just something that I was going to do, and I did it,” she said.
That determination made Erika’s surgery possible.
"I couldn't believe that someone out there, this good Samaritan, non-directed donor just wants to give their liver a piece of their major organ to someone, and I lucked out that it was Shay,” said Morton.
Erika knows now her luck had an expiration date. Once removed, her old liver revealed the medical equivalent of a time bomb.
“Had we waited six months, our conversation wouldn't be about a successful transplant, it would be a conversation about the unfortunate prevalence of cholangiocarcinoma, which is a fatal liver cancer in patients with PSC,” said Dr. Gilroy.
Now, it’s six months after transplant surgery, and these strangers are fast friends.
“She's like a sister. And I mean, if I think deeply about it, it does kind of start to boggle my mind that part of my organ is inside functioning for her,” said Crandall.
“Because of her…I get to live my life,” said Morton.
Living organ donation is one of those medical miracles that relies on that other miracle of human courage and generosity.
Intermountain’s liver transplant program is considered among the best in the country, and they encourage you to look into becoming a living donor. You can find out more about the process and requirements here.
