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It's a Battle for Time in Search for Liver Donor

PALATINE, IL (May 9, 2005) - A member of DeerGrove Covenant Church prays that a liver donor can soon be found as he battles the same disease that claimed the life of famed Bear's running back Walter Payton.

Dave Caspari, a graduate of North Park University and North Park Theological Seminary, was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) eleven years ago. The disease causes inflammation and scarring in the bile ducts inside the liver. As the disease progresses, bile is unable to get through and forms pools which are highly susceptible to infection.

After several years, the reduced flow of bile eventually causes cirrhosis, or hardening of the liver tissue, and causes it to stop functioning. The more immediate danger is cancer of the bile ducts, which is a very aggressive cancer and is considered to be basically untreatable.

Dave first was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which often is related to PSC, although doctors do not understand the relationship. Many people with PSC also have Crohn's disease.

Donors give one-half of their liver to be transplanted. Both organs will regenerate within two to four weeks - the liver is the only organ in the body that can regenerate. A living donor is needed, which makes the search more difficult. Five potential donors, including family members, have been disqualified due to incompatibility factors.

The wait has taken its toll on the family. "It's been hard in the sense that we have to be patient," says Caspari's wife, Amy. "It's very frustrating to know that maybe this is the person, but we don't really get our hopes up anymore. It's been a big rollercoaster." Still, she says, "It's been a blessing to know people care that much to give their own organ."

The couple mails monthly updates to family members and friends who regularly pray for them. "It's also been a blessing that God has stabilized my condition at this point," says Dave. He regularly takes antibiotics because the lack of kidney function inhibits his ability to fight infection – and to make certain he is healthy enough to receive a transplant.

Dave struggles with bouts of fatigue, with some days being better than others, he says. Since a hospital stay in 2003, Dave has stayed at home with his two children, Sarah, three and a half years old, and Benjamin, who is one. Being at home allows him to nap when the kids sleep, he says.

Individuals interested in being considered to be a donor should contact the Casparis at dcaspari@ameritech.net. The donor's medical expenses are covered by the Caspari's insurance. Donors must have Type O blood.

While Dave waits for a donor, Carl "Andy" Johnson is reportedly doing well more than a year after receiving a liver transplant from his sister, who was attending North Park University at the time. "I feel great," Johnson says, adding that he has had no complications from the surgery. He works full-time at his father's drywall business.

Marit Johnson of Libertyville Covenant Church in Libertyville, Illinois, donated 60 percent of her liver to save her brother's life. She also has returned to normal activities with no effects from the surgery, Andy says.

Johnson underwent surgery at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where Caspari also will have his surgery once a suitable donor is found. To read a news story about Johnson's plight, which was published last year, please see Carl Johnson.

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