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Liver Donor, Recipient Come from the Same Church Body
PALATINE, IL (August 31, 2005) - Two years of prayers for a liver donor to
save the life Dave Caspari, a member of DeerGrove Covenant Church,
appear to have been answered when another member of his church family
was found to be a match.
Donna Michael was tested as a potential donor for Dave Caspari in June
and recently was approved. The transplant surgery is scheduled for
September 21 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Caspari, a graduate of North Park University and North Park Theological
Seminary, was diagnosed eleven years ago with Primary Sclerosing
Cholangitis (PSC), the same disease that killed famed Chicago Bears
running back Walter Payton.
Donna called Dave and his wife, Amy, with the good news while the
Casparis were visiting Dave's father in Colorado.
"It came as a bit of a shock, after almost two years of searching and
having six potential donors rejected," Amy says. "It still is hard to
believe that it is actually going to happen."
The wait has taken its toll on the family. "It's been hard in the sense
that we have to be patient," Amy said in May. "It's been a big
rollercoaster."
"Donna and Dave will each have their own surgical team and be in
operating rooms that are side by side," Amy says. Each of them will be
hospitalized anywhere from three days to a week, depending on the
recovery process.
"There is extensive follow up for both for the first month, with
appointments almost daily," Amy adds. The longer recovery process for
both will be the healing of the incisions, which will be about three
months. Dave will be monitored for rejection and adjusting
anti-rejection drugs as needed to keep the new liver functional.
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.
Dave first became ill eleven years ago. He was first diagnosed with
ulcerative colitis, which often is related to PSC. (Many people with PSC
also have Crohn's disease.)
PSC 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.
The Casparis have mailed monthly updates to family members and friends
who regularly pray for them. Dave 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 the transplant.
Dave struggles with bouts of fatigue, with some days being better than
others, he said. 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 has at least one advantage, says Dave. It allows him to
nap when the kids sleep.
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