Joey considers his family one of the most important parts of his life. He enjoys spending time at home in Fairmont, W. Va., with his wife, Lisa, his three children, and his three grandchildren.
For decades, liver damage was also part of Joey’s life. Joey first found out he had liver damage in 1993 when blood tests showed his liver wasn’t working right. Doctors at the UPMC Center for Liver Care helped him manage his liver damage.
But in 2021, Joey suddenly lost almost 50 pounds, and his health worsened. Joey’s UPMC Center for Liver Care team recommended a liver transplant and advised that a living donor was a good option.
A living donor donates part of their healthy liver to replace the recipient’s sick liver. Advances in liver transplant surgery and the liver’s unique ability to regenerate allow people to donate part of their liver to help someone in need of a transplant.
Joey and Lisa told their kids that he needed a living-liver donor. Their replies were simple: Joey’s daughter stated, “I’m in,” and Joey’s son B.J. said, “Absolutely.” B.J. works as an interventional radiology technician. Through his work, he learned about the benefits of living-donor liver transplantation.
Next, Joey’s kids needed to complete the donor evaluation process to make sure their livers were a good match for Joey’s body and that it was safe for them to donate. B.J. went through the donor evaluation process. Throughout the process, UPMC staff helped B.J. feel informed and comfortable during his medical tests and meetings.
B.J. says, “Everyone was very friendly and knowledgeable. They explained everything very well.”
The transplant team determined that B.J. could be Joey’s donor.
After he talked to his kids about living donation, Joey and his care team decided to try another treatment option before transplant surgery. Joey had a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure to relieve high blood pressure in his liver. After Joey’s TIPS procedure, he regained weight and felt stronger.
But Joey’s liver still wasn’t working effectively. Because his liver wasn’t filtering properly, there were more toxins in his blood, spreading throughout his body to his brain. As a result, Joey experienced hepatic encephalopathy, which causes memory problems, agitation, and confusion.
A year after his TIPS procedure, Joey again rapidly lost weight. Joey’s care team recommended that his next step should be a living-donor liver transplant. Joey decided it was time for his transplant surgery.
The Solution: Living-Donor Liver Transplant
Months before his operation, Joey wanted to hear about living-donor liver transplantation from someone who had already experienced it.
Joey recalls, “I told my wife, ‘Man, I would like to talk to someone who’s been through this. I have no idea what I’m getting into.’”
A couple of days later, a living donor ambassador at UPMC offered to talk with Joey about the transplant surgery. She shared her personal experience as a liver transplant recipient.
Joey says his conversation with the living donor ambassador "was just great. She helped me immeasurably.”
He and the living donor ambassador discussed the transplant surgery and the experience of having a family member as the living donor. Talking to the living donor ambassador about her own transplant experience helped Joey feel more prepared for the liver transplant surgery, he says.
Joey and his son had their surgeries at UPMC Montefiore in January 2023. B.J. recovered well from his surgery. He was able to go home five days after his donor surgery, and he returned to light-duty work within a month. He said he appreciated the support of his wife and kids throughout his living donor journey.
Joey’s surgery went well, too, and Lisa helped him recover at the hospital. When Joey was discharged from the hospital, he and Lisa decided to stay nearby because he had a follow-up appointment in two days. They checked into a hotel less than two blocks from UPMC Presbyterian.
The night he left the hospital, Joey discovered he had developed sepsis. Sepsis is a life-threatening illness that happens when your body fights an infection and hurts itself in the process. Joey managed to alert Lisa to his condition before becoming totally unresponsive. Lisa saved his life by calling 911, and Joey was swiftly taken to the hospital.
Joey spent a couple of weeks in intensive care, a scary time for him and his family. He recovered with the help of his family and the transplant and intensive care staff.
“All those nurses were great,” Joey says. “They were wonderful. They took care of my wife; they took care of me.”
After leaving the hospital, Joey continued his recovery at home, supported by his family and home health aides.
Life After a Living-Donor Liver Transplant
More than a year after his transplant, Joey says he feels physically and spiritually better than he has in 10 to 15 years. He's still dealing with some fatigue and muscle weakness, but feels “capable of doing anything,” like riding his motorcycle, cutting the grass, playing music, and singing.
Through his work at a car dealership, Joey has even had serendipitous meetings with other people from the transplant community. One of his customers happened to be a living donor.
Joey emphasizes how important his care partners were for his liver transplant journey, supporting him through all the ups and downs.
“I don’t know how liver transplant patients go through the process without someone as strong as Lisa,” Joey says.
Joey’s experience of care at the UPMC Liver Transplant Program has led to new friendships for Lisa and him.
After his transplant, Joey and Lisa befriended his living donor ambassador and her wife. The four occasionally meet up for dinner to discuss life after liver transplant and caregiving before and after transplant surgery.
Joey is deeply grateful for his son’s donation.
“Every time I talk about him, I cry," Joey says. "Because kids aren’t supposed to take care of their dad; dads are supposed to take care of their kids. But B.J. did. He took good care of me.”
From his perspective, B.J. says becoming a living donor has been meaningful for him as a son and as a health care worker.
“The whole reason you work in the medical field is to save lives," says B.J. "If you have the opportunity to do it, and you can do it safely, then living donation is definitely worth it.”
Joey and B.J.’s treatment and results may not be representative of all similar cases.