LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — While it’s common for people in need of organ transplants to wait several years to find a match, one mid-Michigan woman doesn’t have that time.
Megan Hill was just hit with news that no kid ever wants to hear — her mother, Sarah Minton, has six months to get a liver transplant or doctors fear the worst.
“I don’t want to lose her so young because I have so many milestones ahead of me, and it will just be hard to not have either one of my parents here,” Hill said.
It all started when Minton was diagnosed at a young age with a blood disease that causes her body to attack her liver.
“It’s called Budd-Chiari, it’s real rare and it’s mostly found in older men. At the time, I was a young 26-year-old female, so it was really rare that I got it, ” Minton said.
For the next 13 years, Minton lived a normal life, starting a family of her own and raising two daughters.
But just two years ago, her health started to go downhill and she was diagnosed with liver cancer. The doctors said she needed a liver transplant, but that could take up to three years.
“My doctor doesn’t think that I have that kind of time to wait. I need to find a living donor now because I need to have this done in the next couple months,” Minton said.
Minton is asking for help in finding a donor. She needs somebody who is fully vaccinated and has the blood type of either O negative or O positive.
The good news for the donor is that it is a very simple surgery.
“You’re only out of work for about two to three weeks. They take about half of your liver, including the gall bladder. Within two months, your liver grows back to the same size,” Minton said.
Doctors have given Minton just six months to live to find a liver, or they fear she will pass away.
If she receives her liver transplant, it will start her long road to recovery. It will take staying in a hospital for six months, and it could be two years after the transplant until she is back on her feet.
A GoFundMe page for Minton’s medical expenses can be found here.
If you want to learn more about being a donor, visit this link.