This time, a daughter gives her mother life

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This time, a daughter gives her mother life

Wednesday, January 04, 2006 By Sue Weibezahl Staff writer

Meaghan Goodnough's motives were pure when she decided to give her mother 70 percent of her liver.

But truth be told, she hopes it has a side benefit.

"Do I ever have to clean the bathroom again?" she asked her mom. "Can't we make a deal?"

On Jan. 16, the Westvale mother and daughter will go to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

The following day, each will undergo about 10 hours of surgery. More than half of Meaghan's healthy liver will replace her mother's diseased organ, which has progressively failed since she was diagnosed with hepatitis C more than 20 years ago. In two months, Meaghan's liver will have regenerated to the size it was before the surgery.

Dr. Heisig, a local gastroenterologist and liver specialist who has been monitoring Kathy Goodnough for more than a decade, said hepatitis C has become a major problem nationally.

"The number one cause for adults needing liver transplants is hepatitis C," he said, and most patients don't have symptoms until the disease has already attacked and permanently damaged the liver.

Kathy Goodnough, 47, appears to be the picture of health. But she said the rosy cheeks come compliments of cosmetics, and often she is too fatigued to get out of bed.

Doctors warned her that without a transplant, she would die within a year. For the past year, she has been on a list to get an organ from a cadaver, but that would have depended on an exact blood and tissue match.

When receiving an organ from a live donor, she and the donor only need compatible blood types, Kathy Goodnough said.

And the survival rate for recipients of live donor organs is better, said Dr. Adel Bazorgzadah, who leads Strong's transplant team and will perform the surgery.

He will open up Meaghan's torso and prepare the majority of her liver for transplant while another team of doctors gets her mother ready. Meaghan's surgery will take about eight hours; when hers is done, Bazorgzadah will join Kathy Goodnough's team to help finish the transplant, he said. That procedure could take 10 to 14 hours.

At Strong Memorial, the closest hospital to have a nationally recognized transplant program, doctors did 146 liver transplants in 2005, 18 of which were from live donors, Bazorgzadah said.

"They've done phenomenally well," he said.

Giving comes easily for Meaghan, who finished her first semester at Onondaga Community College in December.

Her grandfather, Kearney, needed many blood transfusions during his 10-year battle with cancer.

That mobilized the family to coordinate the first blood drive at their parish at St. Anne's Church on Onondaga Boulevard 10 years ago. They've done it every year since. This year, Meaghan ran it, setting the record for the annual drive, with 62 donated pints.

Once Meaghan turned 17, she started donating blood as often as she could: every 56 days. She also donates platelets.

Meaghan came forward on her own in October and asked to be tested as a potential liver donor.

"I could see my mom was getting sicker, especially in the last year," she said. "You hear all these stories of people waiting on the list, and that was something I didn't want to put my mom through."

Both were thrilled when after three days of Meaghan undergoing blood tests, MRIs, angiograms, pulmonary function screenings, liver biopsies and psychiatric evaluations, doctors proclaimed them a good match.

About 70 percent of the time, family members are eliminated as donors because of age, underlying medical conditions or blood types that don't match.

Meaghan has an 0-positive blood type, making her a "universal donor." Because she is the donor, she got to choose the surgery date.

"I wanted to wait until after the holidays and after my birthday," said Meaghan, who turned 20 Monday.

Kathy Goodnough's surgery is expected to cost about $300,000, most of which insurance will cover. Meaghan's surgery is free because she's a donor.

Christmas was laid back this year at the Goodnoughs. They didn't exchange gifts, just letters with each family member telling others how much they mean to them.

Meaghan said she resisted the urge to put a bow on her torso with a note to her mom, "Don't open until Jan. 17!"

She will be in the hospital for about a week after surgery. Her mother will stay at least two weeks.

Their incisions will start at their chest and fork out on both sides of their lower abdomen.

By mid-spring, Meaghan should be able to resume her normal schedule.

Her mother will continue with follow-up visits to the hospital and doctors' offices and will take anti-rejection drugs the rest of her life.

Neither is worried about the outcome, and Meaghan minimized the upcoming ordeal.

"All I'm doing is having some surgery," Meaghan said. "It may be a little risky, a little painful, but it's all going to work out."

Kathy Goodnough, who is self-employed collecting DNA samples for family court judges in eight counties, said she has no fears about what's ahead.

"It's in God's hands," she said. "I have my faith that he'll take care of all of us."

Her only regret, she said, is "it's going to be so hard for me not to take care of Meaghan while she's recuperating. Whenever she's been sick, I've always been there for her."

The two have been putting together care baskets for each other to exchange after they return home and are on bed rest. They included stuffed animals, candles, lotions, nail polish, books "and surprises I can't tell you about," Meaghan said.

Her mom reached out to hold her hand while she talked.

"I tease and call her 'my liver giver,' " Kathy Goodnough said. "But really, she's my angel."

Sue Weibezahl can be reached at 470-3039 or sweibezahl@...

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