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Good news: Putting family first - Daughter-in-law donates liver to mother-in-law
Rebecca Warner has always put her family first. When diagnosed with Cirrhosis of the liver and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), her family knew they had to do something.
In 2021, Warner's life was whole, with a loving, supportive family, a husband of 42 years, four children, nine granddaughters, and a beautiful church family at Brazil United Pentecostal Church when she was unexpectedly diagnosed with a disease she, unfortunately, knows too well.
"I had a sister who had passed away from Cirrhosis, who also had the NASH kind. I had a brother who passed away with it, and my mother passed away with it," described Warner.
When hearing the diagnosis, Warner was understandably concerned. The family then reached out to a liver specialist.
"It was a God thing because I wasn't even supposed to get in to see him until two or three months later; I got in that very week," said Warner.
After receiving a liver biopsy, Warner got the devastating news that she was in the end stages of liver disease.
"There's no going back at this point; my only hope was to get a liver transplant because there's no other cure for Cirrhosis once it gets to the end stage of liver disease," explained Warner.
According to the National Foundation for Transplants, the wait time for a liver can take up to 239 days - precious time many don't have to spare.
"Unless you are critically ill, you get put down very, very far on the list," Warner said. "Unfortunately, a lot of people are on the list for so long that they end up either passing away before they can get a liver or they get so bad that they cannot make it through a transplant because it's not an easy surgery."
Warner's best chance at survival was a living donor. Warner told her children of the diagnosis and the need for a liver transplant.
"I dropped it. I didn't say anything more about it. I told my husband, 'I'm not going to ask anybody to be my donor.' It's not like you're asking to borrow money; you're asking them to basically put their life on the line."
Warner would never ask her children to do such a thing, but little did she know she wouldn't have to. One of her four children signed up (the other three were ineligible for various reasons), and all three of her daughters-in-law signed up to be her donor.
"On a Sunday afternoon, I didn't even mention it to the kids anymore, we kind of dropped it. I told my husband and my husband only; I didn't tell the church or my kids. I said, 'God needs to let me know what my next step needs to be because I don't know what to do."
Two days later, Caitlyn, Warner's daughter-in-law, texted, saying God gave her a sign on Sunday that she would be her donor.
"She said, 'Will you please, please let me do this?' I said, 'If you feel like it's from God. You don't know what I prayed Sunday, and I didn't know that God was telling you on Sunday.' That's not a coincidence in my mind," said Warner.
After undergoing testing, it was found that Caitlyn was a perfect match.
"She saved my life; she really did. There was no hope; I could have lived maybe two or three years, but my quality of life was not very good," explained Warner. "I always tell my daughter-in-law, 'You're my hero,' and she'll always be my hero."
In October 2022, the two underwent a twelve-hour transplant surgery.
"It's not a very common thing; they actually took 60% of my daughter-in-law's liver and gave it to me. The only body part that will regenerate is the liver, so her liver has regenerated back to full size, and what I have has also regenerated to a full-size liver," explained Warner.
Warner wants her story to give hope to those needing transplants and even inspire families or friends of loved ones to be living donors.
"I feel like anything that God does when it's for His glory, then I want to share that story. Because if it's going to give somebody hope, that there is hope out there. We hear so many bad things in the world, and it's like, why not spread something that may give somebody a little light?"
The surgery, which took a toll on both women, was a small sacrifice for Caitlyn, who said she wanted her mother-in-law to be around for her daughters.
Both Rebecca and Caitlyn have been doing well since the 2022 surgery.
"She's doing amazing, and I'm doing amazing. My liver numbers have been great," said Warner. "