The gift of life: Daughter donates liver to mom
Courtesy of Lori Scott
Lori Scott, right, and her mom Karen Goodwin hang out in post-op at UPMC Montefiore following their liver transplant surgeries Sept. 8. Scott gifted her mother part of her liver to save Goodwin’s life, a gift that keeps on giving as they celebrate the Christmas season together.
Courtesy of Lori Scott
Karen Goodwin, center, recently enjoyed an afternoon at Kentuck Knob with her daughter Lori Scott, right, and granddaughter Hartley Scott. The three are thick as thieves, and looking forward to a merry Christmas together.
Courtesy of Lori Scott
About a month following their liver transplant surgery, Lori Scott and her mom Karen Goodwin, right, are cozy and healthy in their Halloween best. When Goodwin was given a fatal prognosis in May, Scott immediately offered to donate an organ to her mom and built-in best friend.
Karen Goodwin, left, and her daughter Lori Scott pose in front of the Living Donors Wall at a liver transplant follow-up. The two, who have been close all Scott's life, are looking forward to many years of talks, shopping trips and, of course, Christmases, following the surgery.
Karen Goodwin, left, and her daughter Lori Scott sport matching caps and gowns before heading into surgery Sept. 8 at UPMC Montefiore. "We were nervous, but we were excited," said Goodwin, who received 60% of her daughter's liver.
Courtesy of Lori Scott
Lori Scott and her mother Karen Goodwin are ready for Christmas in their festive sweaters. The gift of togetherness is a Christmas miracle they worried may not come to pass when Goodwin was, in May, told that without a liver transplant, she wouldn’t live to see the holidays.
For Lori Scott, this year, what’s underneath the Christmas tree isn’t as important as who is gathered around it.
In May, the Uniontown native wasn’t sure she’d be celebrating the holidays with her mother, Karen Goodwin.
“I didn’t realize how sick I was,” said Goodwin, looking healthy during a Zoom interview from her Chalk Hill home on a recent weekday. “I knew how bad I felt, but I didn’t realize that I was, like, at the end stage of the disease itself.”
In 2018, Goodwin was diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis, or non-alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, a condition she managed well with medication and regular bloodwork. The active Fayette County woman enjoyed long walks and quad rides through the woods with her husband of nearly 50 years, Jim, shopping with her only daughter and spending quality time with granddaughter Hartley Scott, 10.
And then, last December, Goodwin fell and broke her shoulder.
“That’s when I started getting worse,” said Goodwin, who lost weight and strength after the fall. “I swelled up. I was tired all the time. I couldn’t do anything, I didn’t want to do anything. I just didn’t feel well.”
Scott said it was as though her mother was living in slow motion. The normally organized, Type A personality struggled to get around and had difficulty processing thoughts and information.
“She was having a hard time walking. My aunt gave her a walker and a cane to use, that was tough to see,” Scott said. “It was not the mom I was used to.”
When the two traveled to Pittsburgh in May for Goodwin’s routine bloodwork, they expected the numbers to be a bit off. But neither was prepared to hear just how bad Goodwin’s health had become.
“Dr. (Shahid Masood) Malik said that I went way downhill really fast and if I didn’t get a transplant now, I wouldn’t be here for Christmas,” said Goodwin.
The mother and daughter sat together in stunned silence.
“You see movies, you think of these situations where you have less than a year to live and you think how you might react to hearing that. We just kind of just sat there and looked at each other,” said Scott. “I think we were in a little bit of shock.”
In 2021, a record-high 9,236 liver transplants were performed across the U.S., according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Those waitlisted can spend years hoping for an organ, and a faster, though less common, route to transplant is the living donor.
When Malik suggested finding a living donor, Scott, without hesitation, volunteered her liver.
“Lori right away jumps up and says, ‘I’ll do it.’ I really didn’t want her to do it. I’m a worrier,” said Goodwin. “She says no, I’m doing it. She said, what do you think I’m going to do, just sit here and let you die? She said, I’m not going to do that. The doctor kind of reassured us if she was a match, that it would be a good choice for her to do it.”
Not only was Scott a match, she was a perfect match.
Both Goodwin and Scott underwent evaluations at UPMC Montefiore, and surgery was scheduled for Sept. 8, 2022. In the time leading up to surgery, the mother and daughter worked closely with their transplant teams, who explained the procedure and were on hand to answer any questions.
“UPMC, they do a great job, I think, at really preparing people, especially on my end. I was not nervous at all going into this because I felt like I knew everything that I needed to know. I felt very informed. When the time came, I was ready to, you know, get it done. I was ready to see my mom start feeling better and being healthy,” said Scott.
On surgery day, mother and daughter donned matching caps and gowns. Scott donated 60% of her liver to her mom, who joked she was taking back the organ she’d gifted her daughter at birth.
The experience, both agreed, was a good one.
“We were in the pre-op area together. We were in the beds next to each other, just talking. And then we were in rooms next to each other for the first day and a half (after surgery),” Scott said. “They wheeled me over in a chair the next day, and we were watching a cooking show on TV the very next day.”
Scott remained in the ICU for four days before being discharged. Goodwin was moved to the regular transplant wing of Montefiore, and was released a week after her surgery.
“The doctor said I was doing so well, and home would be better than in the hospital,” Goodwin said. “The people down at UPMC Montefiore, they’re just amazing. I had a surgeon, my transplant team. Lori had her own surgeon and staff, and then both our surgeons put her new liver in me. It’s like a whole team effort. The nurses and everybody, they’re just great.”
Great, too, is the support system that rallied around the family. A friend of Scott’s set up a meal train, and every day family members, friends and neighbors delivered food and well-wishes to the Scotts and Goodwins.
“We had so much support from our family, my family, my husband’s family. My work, I work at Fay-Penn Economic Development Council, and even they were like, you just tell us when and what, you know, whatever you need. Having just people that care about you like that is wonderful,” Scott said.
Goodwin’s older sister Nancy Bruzda spent a month living with the Goodwins, helping Jim with caretaking duties and assisting around the house.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done without her because she did, she kept the house clean, and cooked. She did the laundry, plus took care of me,” Goodwin said.
Three months after their liver transplant surgeries, both mother and daughter are feeling great. Scott’s liver has grown to 90% of its regular size, their scars have healed, and Goodwin is feeling more herself.
“I feel clear. I can think straight,” said Goodwin.
For Scott, who has always been close with her parents – “There was always just the three of us, so we were very close,” Goodwin smiled – gifting life to her mother was a no-brainer.
“It just seemed a natural thing to do,” she said. “I don’t want to say to me it wasn’t a big deal, because it was. I’m just over the moon that it all worked out the way that it did, that I was able to do it.”
Goodwin, however, sees her daughter’s organ donation as something more.
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” she said. “It means everything to me. I’m so grateful to her. I can’t repay her for that.”
The only repayment Scott needs is more time with her mom, more spa days and bonfire chats. The pair has already been shopping and camping, and they are looking forward to a very busy-but-merry Christmas.
“I never saw my mom let it get her down too much. We just kind of took it as, you know, we tried to find any humor we could in the whole situation. Just kind of took it all in stride,” Scott said. “I’ve seen so many people who get sick and don’t get better, and this is a different story. It’s a happy ending.”