ST. MARYS — Wesley Schmidt was just 27 years old when he noticed his skin was turning yellow. What he didn’t know is how his life would change as a result of it.
Eleven years ago Schmidt, of St. Marys, was in Arizona for the winter with his parents when signs of jaundice — yellowing of the skin — began to appear. He was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune disorder.
After returning to Hazel Hurst and getting further testing done at UPMC in Pittsburgh, he learned he was among the two of every 100,000 people to be diagnosed with a rare liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). The disease is damaging his bile ducts, causing his liver to scar and close down. Medical researchers don’t know why this happens.
He didn’t know when he walked into the doctor’s office that he would learn it would take another person to change his life — a live liver donor. Because of the nature of the disease, the urgency for a liver doesn’t register high enough to make him eligible for a liver from a deceased person, but that doesn’t change the fact that to live he needs a transplant.
“His bile ducts will never last that long,” Amber Burgess, his partner of seven years, said. “The disease is progressing. He needs to get rid of that liver; there’s no other option.”
Typically, patients with PSC need a transplant within 10 years of being diagnosed, Burgess said. Schmidt has been dealing with it for 11. During those 11 years, Schmidt has had to make regular trips to Pittsburgh to have stents put into his bile ducts just to keep them open, but he has now been told it won’t work any longer. The jaundice has gotten worse and he has lost a lot of weight in the last six months, Burgess said. Fatigue and a lack of energy have plagued him as well.
“His attitude is terrific. There’s no question, he is very hopeful. He’s a fighter,” Linda Burgess, Amber’s mother, said.
They are all keeping their fingers crossed now because two people have volunteered to be tested to see if they are a match for Schmidt.
The donor gives 60 percent of the healthy liver to Schmidt. Both the donor’s liver and the transplanted portion will return to its normal size within a few weeks, Amber Burgess said. If a suitable donor is found, he has an excellent chance of recovery, she said.
“He’s one of the bravest people I’ve ever known,” Burgess said.
Schmidt has been on the waiting list since March, and between the frequent trips to Pittsburgh and an anticipated three-week stay for the operation, the costs are adding up for Schmidt’s loved ones. Ideally, they would like to be able to be in Pittsburgh with Schmidt during this process.
To make this a reality a non-profit fundraising account has been set up for Schmidt. Donations are being accepted at: Helphopelive.org/campaign/12750 checks payable to: Help Hope Live memo line – in honor of Wesley Schmidt, 2 Radnor Corporate Center, 100 Matsonford Road, Suite 100, Radnor, PA 19087.
