The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘She deserves better’
Conn. woman diagnosed with chronic liver disease hopeful for live donor
HADDAM — A Haddam woman diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disorder that attacks the liver is encouraging people to consider registering as an organ donor.
Sandy (Saucier) Archer, 47, who was diagnosed with a fatty liver as a teen, was told in August 2022 that she has primary biliary cholangitis, a progressive destruction of the bile ducts, according to the Mayo Clinic. The causes are partly genetic and environmental factors, according to researchers.
Growing up, Archer was thin and active. “I didn’t eat the best, but what teenager does? I didn’t have any of those factors.”
There is no cure for PBC, Archer said. If she had been diagnosed earlier in life, she could have been put on medications that slow the disorder’s progression.
“Like your skin, your liver can regenerate itself as long as it’s healthy,” according to Archer’s sister, Theresa Colquit of Middletown. “Sandy’s has gotten to the point where it can’t anymore.”
Archer’s physician told her last summer that she had a 20% chance of survival in the next year.
Having a living donor allows the recipient to avoid possible health complications while waiting for a transplant, the Mayo Clinic website said.
Archer, recently married
and a mother, is in the middle of the national transplant waiting list.
She has hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar; jaundice, which turns the whites of her eyes yellow; and very low energy. “Just going grocery shopping yesterday really wore me out,” she said Monday.
Her stomach is often upset, and she wakes up with nosebleeds in the middle of the
night. Because her body has trouble with blood clotting, they take longer to stop.
Archer’s life lately has been a “whirlwind,” she admitted.
Her husband of eight months, Shawn Archer, has taken on more responsibilities to support his wife. “It’s been very stressful on him, and realizing how severe this was. It was a turning point for our relationship,” Archer said.
It was hard for her to continue working in the medical field. “I’ve always worked my whole life,” Archer said. “This time in my life, it’s very hard, very depressing because I can’t work because I’m sick all the time.”
It took a while for Archer to be diagnosed. The first GI doctor said she had alcohol cirrhosis, which “didn’t make
sense to me.” Later, Archer said, she found another physician who knew her and her habits. She is being treated at Yale New Haven Hospital.
Archer was under a great deal of stress dealing with family issues, including, for years, being her grandmother’s primary caretaker before she died a few years back. Because of that, Archer would unwind with an alcoholic beverage in the evening. However, Archer didn’t drink much before that other than socially. She was a “light smoker” but immediately gave up both habits in September 2022, she said.
Archer’s sister was tested to see if she would qualify as a donor, but she can’t do so because of her own health issues. Her husband is in the process of getting a battery of tests. However, medical personnel aren’t sold on the idea of him donating his liver because of the children, including her 10-year-old.
Also, “it’s a big, big risk,” Archer said.
According to organdonor. gov, 103,223 men, women, and children are on the national transplant waiting list. Over 46,000 transplants were performed in 2023. Every donor can save eight lives and enhance over 75 more,
it said.
As of September, 10,088 patients were waiting for liver donations, with 6,143 transplants performed, the website said.
People who have a living-donor liver transplant seem to have fewer
medical problems after the procedure than those who receive a liver from a deceased donor, the website said. A liver from a living donor also has a longer survival rate.
The operation involves removing Archer’s liver
and replacing it with a portion of the donor’s liver. The organ will regenerate over time. So, too, will the recipient’s, but that takes much longer, Archer said.
Because of the risk of her body rejecting the
liver, she will be on antiviral medicine for the rest of her life.
Her sister is understandably sentimental about the situation. Whenever she hears the song “I Get To Love You” by Ruelle, Colquit says, “It reminds me that my sister deserves to live longer.”
Archer isn’t one to appeal to family and friends for help, her sister said, and was hesitant to post her situation on social media. “She didn’t want to burden any of us with it.
“She deserves better,” as does her husband, children and stepchildren, Colquit said. None of them “could live without their mommas,” she added.
“I can’t imagine losing my sister to something other than old age because it’s not something I’ve ever thought of before,” Colquit said.
The initial screening process took Colquit under 10 minutes on the phone.