Woman becomes living donor after Denver7 story via another donor

AURORA, Colorado – Maureen Carrig was scrolling through social media one day in December when she came across a headline that would shape her next year.

She had never considered becoming a living donor, but when she read Denver7’s story about the experience of a woman who donated part of her liver to children on the transplant list, she decided to see if she would be a good candidate for the surgery.

“I read the story online. It came up on one of my social feeds and it really gave me pause because I thought, if that was me, if that was someone in my family, one of my friends, and no one was eligible, I would hope that someone would come forward and offer to donate on their own,” Carrig said. “I went straight from that story to the link to UCHealth. I filled out an application the first week of January. I was contacted by one of the transplant coordinators, and here we are, almost a month after surgery.”

Carrig underwent surgery on June 26, after months of appointments and preparation.

“The whole process went fantastically and I’m very, very glad I did it,” she said. “One of the best things about it was the level of communication. People were very clear about what to expect, how long the recovery would take, how they would do the surgery, how much pain would be, things like that.”

Since her surgery, Carrig has been working to regain her appetite and activity level, and she is making progress with each passing week.

“The only thing that’s a little tricky is the fatigue, which is very common, and the surgical team said I should expect that while my liver is regenerating. All my energy goes into that organ, so it can really drain you,” Carrig explained. “I felt so supported and so well cared for by everyone at UCHealth that I dealt with. My family and friends were amazing. No one questioned my decision.”

It is a decision that Carrig would make again at any time.

“I’m not a medical professional and I don’t have the skills of the doctors, nurses and all the staff here at UCHealth, but I can still make a difference. I can still do something to make someone else’s life better,” Carrig said. “I’m just someone who can give something, a piece of an organ, and I’m grateful that I was healthy enough to be a candidate for that.”

She said the heroes in these situations are the medical staff, the transplant recipients and their families.

“They had a very long journey in this process, from diagnosis to waiting for this process to receiving the transplant they needed,” she said.

Dr. Trevor Nydam, interim director of transplantation at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, was Carrig’s surgeon.

“She was one of our first right liver donors that we operated on with robotic assistance,” said Dr. Nydam. “Maureen and the other patients we operated on with robotic assistance have done very well. The pain after the operation is, in my opinion, significantly less. They get up and move around more quickly.”

Their hospital stays are shorter and they can return to their normal lives more quickly, said Dr. Nydam.

Living donors allow doctors to perform transplants on patients who are not necessarily at the top of the list.

“If there is someone further down the list who doesn’t get sick enough to be a good deceased donor candidate, we can go ahead with a living donation and get them a transplant,” Dr. Nydam said.

Visit the UCHealth website for more information about becoming a liver or kidney donor.