Inside Furman September, 2001

The gift of life
Liver transplant saves life of adopted child

As Sandy and Clay Roberson neared their Greer home the first thing they noticed was the mailbox.

A pink ribbon was fastened to the post and a pink balloon swayed in the breeze. Some friends had tied them there.

Ecstatic but drained, the Robersons had not been home for more than a week.

Claire, the couple's newly adopted infant daughter, was asleep in the back seat. A year before the Robersons had decided to adopt a child and their return home June 18, 2000 marked the end to an emotionally exhaustive search that had taken them across the country and back.

Six months before, Sandy, an accounting professor at Furman, received word from her caseworker that a healthy, single mom-to-be living in San Diego was searching for parents to adopt her child. The Robersons were one of several hopeful parents that the 18-year-old, who was four months pregnant, was planning to interview by telephone.

Once selected, Sandy and the woman exchanged telephone calls, photographs and a sonogram, which was quickly pinned to the Robersons' refrigerator. When an attorney called last May and said the baby might come early, Sandy rushed to San Diego. The alarm turned out to be false, but she stayed behind to help the birth mother prepare for the baby.

They ran errands, met the woman's friends and spent an afternoon playing video games and air hockey. Sandy accompanied her to two doctor's visits where she heard the baby's heartbeat. Although the pair had little in common, the uneasiness caused by the awkward situation began to melt away. The Robersons were in the delivery. room when Claire was born.

Nine days later they boarded a plane for Greenville with their baby. When they arrived home last June one tumultuous journey was ending. But another was about to begin.

When Claire was five months old, she developed jaundice, a yellowing of the skin. After a myriad of tests, doctors delivered the devastating news: Claire had bilitary atresia, a rare condition in infants that disrupts the flow of bile. The atresia had done irreparable harm to Claire's liver. Without a new one she would die.

Liver transplants are rare and dangerous. And even if Claire found a compatible donor, there were no guarantees. Because liver transplants are risky for live donors, nearly all of the self-generating organs used in a transplant are taken from cadavers.

Once the diagnosis was made, Claire was put on a waiting list and the Robersons were given a beeper. If a liver became available they would be contacted and would rush to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston for the transplant operation. Then, Clay and Sandy learned that because they had type O blood they were universal donors. Perhaps they could help Claire.

Both Clay, an engineer at Michelin, and Sandy were willing to donate. Clay was evaluated first but the doctors said his liver was too large. After undergoing three days of extensive tests MUSC physicians approved Sandy as a donor. The transplant was scheduled for March 7.

Sandy faced risks as well. There was a small chance that her liver could stop functioning. Though, the risk of complications during surgery is somewhat less for adult to child transplants because a smaller portion of the liver is removed.

"I really didn't give it much thought," says Roberson. "I would do anything for my daughter. "I was fine with everything until we got to the point they were going to wheel me into the operating room. Then, for some reason, I just started crying. I couldn't control it. It was last thing I remember before going in."

Sandy's operation, in which doctors sliced away about 25 percent (1/2 pound) of her liver, took eight hours. Claire was in the operating room for 10 hours. It was March 7. The day began at 5 a.m. Throughout the day, Clay was told that both his wife and his child were doing well. At 8 p.m. the surgeries ended.

"It was the longest and worst day of my life," says Clay. "The two people I loved the most were in surgery and there was nothing I could do."

For the surgeons at MUSC, it was just their third "live" liver transplant. And it was the first time that a live liver transplant from a non blood relative donor had been performed in South Carolina.

Sandy was discharged from the hospital five days later, while Claire remained hospitalized for a total of only 10 days. The family remained in the Charleston area for another five weeks under the watchful eye of physicians.

Although Sandy's recovery would take some time (her abdomen is still tender), Claire was resilient.

"Before the surgery she rarely smiled. Now she smiles all the time," says Roberson. "She laughed for the first time in Charleston. She must have been in so much pain before the surgery. We never knew how bad she felt until we saw a complete personality change almost immediately after the surgery."

Now back at Furman after taking the spring term off, Roberson is settling in and resuming her teaching schedule. Occasionally, friends and colleagues stop by, ask about Claire and praise Sandy's courage.

Some have even called her a hero.

"I don't know about that," she says. "But I can say that I feel like I've fulfilled my purpose in life. I've helped saved this little person."