A Connecticut woman was suffering stomach pains when a colonoscopy revealed she had advanced colorectal cancer that had spread to her liver, a diganosis that would’ve been a death sentence years ago — but thanks to cutting-edge care at a hospital in Boston, she’s cancer-free.
After a rare liver transplant, Mary DeSalvo recently returned to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for a checkup and spoke with 7NEWS about the dark days following her difficult diagnosis.
“It was stage 4, which is very scary word to tell a 27-year-old who is 5 months out from their wedding,” she said. “I put my foot down and I told everyone, ‘I don’t want to hear your opinions, I’m sorry, but the wedding is happening the way that I want the wedding to happen, we already have all of this planned.”
So a team of doctors at the hospital came up with a treatment plan.
“When she was diagnosed, the turmo had spread to the liver already, and at that point she needed some chemotherapy to help shrink things and make sure that it wouldn’t spread further,” a physician said.
Post-chemo Mary walked down the aisle, knowing that when she and her soon-to-be husband made their vows to stay together through sickness and in health, they were embarking on a long medical journey.
“He has been my rock through it all, for him to be the way that he was at such a young age as well, he’s going through life the same as me,” she said.
Mary went on to have the cancer in her colon removed and because the cancer had spread only to her liver and no other organs, she was eligible for a liver transplant if someone was willing to donate half of their healthy liver.
Transplant Surgeon Dr. Martin Dib said, “The half that stays in the donor will regenerate up to 100 percent and the half that goes to the recipient will regenerate up to 100 percent, so out of one liver, we make two livers.”
Mary’s aunt turned out to be a perfect match and the two women went into Boston in September to have the surgery.
“Seeing her like this, it’s just the most amazing feeling,” her husband’s aunt said. “I’m so happy it worked.”
Now that she’s cancer-free, Mary is planning a family with her husband.
“Vacations with my husband, babies, work, and all of the fun stuff in between … the simpicity of life, that’s all that I want” she said.
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