GROSSE POINTE WOODS, Mich. – Living donor organ transplants of the kidney and liver have really changed the landscape of organ donation.
Instead of having to wait until an organ becomes available and getting sicker and sicker with each passing day, having a living donor allows you to bypass that.
All you need is one special person to step forward.
Dave Galbenski of Grosse Pointe Woods found out about his liver problem nearly 10 years ago.
“I had a rare autoimmune disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis and there’s really no treatment to PSC,” said Galbenski.
The only treatment is to end up having a liver transplant. In time his condition worsened and he was placed on a liver transplant list.
His brother-in-law Mark Dybis responded immediately and ended up becoming the donor.
One year ago on Nov. 25, 2019 during a 10 hour surgery, Henry Ford Transplant Institute surgeon, Dr. Atsushi Yoshida, a specialist in Transplant Surgery completed the living donor transplant.
One year later Dybis and Galbenski plan to spend a virtual Thanksgiving together with extended family.