|
|
Chambers Story
Doyle Chambers lived with a disorder called Primary Biliary Cirrhosis for nineteen years. This disease, also referred to as PBC, is an inflammatory disease that slowly destroys the bile ducts. Symptoms such as jaundice and extreme fatigue plagued Doyle and caused him to retire from his military career in the Air Force. Two years ago, around Valentine's Day, Doyle received a liver transplant at the UC Davis Medical Center. The donor was a teenager from Auburn CA named Lee Sly, who died in an auto accident. Three months after the transplant, Lee's mother sent a letter for the recipient of her son's organs, and eventually that letter was delivered to Doyle. At first, he was apprehensive, not knowing what to say to a family that lost their only child. But he called her and they talked awhile and shared their stories. Doyle learned about those quirky "coincidences" that sometimes arise between donors and recipients, such as the fact that both he and Lee liked Jack in the Box as their favorite fast food, and that Lee's birthday was the day before Doyle's. Since then, Doyle has become close friends with Lee's family, sharing holidays and special events. Recently Doyle attended a memorial service for Lee. He said it was very touching to be involved with this service and he was grateful to meet Lee's friends and family. Doyle's daughter, Colette Chambers Prosser, age 22, remembers that this was very emotional for her Dad, because Lee was so young, but it was a great incentive for Doyle to live life to the fullest. She saw it as a wonderful opportunity, because he was able to express his gratitude to Lee's family. These days, Doyle says he feels great and life is good! He is very active in his church, and is involved with a primary biliary cirrhosis support group called the "pbc'ers". When asked what his message about organ donation would be, he said, "Get locally involved." He strongly supports Sacramento's local organ procurement network, Golden State Donor Services. Colette was always interested in the sciences during school, and when her father got sick, her interests intensified. She went to clinic appointments with him, studied information about liver disease, and enrolled at UC Davis and majored in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior. Doyle was a patient of hepatologist Dr. Lorenzo Rossaro (one of the 2005 Team Donate Life Life cyclists) and at one of his appointments, mentioned that his daughter was interested in research. Colette began volunteering for Dr. Rossaro and since her graduation from UCD, has been working with him full time as a Jr. Specialist. She is currently working on a Hepatitis C study, but also has a passion for supporting transplant research and organ donation. "Organ donation is the best thing you can do for someone," said Colette. "You can donate as much money as you can to research, but without the organs for donation, it doesn't matter." For more information and support about Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC), visit the PBCers website Learn more about world-leading research being conducted at UC Davis Immunology Lab website
|
|
