A St. Thomas family has been overwhelmed by support after learning their 12-year-old daughter needs a liver transplant. A recent social media post calling for help went viral with thousands of shares. “The team at Toronto General that does the adult-live-donor program had asked that we put a post out basically thanking everybody and saying they don’t need any more applications because of the astonishing amount of turnout,” said Ryan Wagg, father of Lily Wagg, 12. He added, “They said this is one of the first times they’ve actually stopped counting the amount of applications for potential donors for Lily. The drawback to that is they only process, one potential candidate at a time.” The applicant screening process includes CT scans, MRIs, blood work, and X-rays which takes time. When it comes to liver donations, the Wagg family has been told a live donor is their best chance for a match. “The donor would be potentially able to give a piece of their liver instead of the whole thing,” explained Wagg. “The liver, within six to eight weeks, will hopefully regrow back to the original size for the donor and for the recipient.” If a live donor can’t be found, there is another chance for a match. “There’s always the option of a deceased donor and we would get the whole liver,” said Alicia Wagg, Lily’s mother. It was a few months ago when Ryan and Alicia noticed their daughter’s jaundice, her stomach was distended, and her lack of appetite. After tests on her liver at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital and the London Children’s Hospital, she was transferred to Toronto. “Her liver is no longer able to sustain life, so transplant was and is needed,” Wagg recalled the message from doctors. They have been at Sick Kids Hospital for the entire month of January. “We are at the mercy of our family and friends and our colleagues and everybody’s schedules,” Ryan said as he described the screening process. “Their work-life balance and then working with the hospital as well because Lily is not the only one that’s going through this.” While they wait, the Waggs are living at Ronald McDonald House in Toronto. Lily has spent time on video calls with her grade-seven friends and getting updates on the success of her school volleyball team. “The kids go to school down here as well, at Ronald McDonald House,” said Alicia. “We’re definitely very thankful to be able to do this as a family and not separately. Living two-and-a-half hours away, we can tackle this as a family and not individually.” Doctors are doing their best to keep her as stable as possible. They are monitoring her levels and her bloodwork up to two-to-three times per day so that when a donor is ready, she is stable enough to undergo surgery. “She’s very sick,” said Ryan. “She doesn’t have months and months and months that she can wait and unfortunately any time she could decline.” When she is ready, the surgery can take between six and eight hours. “It’s a big operation and it’s a big ask on the body to be able to go through something like that. We just have to hope and pray that, that we’re able to find something before her body decides that it’s hard enough,” said Ryan. While the family is off work and in Toronto, friends have started an online fundraiser for them.
