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The mother of four, aged 63, was diagnosed in 1991 with autoimmune hepatitis, caused by the body's immune system turning against liver cells. The doctors warned that she would need a liver transplant in a few years, but she was able to extend it to more than two decades.
"I went to the hospital and stayed in. I was not recovering from things," she said. "There were many indications that it was heading south quickly."
Finlayson was listed on the national transplant list last year, but his chances of getting an organ seemed slim.
His son, Brandon, was a partner and volunteered to be a donor. But she did not want to put him in danger since he had five children to him.
"She pretty much shut us down and said," No, it's not a possibility, I do not even want to talk about it, "said 37-year-old Brandon. "It took days to get it to finally even think about the idea – a lot to convince."
The February operation was the first time that doctors in Utah transplanted the left lobe of the liver from a living donor. They used Brandon liver scans to create a 3D printed model, allowing them to plan and practice the delicate procedure.
Doctors have said that Gwen's and Brandon's livers can regenerate and should reach about 90% of their normal size within a few months.
Both are recovering well after the surgery.
"I look to the future with hope, instead of saying," How am I going to be sick then? ", She said. "I anticipate with joy and optimism and I try to understand what we are going to do next."
Gwen said she was walking five miles a day and had more energy than she had for years.
"I'm not sure I have the words to describe how I feel about my son, I'm grateful that he's the kind of man who would do something like this," he said. she said. "That he would risk his life for another human being – did not have to be his mother – it would have been anyone – for me, that's the definition of the hero."
Brandon joked that he was probably offside for Mother's Day gifts for at least a few years.
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