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'True friend' gives 60% of liver to man

Joe Polanis had about a month to live. Then a childhood friend made a generous, risky offer.

By GRACE CHENG
Published June 25, 2005

LARGO - His liver was so scarred with cirrhosis and hepatitis C that Joe Polanis had about a month to live.

But because of an old buddy's good timing, Polanis now has a chance at a full life.

Polanis, 46, this week received part of a liver from childhood friend Joe Wharton of Largo. Wharton's unusual sacrifice is even more remarkable given that the two men hadn't spoken since high school.

Wharton and Polanis grew up just two blocks from each other in the west end of Port Jervis, N.Y. Although they had been close, they lost touch after high school. Wharton moved to St. Petersburg 24 years ago, and he and his wife, Belinda, now live in Largo. Polanis moved to Texas for 15 years and now lives in Pike County, Pa.

The two men didn't talk for 30 years.

Then, when Polanis was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease three years ago, he put up a Web site, www.joeneedsaliver.com to try to find a donor.

"My husband Joe, age 46, is in dire need of a liver transplant in order to survive," read the letter Joe's wife, Anna, posted on the site. "Without one, he will soon die."

A mutual friend told Wharton about the site. Wharton e-mailed Polanis. The e-mails led to phone conversations.

"I heard he was sick, but I didn't know how sick until I talked to him," Wharton said.

That was in December. Polanis had been on the waiting list for a new liver for three years.

Polanis thinks he contracted hepatitis from a blood transfusion he received 30 years ago after a football injury. In recent years, he had stopped working. He had fluid in his stomach and was suffering from extreme fatigue and even some mental confusion.

"He certainly needed a liver," said Dr. Patricia Sheiner, one of his donor's operating surgeons.

Then, after several conversations, Wharton offered to have himself tested to see if he could be Polanis' donor.

"I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming," Polanis said. "Not very many people would be willing to make that sacrifice."

Polanis talked to Wharton and his wife about the risks they would be taking.

"I wanted to make sure they knew what they were getting into," Polanis said. "There was no hesitation."

What they were getting into was risky.

It started with three months of tests, from EKGs and MRIs to sonograms and multiple blood tests.

They turned out to be a perfect match.

"(Wharton) matched almost like his brother," said Anna Polanis, Joe's wife. "It was kind of ironic - that only happens like one time out of a thousand. Joey was a godsend."

While he was being tested, Wharton was instructed to keep everything confidential, even from Polanis. Polanis had no choice but to wait, often feeling frustrated with the lack of information. Finally, the results were in.

"They basically left it all up to him to tell me yea or nay," Polanis said. "He told me yea."

The risks did not end there. The procedure required Wharton to give up 60 percent of his liver to be transplanted into Polanis. The liver is the only organ that can regenerate itself, said Dr. Sheiner, so people don't need a full liver to function.

A liver has two sides with separate blood supplies; the right side is bigger than the left. Polanis needed the bigger piece.

The surgery itself carried risks associated with any operation, including bleeding, blood clots, even death. Wharton said yes anyway.

"I was thinking about how I'd feel if the shoe was on the other foot," Wharton said. "I thought that it was something that I needed to do."

On Monday, Wharton and Polanis walked into Westchester Medical Center for their respective operations. Wharton's surgery took six hours, Polanis' about nine. Two transplant surgeons worked on each of the men.

The two saw each other for the first time after the surgery on Thursday. Both are still at Westchester. "Thank God for Mr. Wharton," Polanis said Thursday, as Wharton sat at his side. "He's a real true friend, that's for sure. If he hadn't been there for me, I wouldn't be here in another few weeks."

Polanis' Web site now displays a picture of the two, Polanis' arm thrown over Wharton's shoulder.

"We share more in common than our first names. . . ," says the caption on the photo. "We share life!"

Now, Polanis must take antirejection pills for the rest of his life. At the moment, he is on three medications. It will take about a year for him to fully recover.

When he is well enough, Polanis plans to spend time promoting organ donation.

"We've got almost 90,000 people waiting on various lists for organs (in the United States)," Polanis said. "Seventeen thousand are waiting for livers. With some help from people, it doesn't have to be this way."

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, an average of 18 people on the list die each day for lack of a donated organ.

Polanis said if more people like Wharton stepped up to the plate, fewer would die.

"To be able to save someone's life, there's nothing better," Belinda Wharton said.

"My father . . . said I'd be lucky to count my true friends on one hand," Polanis said. "I'm a very lucky man to be able to say this. . . . I've got three of them (Wharton, Belinda and his wife) sitting in the room with me right now."

[Last modified June 25, 2005, 00:34:16]