Ryan's Liver Transplant Journey

Thank you for reading this! For those who do not know my name is Ryan Allen. I am a devoted husband to my wonderful partner Nateisha and father to an amazing child Derek who is 13 years old. I have spent my working career in occupational safety and health, and doing all I can to protect workers for safety hazards so they can go home from work at the end of the day in the same condition they came to work.

A trip down memory lane takes me back to 2017 when my partner noticed that I was constantly scratching myself as I complained of itching every all the time. I went to the doctor and found elevated liver function tests and an enlarged liver. So started my journey with the University of Washington Hepatology. As more tests and procedures were conducted over the next year it became apparent that I had Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a rare autoimmune liver disease with no known cure. My only path to recovery was going to be a liver transplant.

Over the last 7 years, there have been many difficulties and many different hospital stays due to internal bleeding from esophageal and gastric varices. The disease has continued to progress, leading to cirrhosis of the liver. In June 2023 I was hospitalized with a cholangitis infection, which lead to an intense set of evaluations to get me officially listed on the liver transplant list.

As my condition continues to degrade, the physical and emotional impacts are unrelenting and the fear and anxiety of the transplant process and whether I will make it to transplant are a constant daily struggle.

I have been fortunate over the years to be able to continue to work in some capacity, and the care I have received from the University of Washington as well as the support of my family and co-workers has been exceptional and truly consider myself blessed given the unfortunate aspects of what I am contending with. I try to stay positive with hope that this is a temporary path and that recovery will happen. There will a time when I get to reclaim my life back and be the husband and father I want to be, the one I used to be, without the physical and emotional limitations this disease has taken from me. The parent that was able to take his child and fly out to Green Bay to watch my beloved Packers or down to LA so my child could see his Chargers play in person (against the Packers of course!). The partner and parent who could take his family out to Portland for the weekend and see how many awesome food trucks we could find to eat at. The parent who coached little league and flag football for his kid. This disease has taken a lot from my family, and me I hold onto the hope that one day that will not be the case anymore, and I can take my son camping and hiking again all the other things I mentioned we did before and creating memories that can last.

Beyond the emotional and physical impacts there are also the financial impacts of missing more time at work due to appointments, hospital stays, and generally not feeling well most days and the financial burden that has created on my family. As we plan for transplant, knowing that it’s a minimum 3 months out of work and the financial burden of such a massive medical surgery, has certainly added a level of stress beyond just the fact of dealing with a chronic illness you may or may not survive.

I am trying to get funds for financial support while not working. Any external assistance we could try to hire to help as my amazing and supportive partner Nateisha tries to help take care of me, and our wonderful son Derek, and work while I am recovering, and the medical expenses associated with the liver transplant procedure.

I know it’s going to be a long road as it has been up to this point, and it only gets more challenging the more your body continues to degrade. Recovery will be a challenge as well, but a challenge I welcome as there is no other alternative to getting my life back. I need to stop making myself suffer in silence and I need to realize its ok to share.

With all my gratitude to anyone who reads this, whether you donate or not just thank you for being here and reading my story.