By Norma McLean
Staff Writer

Joyce Fuller’s wait for a liver transplant ended Jan. 26 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The life-saving call she and her husband, the Rev. Stanley Fuller, Minister of Spears Creek Baptist Church, had been waiting for came the afternoon before.

When her beeper went off, she and fuller picked up her packed suitcase and headed for the hospital, where they were told a liver was being flown from Chicago that night. Her surgery was scheduled for 8 the next morning.

The operation took 8 1/2 hours and gave Fuller the distinction of being the first South Carolinian to receive a liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic.

It also eased the anguish the couple experienced during the past four months.

“It has been a tremendous burden, because Joyce faced death every day,” Fuller said. “I feel relieved now, very happy and look forward to a bright future.”

Last April, his 38-year-old wife was diagnosed with a life-threatening liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and was given six months to a year to live.

“It was close to accurate,” Fuller said. “Her health declined rapidly, especially in the last few weeks, as she waited for the transplant.”

Two days after the surgery, her condition was upgraded from critical to serious, and she was moved from intensive care to a private room.

“The liver is functioning well,” Fuller said. “Joyce’s color is returning, and her skin tone and a little muscle tone are coming back.”

Fuller said the first three months after the transplant are the most critical.

Anything could go wrong, he said. Her body could reject the liver, and she could contract numerous infections and viruses.

Fuller, 40, expects to fly home Feb. 7, drive their two daughters, Wendy, 14, a student at Spring Valley High School, and Carrie, 11, a student at Pontiac Elementary, to the Mayo Clinic to see their mother.

“We’re happy for her,” Carrie said, “And we’re looking forward to having her back home with us.”

Joyce Fuller’s mother will stay with her until she is discharged, which is expected to be mid-March, so that Fuller can resume his duties at the church.

“We couldn’t have gone through this without the support of the church and community and friends,” Fuller said. “It has been a trying time.”

Fuller’s father, Harold Fuller, said he and his wife, Ernestine, are taking care of the grandchildren.

“I’d like to give God the credit and praise for making the liver possible, and giving the doctor the knowledge to do the operation, and Spears Creek Baptist Church for all the help it gave,” Harold Fuller said.

Insurance is expected to pay 80 percent of $175,000 cost of the transplant.

Church member Swayze Legrand heads a committee that is raising funds for the operation, which is $12,300 short of reaching a goal of $40,000 to pay the difference.

After the transplant, medication will cost from $8,000 to $12,000 a year, and an annual checkup at the Mayo Clinic will cost $5,000.

Church members have bought a lot and supplied labor to build a 1,2000 a year, and an annual checkup at the Mayo Clinic will cost $5,000.

Church members have bought a lot and supplied labor to build a 1,200-square-foot, three bedroom, two-bath house with a fireplace at 113 Tamwood Lane, in Briarcliff, a subdivision of Pontiac.

The house, priced at $69,500, is about 80 percent complete.

“We hope to clear $35,000 with the sale of the house,” Legrand said.

Calls regarding its sale are being taken by Legrand at 788-8040 and by Carl Brazell at 438-6438.

Contributions for the liver transplant operation may be made to The Joyce Fuller Fund, c/o Spears Creek Baptist Church, 116 Spears Creek Church Lane, Elgin 29045. Please mark the envelope, Attention: Swayze Legrand.