Crozet veteran is looking for liver transplant
CROZET, Va. (WVIR) - A military veteran and father is facing a critical battle for his life.
He was diagnosed with colon cancer that has spread to his liver and is now in need of a living donor.
“I’m doing pretty well in my treatment,” A veteran looking for a liver transplant Sean Powell said. “Now is the time that I have to get a living donor.”
Sean Powell is a military veteran husband and dad fighting cancer and who needs a liver transplant.
“I hope to find a match because if I don’t I mean I’ll be on the other path of just getting chemotherapy until the chemotherapy is no longer effective,” Sean said.
Since his 2023 cancer diagnosis, Sean has undergone colon surgery at UVA and chemo at Sentara Martha Jefferson.
His sister is the one who made this flyer, asking for anyone in the community to help, and for Sean’s three children watching their dad struggle is hard.
What keeps them going is each other.
“Time very different,” Sean’s daughter Gwyneth said. “Once you realize that it could be gone quickly.”
“It would be nice to see him as a grandfather and walking the girls down the aisle would be pretty big,” Regan said.
Doctor Sook Hoang is a colorectal surgeon at UVA.
She says when colon cancer spreads it often goes undetected.
“They may feel more tired, and they may have some weight loss as well, but unfortunately, sometimes it may not be detected until we start performing more studies,” Colorectal Surgeon Doctor Sook Hoang said.
Sean and his family noticed those symptoms as well as forgetfulness when he forgot his daughter’s graduation ceremony.
His mother-in-law noticed too and pushed him to get checked.
Tracey is Sean’s wife.
“She really noticed it, and so that just I guess made me feel like I was seeing something that wasn’t right or something,” Sean’s Wife Traci Powell said.
Now the wait for a liver match and the big ask for a living donor.
Sean says until that donor match happens he’s leaning on his family every day.
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