Community Corner

Liver Transplant Survivor: 'It Changed My Life Completely'

Stamford resident and business owner Michael Kirshbaum describes his road to recovery after being diagnosed with a rare liver disease 14 years ago.



By Chandra Johnson Greene


Stamford resident Michael Kirshbaum, who co-owns the popular South End boutique Agabhumi: The Best of Bali with his wife Regina, knows a thing or two about moving mountains. In 2007, Kirshbaum underwent a liver transplant after being diagnosed with a rare disease 14 years earlier.  

Kirshbaum has lived to share his experience and message of maintaining a positive attitude with others suffering from liver disease and recently described to Patch the journey that he took to regain his health.   

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve taken on?   

Twenty years ago, I was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, which causes liver disease and, eventually, liver failure. My doctor had only seen a couple of cases before mine because it’s so rare. It’s a slow process—the doctor said that I would need a liver transplant in the next five to seven years, but it was actually 14 years before I needed one.   

How did you receive the news of your diagnosis and what did you do to prepare for the fight?   

At the time, my perspective was that this was a slowly progressing disease, so the longer I can stay healthy, the better chances I have of being around when doctors found better ways to treat it. My wife connected me with naturopathic physicians, which helped me feel somewhat better, and I completely changed my diet and continued to exercise.   

My point of view was, “Okay, I’m going through this horrible disease, but I’m not going to let it defeat me.” I was referred to New York Presbyterian Hospital, which was one of the places at the time that were treating patients like me, so I felt I was in good hands.   

Describe how you felt when you were told that it was time to have a liver transplant.   

When you’re suffering from PCS, your system can get infected periodically. I would feel fine one minute and then the next, I would get a high fever and my urine would turn dark. And when this would happen, I would go to the hospital for treatment. But in 2006, the episodes became more frequent and the doctors wanted to put me on the transplant list.   

The following year, my MELD [Model for End Stage Liver Disease] score jumped suddenly from a 28 to a 42 and the hospital wouldn’t discharge me. As a friend of mine waited for test results to see if she would be able to donate part of her liver to me, the doctors appeared and said they had one for me from someone that had just died.

It was really a combination of having a positive attitude and being at the right place at the right time. I mean, there I was with a rare blood type and there was no one on the [transplant] list ahead of me. I was lucky. 

What did you learn from going through this experience?   

This disease changed my life completely. I’ve learned that life is short and that you have to make the most of it. It’s also important to try and make life better for others. I never thought that I wasn’t going to get through this. Even when I lost 25 lbs and couldn’t eat, I kept exercising. I kept going and I am still here to tell the story.   

Before the official diagnosis, one doctor told me that it might be cancer and that it, if it was, it would be inoperable. For a short half-an-hour, I lost my sense of humor, but my intention was always to move forward. 

Where do you think you got your positive attitude?   

My father suffered from four different cancers between the age of 57 and 81 before lung cancer finally took him, but he never let that stop him. I definitely got my positive attitude from him.   

What would you like others to know about organ donation?   

More than 10,000 people die every year from liver failure and a lot of them die waiting for a liver transplant—it’s a tragedy. It’s important for people to register for organ donation in order to save lives. I’m hoping we can change the law so that people are automatically signed up and then have to opt out if they don’t want donate.


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