Published: Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Teralynn celebrates her life as newlywed
She had three liver transplants as an infant and beat all odds.
By ELISE McKEOWN SKOLNICK
BOARDMAN — Teralynn Landis did something in October that her doctors thought would never happen. She got married.
She was just 2 months old when diagnosed with tyrosinemia, a rare metabolic disorder in which an enzyme critical for the breakdown of the amino acid tyrosine is missing. Doctors said the infant would not survive.
"They actually told us that she was terminal," remembers Kathy Landis, Teralynn's mom. Distraught, Kathy asked if there was any cure for the disorder.
"They said they would have to give her a new liver," Kathy said. "I said, 'Well, why can't they?'"
Teralynn's doctors didn't know of any transplants performed on a baby that young, but promised to research the idea.
"We went from this down, where we felt there was no hope," Kathy said. "Then when we got that one little ray of hope we just decided that we were going to fight until she was gone."
Doctors found one hospital in this country where a transplant had been successfully performed on an infant, Kathy said. Teralynn became the second.
The infant wasn't out of the woods, though.
Two more transplants
At 1, she contracted an often deadly type of pneumonia, Kathy said. To fight the illness, Teralynn had to stop taking the medication that prevented her body from rejecting her new liver. Against the odds, she survived the pneumonia.
She had a second liver transplant, but her body almost immediately rejected it. She underwent a third transplant procedure, and this time her body accepted the new organ.
"When people think about organ donation we're just hoping they realize it is a wonderful gift," Kathy said. "One organ donor can save many lives."
As a child, Teralynn had the same thoughts and desires as many young girls.
"I was hoping that I would find the right guy, and I've always wanted to get married," Teralynn said.
Two years ago, she met the right guy.
Start of new life
Attending the birthday party of a friend, Teralynn noticed Allen McGath and asked her friend about him. The friend arranged for them to meet. The pair exchanged e-mail addresses and began to chat online regularly.
It wasn't long before they began dating.
"He was quiet, but there was just something about him," Teralynn said. And when she told him about her transplants and scar, he told her they match because he has a scar from breaking his arm.
The 21-year-old Boardman newlyweds are busy. Teralynn works as a pet sitter and is pursuing a degree in veterinary technology online, through Penn Foster. Allen is a manager at Tinseltown in Boardman and is working toward a degree in software engineering at ITT Technical Institute.
They make time for each other, though, Allen said.
"Every minute we're home, we're together," he said. "I don't like to go anywhere without her, and she's the same way."
The couple plans to have a baby soon. Because of long-term medication use, to avoid liver rejection, Teralynn's kidneys function only at 33 percent. For that reason, doctors have told the couple to have children sooner rather than later, Teralynn said.
"We love children," she said. "I always wanted to be a mom."
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