Many people mark anniversaries with cards, flowers, gifts and more. Hillsborough resident, Laurie Schulte, is marking a milestone anniversary with gratitude. Twenty years ago, Schulte received a lifesaving liver transplant that allowed her to build a life filled with purpose.
“When I think about how close I came to losing my life, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for the organ donors and their families who gave me the chance to see this new year — and so many others,” Schulte reflected.
Schulte’s medical journey started at the age of six when she was diagnosed with Wilson’s Disease, a rare inherited condition that causes copper to build up in the body, especially in the liver, brain and eyes, according to the Mayo Clinic. Although she was asymptomatic, the family’s pediatrician noticed her enlarged liver.
“Many other Wilson’s Disease patients aren’t as lucky and aren’t diagnosed until they are older and are experiencing a lot of unpleasant symptoms,” she said. Schulte credits her parents and two younger sisters with providing strength through the early years of the disease.
Schulte was successfully treated with medication until late high school when a change in medication brought on some symptoms. By age 23, the accumulation of copper in her liver led to the need for a lifesaving transplant at age of 24. Very jaundiced and in acute liver failure, Schulte was placed on a liver transplant list just before Christmas in 2005. On Jan. 7, 2006, she received a liver transplant from an anonymous donor. Although the liver was not a perfect match, it saved Schulte’s life and lasted six and a half years. In June 2012, she received a second transplant at the age of 30. Since then, she said, life has been good.
“Despite facing challenges most people couldn’t imagine, she maintained a tenacious fighting spirit,” said Patti Pfeiffenberger, Schulte’s liver transplant coordinator at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and now the transplant program director at Lehigh Valley Health Network.
Married on July 7, 2007, Schulte and her husband, Dan, have a daughter, 17, and a son, 11.
“My husband now is my workout partner as well as my life partner, always encouraging me to be strong,” Schulte shared. “My children are my everything. I am very blessed to have the family, friends, and medical support. Without them, I would not be here today.”
Between family and work, she also finds time to stay fit. From participating in the Tough Mudder race to running and powerlifting, Schulte is grateful to lead an active and healthy lifestyle.
Dan Bonner, a liver transplant recipient who met Schulte during a transplant support group meeting, has been touched by Schulte’s medical journey.
“She takes nothing for granted, is an incredible role model, a great wife and mother, and the absolute greatest partner-in-transplant-crime I could ever ask for,” he said. “I am in constant awe of Laurie for all her accomplishments, her ability to persevere and thrive, for her kind and gentle nature, for her friendship and guidance as we continue our transplant travels together, and for being one of the best humans I have ever met hands down.”
In addition to a life filled with family, work and physical fitness, Schulte is also giving back to the community. In addition to volunteering at NJ Sharing Network, she educates students at West Windsor Plainsboro South High School, where she attended high school, about becoming an organ donor.
“When I got my driver’s license and had to decide whether to register as an organ donor, I left the box unchecked,” Schulte remembered. “It wasn’t because I didn’t want to help others if something happened to me — it was because I didn’t truly understand what it meant. Now, my goal is to provide students with the education I never received, so they can make informed decisions about becoming organ and tissue donors if the time ever comes. I hope to inspire them to say yes.
“Maybe one day, the education and stories they hear will help save lives — just like mine was saved.”
Schulte finds educating high schoolers and answering their questions about organ donation very rewarding.
“I am so proud to say that I am the healthiest and happiest I have ever been,” she said. “The past 20 years have been the ultimate blessing.”
For more information about NJ Sharing Network, visit https://www.njsharingnetwork.org/.