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American Dental Association: Ohio dentist battles liver disease, awaits transplant

By Stacie Crozier

Hudson, Ohio—It’s been almost a year since Dr. Jack Rigby retired. The 55-year-old dentist could no longer practice with the pain, spiking fevers, fatigue and other symptoms culminating from a 20-year battle with a life-threatening liver disease—primary sclerosing cholangitis. Dr. Rigby tries to keep busy as he stays close to home.

“I wait for the phone to ring,” he says. “I need to stay close.”

Dr. Rigby is on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

One of the nearly 100,000 Americans on various organ transplant lists, Dr. Rigby has a slowly progressive disease through which the bile ducts become narrow from inflammation and scarring, eventually leading to liver failure. PSC patients can experience extreme fatigue, jaundice, spiking fevers, reduced nutrition absorption and mental fogginess due to the build up of nitrogen usually eliminated by a healthy liver.

“In 2005, I started having constant cholangitis attacks,” he says. “I would get a fever and pain, and afterwards I’d need a nap. I had kept my staff informed about what was happening, but it was a rough time. I had a lot of decisions to make and most of my staff had been with me almost since I started my practice in 1977. They are like family.”

Now Dr. Rigby volunteers with an organ transplant advocacy group. He is taking a class at Kent State University. He is indulging a lifelong interest in photography. He builds models. But after mostly “OK” mornings, he is gripped by fatigue and he needs to rest.

He misses dental practice. He misses teaching part time at the Case School of Dental Medicine. And he misses mentoring young people—potential dentists—in his community.

The day of his ADA News interview was the day of the local high school’s annual career awareness event—an event he attended for 28 years, answering questions of the 300-400 participating students. “There are about 250 careers represented and I am there for ours,” he says. “The students mostly bring standard questions but there are always a few that have a genuine interest,” he said. “I have them try those three dimensional thinking puzzles, and present dentistry as a challenging, entrepreneurial profession of healing. In the past I’d invite interested students to visit my office and observe for a half a day. Many dentists become dentists because of an experience they had with their own dentist. I’m proud to say there are a handful of dentists out there that started out by asking me questions. It’s kind of amazing.”

Dr. Rigby’s son Mark was also influenced by his father’s dedication to dentistry, and is now a first year dental student at Case—his dad’s alma mater.

“He came to me several years and we had a real ‘godfather’ conversation,” Dr. Rigby says. “I told him being a dental student was a hard job, but it led to wonderfully rewarding profession. I made sure he would go in with his eyes wide open. After a year of thinking about it, Mark enrolled and was accepted.

“I always loved being a dentist,” Dr. Rigby adds, “and I was very sad when my career was taken from me, I felt I had much more to contribute.”

He found out about his illness after an enzyme test 20 years ago led to the initial diagnosis. About 11 years ago, his doctor told him he’d eventually need a liver transplant.

“In all the years I practiced, I never met anyone who had an organ transplant,” he says. “It was something I never thought about. But now I know that there are almost 100,000 people just in our country waiting for a transplant and 17 die waiting every day. In our lifetime, organ transplants have become successful—sometimes almost routine. One donor can help up to 50 people. It’s truly a gift of life.”

Dr. Rigby actually got a call from in June from the organ procurement network when a liver was secured for him through a directed donation It turned out not to be an ideal match for him, but someone else received the new liver.

After an overnight in the hospital, he says, “I returned home to gratefully reflect on the fact that a family I really didn’t know had generously offered a gift of life to me. I will never forget them.”

That’s when Dr. Rigby and his wife got busy working to raise awareness for organ donation. They passed out some 25,000 drivers license stickers and explained organ donation to others.

“I’m using my time to raise awareness and hoping I can get people to respond by checking the ‘yes’ box on their driver’s license and letting their loved ones know.”

Organ donation, he stresses, is “kindly done. No one at a funeral will ever notice, but your loved ones will know that their gift will be helping others to live.”

Dr. Rigby says former patients come up to him and show him their driver’s licenses now. “They know me. Transplantation is real for them. I am the face of organ donations,” he says. “Some good can come of a family’s loss.”

He said he’s prayed for the families, and felt sadly knowing that his transplant will mean tragedy occurred in another family, but it’s a way to channel sadness into a more positive way.

“Dentists aren’t the kind of folks who are used to sitting around waiting for help,” he adds. “I certainly hope many can benefit from our work, but I also hope that I will too. Then I can get back to work.”

For more information on organ donation, check out these Web sites: www.organdonor.gov and www.donatelife.net , and check to see if your state has a donor registry.

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An IDF dentist friend, Dr. Jack Rigby will SOON get his new liver and be on the road to recovery.

In California, one can Donate For Life here. IT is fast. IT is easy.

How about YOU? Have you signed up to donate YOUR organs yet?

Flap knows you will be glad you did.

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