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Benefit dinner to aid Hubbard native who requires liver transplant
HUBBARD
A spaghetti-dinner benefit to help defray medical, hospital and other costs for Nancy Carano of Girard, who desperately needs a liver transplant, will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. Aug. 22 at Hubbard United Methodist Church, 48 Church St.
Tickets for the benefit can be purchased for $10 at Braydich Dental, 43 E. Liberty St., Hubbard. Donations, auction items, or volunteers would be greatly appreciated, said Danielle Arnold, who is organizing the event. For information, call 330-534-5408.
Carano, placed on the Cleveland Clinic’s liver-transplant list in 2010, has moved up twice within the past few days on the waiting list because of her deteriorating condition.
Early the last week in July, her MELD – model for end-stage liver disease – score was moved from 15 to 17. Then, as she was waiting at the clinic to get her liver stent “ballooned,” a tumor was discovered in her liver, the stent procedure was canceled, and her MELD score was upped to 22.
The range is from 6 (less ill) to 40 (gravely ill). The individual score determines how urgently a patient needs a liver transplant within the next three months
Carano said the tumor has “signs of cancer,” but she was scheduled for further tests Tuesday to determine if it was cancerous.
Adult candidates who need a liver transplant are assigned a MELD score that indicates how urgently they need the organ. A donor liver is offered first to the candidate who matches the common elements and has the highest MELD score, which indicates the greatest need.
Elements common to all organ transplants usually include blood type, body size, severity of patient’s medical condition, distance between the donor’s hospital and the patient’s hospital, the patient’s waiting time, and the availability of the potential recipient.
Carano, 70, says her blood type is O negative, but she says any type O will work.
Carano and her husband, Nick, are natives of Hubbard and owned and operated Carano’s IGA grocery store in Hubbard for many years.
Married Aug. 6, 1988, between them they have seven children: Hers are Ronald and Edward Feidler, both of Hubbard; and Donald, Ellsworth and Eleanor Feidler, all of Girard; his are Nicholas Carano of Campbell and Michael Carano of Lords-town. Together, they have nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Her brothers are Barry McFall of Hubbard and Leroy McFall of West Middlesex, Pa.
Nancy is a 1963 graduate of Hubbard High School, and Nick is a 1959 graduate of Youngstown Ursuline High School and graduated from Youngstown State University.
Nancy said she was hoping for a living transplant but doesn’t know if that will be possible because of the tumor.
But she has not given up on getting a new liver.
After additional testing Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic, she was told she “could be called at any time for a transplant. I have my bag packed,” she said.
A member of Victory Christian Center in Coitsville, she says a “lot of people are praying for me.”
“I want to be alive at 90 so I can beat my dad. He died at 89. I’m too ornery to die,” she said.
Regarding the fundraiser, she said: “If I’m not getting operated on, I’ll be there.”