Mattie's story: a real trooper
by MCL staffwriter

Mattie Caroline Joyner

Little Mattie Caroline Joyner was born on December 2, 2005. Like any other parents, Mattie's were no different. They were elated with the arrival of their third daughter.

She was teeny-tiny and sweet from the get-go, and born with a touch of jaundice, which is normal in newborns.

However, it wasn't until a couple of weeks later that her parents, Matt and Krysti, realized that the jaundice they thought was normal had spread to her bright, blue eyes.

After many weeks of tests, blood draws, ultrasounds, nuclear scans and two liver biopsies, Mattie was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Alagille Syndrome (AGS) in March of 2006.

Alagille Syndrome is a multi-system hereditary disorder. It often presents with clinical symptoms involving the liver during infancy and early childhood. Alagille Syndrome is more commonly reported in boys, although girls are also affected. Alagille Syndrome is the most common form of the inherited disorders which cause reduced bile floe within the liver.

After fighting several infections, Mattie started the battle with the symptoms of AGS -- high cholesterol, sensitive xanthomas (growths on her fingers, feet and back), jaundice, stunted growth, and very, very itchy skin. Her personality slowly began to take shape, but her development was thwarted because all of her skin was always covered to prevent scratching and pulling her hair out from the itching. Sleep was almost impossible for Mattie.

Mattie celebrated her first birthday in December, 2006. She was still unable to roll over, sit up or crawl like a normal one-year-old.

After doctors tried a new medication for the itching, it subsided, and Mattie's spirit begin to beam as she started to try to learn to move, feel new textures, use her fingers, eat food, and to interact with her two older sisters that she had been only able to watch in the past.

Weeks after the medication was started, the one-yearold began to sit, eat, roll over and then crawl. She also has learned to walk after much hard work at 19 months old.

Through all of this, in the process of growth and new independence, Mattie's liver began to fail.

Mattie now is on the donor list for a new liver and awaiting for the phone call from Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL.

On Monday, November 19, the Joyners received the call they had been so anxiously waiting for. Mattie would have a 50/50 chance of getting a liver. They were told by the transplant coordinator that the priority of the liver was to a patient in another state that needed all abdominal organs transplanted, but if it didn't work out for that child, Mattie would receive the liver.

The Joyners packed their bags and headed to Shands, only to receive a phone call when they were only one hour from the hospital that the child in Philadelphia would get the liver. For that, they were thankful that another child would live.

But for now, they are still waiting for the day Mattie will receive her new liver.

Mattie is the soon to be two-year-old daughter of Matt and Krysti Joyner of Bartow, FL. She has two older sisters, Elisa, six, and Annabelle, four. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Sheffield of Winter Haven, FL. She is the great-granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Brooks Sheffield of Colquitt and Mrs. Jackie DeBarry and the late Cheshire DeBarry of Newton. Mattie also is the great-niece of Alice Cobb, Veryl Garland Cockey and Peggy Chambers, all of Colquitt.

The family asks for your continued support and prayers for Mattie as she awaits the liver transplant.

You may follow Mattie's progress by going to her website at www.Mattiegirlcom. Don't forget to remember Mattie when you say your prayers!