Will Rodgers Finds Purpose Through Personal Liver Health Initiative

At that time, rural Easton, Maryland was home to the Rodgers family. Will had just become a big brother with the birth of a sister. The family had recently moved to the area from Maui, Hawaii a year earlier due to a new job opportunity for their father, Bill. With a new area to explore and a new member of the family, the jubilation seemed great for the Rodgers family. However, this excitement was brought under control when Will began to suffer from lingering symptoms of otherwise common childhood illnesses. The energetic 3-year-old was not as active as usual and his typical eating habits began to deteriorate.

“Will wasn’t having fun and jumping like a toddler should,” said his mother Shari. “It was very unusual. We knew there was something terribly wrong. Dr Mehrizi transported Will to Johns Hopkins Hospital to see Dr Kathleen Schwarz, chief of the pediatric hepatology department.

“He turned white as a ghost and said, ‘I can smell Will’s liver,’” Shari said. There was no known liver disease on either side of the family. The weeks and months ahead would be hectic for Will and the Rodgers family, with countless blood tests and liver biopsies to determine the cause of his illness.

During a physical examination, Dr Mehrizi felt something disturbing. As fate willed it, Dr Ali Mehrizi, a well-respected pediatrician in Easton, who co-authored two books including Congenital Heart Disease and Major Problems In Clinical Pediatrics, was the Rodgers family pediatrician.

Specialists from around the world have been called to Johns Hopkins Hospital to help with treatment and diagnosis. Rodgers was confirmed to have primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a chronic liver disease.

There is no current cure for PSC and the emotional distress was increasing for the family. “We were told in so many words that there would be no guarantees and that we had to consider preparing for the worst,” Bill said. “It’s incredibly difficult with a toddler and a newborn at home. It was immensely difficult. “Will’s case was obviously very rare, and they really wanted to study it,” Bill said. “Will was a bit of a poster child at (Johns) Hopkins. One of the doctors told me that in his opinion, Will was very lucky because many pediatricians may not have diagnosed the disease. PSC in a child, so he may not have received the necessary treatment.

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