StoryCorps at SHC: Michael Moore & Lynn Fraher

Lynn Fraher (LF): Mike, it took us a long time to find each other in life. We were a little bit older when we got together, but we felt so fortunate that it was a meant to be situation. But what happened was just a few years later, you were diagnosed with end-stage liver disease and our life just took a 90 degree turn.

Michael Moore (MM): Yeah, I mean, I didn't know anything about the disease I had, so it just started me on a path of investigation. What is it I have? How did I contract this and where am I going to end up? But I just remember I was very grateful for meeting Dr. Imperial. I felt like I finally found somebody who was determined to do whatever she could to get me over the hump. You're the punch drunk kid from the street, getting in a major league fight, and she's kind of like the manager in your corner. And all of a sudden I felt good about where I was headed.

LF: You went through Hep C therapy and number of issues, but you were pretty stable and you used to say, "I'd like to die with my original equipment." Did you really think that we had gotten to that point where we might not have to go through a transplant?

MM: I did wait seven years for my transplant. I thought it was a distinct possibility that maybe my damaged liver could carry me to the point where technology or something would catch up with it. And you know, heard about all these growth hormones and stem cells. Maybe it was a fantasy, but it was a fantasy that had a thread running through it of real possibility. And when you're in that condition, you'll make that a lifeline. But the thing I remember about the day I got my liver and my valve, it happened so fast. We were here at six in the morning. They shaved every hair off of me and then I went through the doors and then I just came back out the door. So it was really a whirlwind thing that I wasn't really aware of. But you had to stay behind and wait and wait a long to time by yourself.

LF: You know, my life changed a lot too during this time. It definitely put me second and I didn't regret that or begrudge that, but it was what you kind of had to do as a caretaker, was make sure that you know everything with you was okay. Meds, your appointments, that you were getting the right care.

MM: Yeah. Well, you as a caretaker, you had to do all the heavy lifting. I mean, I was the subject, so all I had to do was show up. I relatively had the easy part, you had the hard part, you had to grind it out, and you did a great job. 

LF: I think sometimes we were so go, just trying to keep her head above water, that you kind of lost track of the bond, the strength, the love. 

MM: I would've never had anybody that would've taken care of me like you did and you know, could never replace me.

LF: This whole experience, it fundamentally changed our lives, but also it made us appreciate each other more. And I don't ever want to forget the gratitude that I feel for still having you with me. And I love you, Michael Moore.

MM: I love you, Lynn. You keep my mind alive. You keep me pushing forward, sometimes reluctantly, but it is forward. It's never back. And I love you.

Produced by Stanford Health Care with interviews recorded in collaboration with StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity's stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world www.storycorps.org

Sound Editor: Emily Hsiao

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