Newport Beach : Friends Who Raised $40,000 Wish Bon Voyage to Woman Who Needs Liver Transplant

Barbara Jernigan’s friends gathered Saturday to send her off on a trip they hope will save her life.

Jernigan, 50, suffers from primary biliary cirrhosis, an incurable liver disease. She must have a liver transplant.

“The Friends of Barbara,” an ad-hoc group of her supporters, met Saturday at the Newport Beach home of Barbara Cockrell for a “bon voyage” party. They had raised more than $40,000 through donations to help pay for the transplant operation, which can exceed $100,000, depending on complications, according to Jernigan’s friend Katherine Logan.

Jernigan, who lives with Logan in Newport Beach, is scheduled to leave today for Pittsburgh, Pa., for medical evaluations in preparation for the operation.

“I’m very nervous,” Jernigan said Saturday. “This is a big day. I guess I’m excited. I’m too panicky to be worried. I don’t have a lot of choice. The quality of life is so poor right now, I have to go ahead and have it done.”

The transplant will be performed at the Pittsburgh Presbyterian Hospital. Until then, however, Jernigan said she continues to suffer pain, for which she takes medication.

UCI Medical Center hepatologist John Hoefs said that without the operation, Jernigan probably would die within a year. Jernigan is confident the transplant will return her life to normal.

“I don’t know if all of this would have come about if it hadn’t been for my wonderful friends,” Jernigan said. “I thank all of them who have loved me and supported me . . . and remembered me in prayers.”

Logan said it was not known Saturday whether Jernigan will remain in Pittsburgh until a donor liver becomes available or if she will return to Orange County to wait. Should she return, Jernigan will need to make the trip to Pittsburgh on short notice, Logan said.

“We are trying to find someone with a corporate jet to take her back when it’s needed,” Logan said. “Once they find a donor, the operation must be done very, very fast. There is only one commercial flight directly from LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) to Pittsburgh. She does have a pass on Delta (Airlines), a complimentary pass, but would have to make a connection.

“When time is of the essence, the few hours that could be lost (changing planes) could mean they wouldn’t be able to transplant it.”

Jernigan, who is divorced and the mother of two, is the founder of the PMS Center of Orange County in Irvine, which conducts counseling and treatment for premenstrual stress. But Logan said Jernigan has been unable to work for “a couple of years because of her condition.”

“She is very positive,” Logan said, “She is not gloomy at all considering what she has to face. She wants to get it over with so she can get on with her life.”