How Portland State women's soccer player Cam Dixon gave up her senior season to save her mother's life

It’s the summer before your final season of college soccer. You’re faced with a dilemma.

But it’s not about your score on the fitness test or which positions you may play in the fall. It’s more than that.

Do you stick to your summer fitness packet in preparation for your senior year, or undergo extensive surgery cutting out a portion of your liver? Not a common predicament for most student-athletes.

For Portland State women’s soccer player Cam Dixon, the decision to exchange the title of “senior defender” for “21-year-old living organ donor” seemed like a no-brainer. Her mother’s life depended on it.

“She always thanks me and everything, and I’m like, 'You made me so it’s basically your liver anyway,'" Dixon said, who spoke about the life-changing surgery as if it were any other day. 

Cam Dixon (left ) and mother Jamie Ellman (right) show their matching scars after their liver transplant surgery

Dixon was no stranger to her family’s generational battle against polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a debilitating genetic disease that affects one in 1,000 people worldwide and causes the formation of cysts on the kidney, and in some cases the liver (PLD). Signs and symptoms often. Three generations of Dixon’s grandmothers, an uncle and all her mother’s cousins have been affected by PKD. Dixon’s mother, Jamie Ellman, was the first in the family to develop cysts on her liver. This time, Dixon was equipped to do something about it.

Six months post-op, and a few weeks after publishing Dixon’s Op-ed, NCAA Digital spoke to both the student-athlete and her mother. The personalities that shone through the hour-long interview portrayed a rich bond, years in the making.

Understanding the story behind the scars

One optimistic, energetic mom and a pragmatic, cool daughter whose inherent modesty was offset by her mother’s endless praise. The unique pairing of personalities seemed to give way to a reversal of roles — Ellman's bubbliness was a stark contrast to her daughter's earnest. 

"She's more mature than me, and she tells me no. She doesn't tell me what I want to hear all the time," Ellman said.

They delved into the chapter book of their relationship, building up to the climax of the most recent event: Dixon’s decision to donate a portion of her liver to her mother was not a decision made lightly. And for Ellman, this was not the solution she sought when doctors placed her on the National Transplant List — certainly not the path she had envisioned for her soccer-loving daughter.

Ellman raised Cam and her older brother Blair as a single mom. It wasn’t easy, but together the three made it work. Ellman's job as an English teacher allowed her the schedule to fully embrace the soccer mom role, which played an integral hand in her daughter's love for the game. Having decades of experience playing the game, Ellman stepped in as coach for Cam’s youth team. From there, as Cam moved on to a travel club team, Ellman graduated to the “cool mom,” becoming a team favorite in the carpool rounds and providing the best snacks for long drives. By middle school, Cam’s dream of playing Division I soccer began to materialize. And so, Ellman poured all her efforts and resources into helping make that a reality. So did Cam.

“You know how it is when you have to go run or lift weights or do all of those things where most kids would complain? Cam is like, 'OK, for how long? How hard? Let's go'...There’s always been that heart of Cam, she’s just different.”

But Dixon’s grind didn’t just apply to the field. Whether it was working a full-time job in between school and practice, picking up groceries or just helping around the house, Dixon made sure to do her part.

“It helped me to know that hard work does pay off and that if I kept doing what I needed to do I would get where I wanted to be.”

Making the decision— 'whether you like it or not, Mom'

And she got there. In August of 2020, Dixon began her college career at Portland State — well, kind of. Her freshman season was canceled due to COVID-19. Things were starting to look up during her sophomore year as the defender earned some solid minutes. Junior year, a broken foot put her out for the fall season. That catches us up to the spring of 2023.

By now, Ellman’s battle against PKD/PLD was taking its toll. Her liver was failing. In treatment, she was receiving weekly abdominal taps and her quality of life was quickly deteriorating. Doctors placed her on the National Transplant List where patients can go for years before finding a match. Ellman didn’t have that long. The family set up a GoFundMe account and shared a health questionnaire in search of a living donor match. 

Naturally, Dixon wanted to do everything in her power to help her mom, but according to a high school biology class-conducted blood test, there was no way Dixon could be a match. In a routine physical, however, Dixon thought she’d double-check her blood type and asked her doctor to run the test.

The result: A positive. Her mom was A positive. 

As Ellman received the text message with news of the match, her heart dropped.

“It's crazy, for me, the only thing I cared about was that she would potentially miss her final year of soccer. That’s what we worked so hard for.” ;

A COVID-19-canceled season, a foot injury and now this.

Only it wasn’t really up for debate. Ellman knew her daughter. This was the same strong-willed soccer player who played in a state championship with a broken wrist, disobeying the doctor's orders and begging her mom to bubble wrap the cast. She wouldn’t take no for an answer then and she wasn’t going to start now.

And so, in May of 2023 with her mom’s half-hearted blessing, Dixon traveled to the transplant center in San Antonio, Texas, to receive further testing. When matching potential donors to a recipient, doctors consider how the actual organ will fit into the recipient’s body. Luckily, Dixon shares a similar body shape and size as her mom. By early July, doctors confirmed the match.

“She was terrified, and I was terrified too, but I guess you just have to find the balance of still being mother and daughter but knowing what’s about to happen," said Dixon.

Writing her new narrative

Dixon was in the operating room for nine and a half hours as doctors extracted 70% of her liver and removed her gallbladder entirely. Her mom was in surgery for about 12 hours. The procedures went smoothly but some serious complications after the transplant kept Ellman in the hospital for two weeks before she was able to go home. 

Now came the hard part.

Dixon's doctors had never had a collegiate athlete organ donor. The question of "How quickly can I start playing again?" was foreign to them. The majority of living donors range from 18-54-year-old adults and  The return to a rigorous college athlete training schedule in a short amount of time was uncharted territory. Despite the unknown, Dixon was determined to get back on the field. She would be taking her fifth year. And per usual, she wouldn’t be taking no for an answer. Dixon moved back to Portland State to start fall classes and work with her athletic trainers to find a solution. 

“It was a process for all of us. But we had an end goal," Dixon said. "How can we put all our brains together and make this happen?” 

Comforted by the familiarity of her trainers and fueled by her teammates running practices just outside, Dixon defied the doctor’s expectations and, at two months post-op, was already jogging. At two and a half months, she was cleared for non-contact participation. This meant she could participate in portions of team practices: warmups, passing drills, juggling and fitness. By mid-November, the defender was back to full-contact training and preparing to compete in the spring. 

“If anyone was going to do this and come back from it, it’s this kid," Ellman said.

Dixon's return to the field and decision to play a fifth year has alleviated any lingering guilt on Ellman's conscience. Now, the mother-daughter duo looks back at the life-altering surgery as another story in their ever-growing chapter book.  When asked how the event has strengthened their relationship, Dixon shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Nothing had changed, the two just did what they'd always done for each other — whatever needed to be done. Ellman laughed in agreement.

"It's so weird to just be like, 'So I made that,' and then I got some of that and they put it in me and then you saved my life." 

Battle with PKD/PLD continues 

The success of the liver transplant and Dixon’s return to the field is bittersweet. For Ellman, the fight is not over. Between the time of the NCAA Digital interview and the publishing of the article, Ellman’s kidney functions have plummeted and are operating at about 15 percent capacity. Unfortunately, the post-liver-transplant-op medications have exacerbated Ellman’s already-weakened kidneys and doctors have placed her on the kidney transplant list. The family is hoping for a live organ donor, as it has the highest success rate. Dixon — determined to help as ever — has created a to help raise funds for her mother’s medical bills and invite friends and family to fill out a health questionnaire testing their compatibility for organ donation.