gift of life
FALL/WINTER 2022
GIFT OF LIFE TRANSPLANT HOUSE A HOME THAT HELPS AND HEALS
How I Spent My Vacation? By Gary Slarks
In 2013, Mayo doctors diagnosed me with autoimmune hepatitis. The disease caused cirrhosis of the liver. The liver transplant doctor recommended that I undergo the standard transplant tests so I would be ready if, and when, a transplant might be needed. Because I had suffered a heart attack in 2001, they recommended doing an angiogram just to be sure my heart was healthy. As a result, the cardiologist recommended a triple bypass surgery to fix my diseased heart.
"What happened?" That was my burning question. The heart surgery was successful but the surgeon wasn’t sure if my heart was strong enough yet to withstand a transplant. The liver doctors didn’t want to “waste” a good liver if I was going to die on the operating table. The critical care doctors said they needed to take action to save my life. My Meld score had risen from 18 to 38. (Doctors recommend surgery once your score reaches 30. If your score reaches a 40, then you’re dead). Everyone finally agreed to move forward with the transplant.
They wheeled me into a St. Marys operating room on Tuesday morning, June 18, 2013.
On Sunday, June 23 they unplugged the machines and disconnected all the tubes and rushed me off to a waiting ambulance for the short ride to Methodist Hospital where the transplant team were waiting for me. They completed my transplant in about 2 ½ hours as compared to the usual time of 4 – 8 hours. My “sedated vacation” continued until Wednesday when I woke up in the ICU.
I woke up on Wednesday but I was surprised when I was told that it was June 26th and that I was in the ICU at Methodist Hospital. However, the biggest surprise to me was that I now had a new liver. That was a lot to comprehend!