My road to receiving a liver transplant was the most challenging experience of my life.

Name: John

Recovery Date: 12/01/2009

Drug of choice: Alcohol

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Driving myself to the hospital, I worried because I had no insurance. Hopefully a prescription would make me all better. Four hours in an examination room and hundreds of tests scared me in a calming way. The Doctor must’ve come in the room ten times to check out different symptoms. Each time, she became less friendly and more serious. I asked a million questions and each one was met with a request for me to be patient. It seemed like she had hoped the blood tests were wrong until the fourth re-test confirmed the truth she dreaded telling me. 

She entered my room and told me to sit down. “You have five years to live and then you Really have worry but you must stop drinking immediately or you’ll be dead in two months and change your eating habits. My answer was simple. “Okay”. I even felt a sense of relief.. The next day, I went to see my first specialist. “Tell me about your drinking.” One thought ran through my head. “If I’m lying, I’m dying” and told him the complete truth. Again, I felt another sense of relief. After finishing my story, he said the most important statement in my life. 

“Well, John, listening to you, it seems like you’ve closed that chapter in your life” It was exactly what I needed to hear, and he was right. I was ready to start a new chapter. He gave me a prescription for diuretics to remove the fluid and I went on my way. Walking to my car, I accepted the challenge that lies ahead. My mom battled cancer and my goal was to be half as strong as her and I knew I’d be okay. Changes kept coming. On the next day, I invited my friend Lynne over and we began to talk. In a second, my world fell apart as I confessed to her that my whole life was a complete lie. Crying so hard, I couldn’t stop or catch my breath. She was shaken to see me so broken and asked me why I never told her. Fighting through the sobbing tears, I told her,  “ I didn’t want you to think less of me.” In the most caring voice, she responded,  “John, I think more of you for being so honest.” Those words saved my life and I’ll be forever indebted to my dear friend, Lynne. 

My road to receiving a liver transplant was the most challenging experience of my life. It took me two years to get an interview by a medical team at Penn to be considered for transplantation. I came to learn that being accepted on the transplant list had serious ramifications. The bottom line is failed transplants cost the hospital money and their reputation. I believe the reason I was accepted for the transplant is I guaranteed the team that I was going to make it to the operating room table and after I did, it was their turn to finish the job. Once you’re listed, the patient has a responsibility to lead a healthy lifestyle and to stay alive.  

While waiting for the transplant, I suffered two strokes, one of them had me on life support for five days. I also had two seizures where I flatlined, a dozen surgeries, and 4000 lbs. of fluid(ascites) drained from my body. Yes, that number is correct. Initially, I had 20 liters of fluid drained every two weeks. While waiting for my transplant, I became close to 15 fellow patients. All of them died and I’m the only one who made it to the operating room table and survived.  

I also had two bouts of hepatic encephalopathy which is when the liver can’t detoxify your blood enough and some of the toxic blood goes to your brain and you hallucinate. What’s worse is you’re not even aware that you are. I remember one time I had it, I was talking to my sister, and I told her Abraham Lincoln just knocked on my door and came into my home with the big hat on.  

Other complications included getting my days and nights mixed up. I would be up all night because I couldn’t sleep. Naturally, I would find myself falling asleep at my desk. My energy was drained but more importantly, so was my physical strength. I played two years of varsity basketball in high school and was proud of my ability to shoot free throws. After being diagnosed with cirrhosis, I remember one day being at a friend’s house and he had a hoop. I went to shoot a free throw and didn’t even reach the basket. Everything in my form seemed normal. I can’t explain it but I just didn’t have the strength to reach the basket from fifteen feet away. Albumin is the main protein in the liver and mine was very low. I suspect this was the reason my strength was taken away from me. 

These are some of the medical consequences of alcohol abuse.  

In the month of May 2020, I began to crash. It had been twelve years since I was diagnosed and given two months to live. I had to have three surgeries to increase my blood flow.  On May 29th, I woke from the third surgery and the doctor said, “John, there’s an ambulance outside and you’re going to Penn to get your transplant.” I had a mixture of emotions… excitement, fear, and confusion. I was confused because I felt fine. During the two-hour ride to the hospital, I was joking with the team taking me. The trip was fun!! Ater being admitted, reality began to set in. Dr. Oltoff came into my room and said, “John, we found a donor and we’re 100 percent confident it will be a perfect match.”  I told her I’m 100 percent confident in the team. Then she said a statement I will never forget. “We just have to wait for the family to say their goodbyes.”  I became incredibly conflicted realizing that someone had to die for me to live. However, I knew my own hours were ticking down as well.  

When I was finally wheeled into the operating room, the energy from the team was incredible and upbeat. They asked me what music I wanted to hear and I responded, “Bruce Springsteen , Thunder Road.  We all sang it together and it was an amazing experience. Next song was Born to Run and I broke down in tears because I realized the song originally came out when my drinking problem started. Again, I cried like a baby as the anesthesiologist slowly injected me with the medicine to put me to sleep. The surgery took twenty four hours to complete because of bleeding and also finding some cancer which, “They think they got it all” Before they can be sure, I have to get tested every three months for five years.  The team was amazing, and I only required ice packs on the incision. I didn’t need pain medicine. I was also discharged in seven days.   

While being diagnosed with cirrhosis has been one of the worst things that ever happened, (it took me six months to even say the word) it was also the best. Cirrhosis gave me a new life that I treasure every day. I’m a completely different person now. I love more, laugh harder, and live better than I ever have before. Even with the tough days, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. 

 Today, life is completely different. Here’s a short story to illustrate the difference. While drinking, I started to write a book named A Jersey Kind of Love. I would come home from the bar and write for an hour. I decided to kill two of the characters. I actually wrote their deaths. 

A few months after stopping drinking, I decided to start writing again. Since I didn’t remember exactly what I wrote, I went back and reread the book. Immediately, I thought, “ wait, these characters didn’t have to die and I tore up those pages. It hit me pretty hard. That’s what the drinking does to you. It darkens your life and you’re completely blind to what it’s doing. 

In maintaining my sobriety, I often think of my mom’s last words, “Positive Thoughts.” It makes me focus on how lucky I am to be alive and healthy today. 

For newly sober people, take the time to embrace this road. It truly is a incredible journey that will make you treasure the gift of life. Close the chapter of your past life and write a new chapter with a great ending. You can do this.