Utah - Liver transplant is first for University Hospital

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Deseret Morning News

U. alumnus gets new

lease on life

Liver transplant is

first for University Hospital

By Lois M.

Deseret Morning News

Feb. 19,

2006

University Hospital became the second Utah hospital to offer liver transplants Feb. 12, 2006, performing the delicate surgery on a University of Utah alumnus.

Ravell Call, Deseret Morning News

Dr. Sorensen walks with liver

transplant recipient Jeff Call at the U. Hospital Friday. Call only waited six

weeks to receive his new liver. Dr.

Sorensen transplanted a liver in Salt Lake native Jeff Call, 56. It was a second liver transplant for

Call, who was expected to leave the hospital Saturday to begin the slow

recuperation process at home.

It's a familiar process for Call,

who had a liver transplant in December 2003 at LDS Hospital, which for 20 years has been the only liver transplant

center in the state. He needed that

liver because of cirrhosis, he said, caused by alcohol now long in his past. At

the time of his first transplant, he was desperately ill, " skin and

bones " and had a pretty wild roller-coaster ride because of problems with

the liver he received, as well as his fragile medical condition then. " It

started to fail about three months after the first transplant, but I was still

in so much better shape than before, " he said. " It was nobody's

fault. That's just the way the cookie crumbles, and it bought me time I

wouldn't have had. "

It is because of the earlier transplant, he said, that he was in better shape

this time around. The wonderful thing about a liver transplant, according to

Call, is that no matter what, you feel better than you did with the one that

was failing. And he started the transplant process healthier than he was for

the previous transplant.

Although some of his medications will be slightly different, Call also says

he's glad he knows what to expect now because of his previous transplant. The U. has been working to get certification

to perform liver transplants since spring, according to Dr. Mulvihill, chairman of the Department of Surgery at the U. Livers now join hearts, lungs and kidneys as

organs the U. can replace. He said the hospital has several patients now on the

waiting list for a liver transplant.

Call said he was on a waiting list

to receive a liver for only about six weeks. Who gets an organ depends not only

on tissue type and other factors involved in matching donor and recipient, but

also on how sick the patient is, with those in most dire shape closest to the

top of the list, Mulvihill said.

The program opens amid some

controversy about the need for another liver transplant center in Utah. LDS Hospital, which has been doing the transplants for 20 years,

maintains that there are not enough local liver transplants to keep two

programs busy and doctors will lose the edge and expertise that comes from

doing frequent transplants if the number of complex procedures is reduced. They

also worry that insurance companies, with whom different transplant programs

negotiate, demand they do more liver transplants each year in order for the

surgery to be covered.

Meanwhile, Call's not worried about

any of that. He chose the U. because he chooses the U. any time it's a choice.

His father played football there, Call went to school there, graduating with a

degree in fine arts, and he had his pre-op screening there even before his

first transplant, he said. On Friday, he

said he was feeling good and very ready to go home. " I swear someone

else's feet are in my bed. These are white instead of yellow, " Call joked

of the jaundice that no longer plagues him.

What? You haven't signed your

donor card? Do it today!

Barb

in Texas - Together in the Fight, Whatever it Takes!

Son

Ken (31) UC 91 - PSC 99