NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — With record-breaking numbers of lives saved in 2023, Tennessee is making strides in organ donation — but behind every life saved is a complex journey that doesn't end with the transplant.
Patients like Reginald Porter know recovery can last a lifetime.
Porter received new liver last year after cancer took his old one. Doctors also found cancer in his abdomen and took that out, too.
"I've been getting better. I'm at like 50% as far as me feeling healthy," he said, calling what happened a blessing.
His doctor, Martin Montenovo, the Chief of Liver Transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, agreed, saying Vanderbilt's done over 3,000 liver transplants to date. But he adds there's a lot more to this story.
After surgery, about 40% of patients get minor complications, like bleeding or infections. Down the road, about 5% face even more serious issues, like heart attack, cancer or death.
"I always tell them look, transplant is not an operation. Transplant is a journey," explained Montenovo. "These patients, they are part of Vanderbilt for the rest of their life. So they have a follow-up for the rest of their life...because they have to take care and try to mitigate all these other risk factors that can cause problems."
Even with the follow-ups, Montenovo says the team that guides patients through surgery and recovery use the best strategies and technology to mitigate the risks. He explains the preparation leading up the surgery, as well as the way the surgery is handled, all contributes to reducing complications afterwards.
"It's definitely a long journey. A daily journey, because every day is different," concluded Porter, who is grateful to God and his medical team for his life.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.
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-Rebecca Schleicher
