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To: mfnorman
My wife contracted Hepatitis C when she was operated on years ago. She has been waiting 2 years for a liver transplant and the odds on her receiving one are slim according to her doctors. From what the docs tell us getting a match is not the real problem it's the scarcity of donors. If I even thought this guy received this transplant because of his billions or the influence it bought, I think I would probably go right off the deep end.
btw:Usually when people speak of a liver transplant were not talking about transplanting an entire liver-it’s usually a small part of the donors liver.
20 posted on 06/19/2009 10:04:12 PM PDT by Larry381 ("in the final instance civilization is always saved by a platoon of soldiers" Oswald Spengler)
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To: Larry381
Oh, that's why he got the transplant; no doubt about it. This is not a typical treatment offered to just anyone; so go ahead and go off the deep end...I'll meet you there.

I am very familiar with liver complications post the type of surgery that Jobs had a few years ago (Whipple)...I'm sure the cancer showed up in the liver...although no one will confirm that apparently (probably to avoid this type of reaction). A quick google search found that most physicians would not do this, as it results in a poor outcome and takes an organ from someone who would probably experience a much better long term result.

However, I already knew that, having sat in a surgical consult room with my Father and asking the question: "How about a transplant?" Mayo said that they had tried such an approach, but it was abandoned for the reasons that I stated. My Father had very, very good insurance; but not the resources to build a new wing onto the hospital.

21 posted on 06/19/2009 10:20:08 PM PDT by garandgal
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To: Larry381; All

I used to work for MCI ...

Our CEO Bill McGowen was diagnosed as needing a heart transplant ...

He got one at Pitt University Hospital like 2 weeks later - then hospital got like a $10M donation from Bill ...

Gawd, I loved the guy - he was a legend in the industry, but I never agreed with this - he shoulda had to wait like everyone else ...

BTW, almost 5 years to the day, he collapsed and died at Georgetown University Hospital Physical Therapy (he went daily after heart transplant) ...

His new heart “exploded” ...


22 posted on 06/19/2009 10:41:24 PM PDT by Lmo56
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To: Larry381

I should have also told you that I know a woman who was in your wife’s position (also hepatitis)...she DID get a transplant last Fall, after several years of waiting to get to the top of the list. So, don’t give up on that!


23 posted on 06/19/2009 10:49:21 PM PDT by garandgal
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To: Larry381

I hope your wife’s health improves....I’m wondering if you’ve tried Chinese medicine? I know it probably sounds weird....but, my friend (76 yrs old) contracted Hep C through surgery....and it manifested about 5 years ago....because she has a weak heart (the surgery)....she couldn’t do anything but look for other alternatives...her husband found what I think is Chinese medicine, and she went into “remission.” (The docs were amazed, of course.) I hope you are able to find other help for your wife.


25 posted on 06/19/2009 11:05:25 PM PDT by goodnesswins (For lease)
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To: Larry381

Your wife’s situation is a mirror image of my wife’s...good luck to her! I also spent some time in the music biz years ago. Semi-small world...


32 posted on 06/19/2009 11:45:23 PM PDT by Magic Fingers
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To: Larry381

“If I even thought this guy received this transplant because of his billions or the influence it bought, I think I would probably go right off the deep end.”

Why shouldn’t a billionaire who created an iconic product, changed the world for the better, paid 100 times more in taxes than your wife will make, and helped employ tens of thousands of people get jumped to the head of the line ?

besides, there is the case of Mickey Mantle

“Mantle received a liver transplant at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, on June 8, 1995, because his liver had been damaged by years of chronic alcoholism, cirrhosis and hepatitis C. However, during the operation, doctors discovered he had inoperable liver cancer. In July, he had recovered enough to deliver a press conference at Baylor, and noted that many fans had looked to him as a role model. “This is a role model: Don’t be like me,” he said. He also established the Mickey Mantle Foundation to raise awareness for organ donations. Soon, he was back in the hospital, where it was found that his cancer was rapidly spreading throughout his body.

Though he was very popular, Mantle’s liver transplant was a source of some controversy. Some felt that his fame had permitted him to receive a donor liver very quickly, bypassing other patients who had been waiting for much longer. Mantle’s doctors insisted that the decision was based solely on medical criteria, but acknowledged that the very short wait created the appearance of favoritism.[6]

Mantle died on August 13, 1995


55 posted on 06/20/2009 12:56:31 AM PDT by staytrue
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To: Larry381

If we were meant to be vegeterians, God wouldn’t have made meat so delicious.

Unless of course the real fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a prime rib....


80 posted on 06/20/2009 12:46:18 PM PDT by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: Larry381

In case this might help....it’s what my 76 yr old used to put her Hep C in remission....and still uses....along with getting a viral load test done regularly.....but, you may have already heard of this.

http://www.hepatitiscfree.com/eurocel_book.htm


94 posted on 06/23/2009 4:43:55 PM PDT by goodnesswins (For lease)
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