LIVER
ORGANS – LIVER
PATIENT STORY : UAB NURSE RECEIVES NEW LIVER AND KIDNEY IN AFTERMATH OF COVID
In March 2020 , UAB Medicine Nurse Micah Malone , RN , was working in the postgastrointestinal surgery unit . Like so many health care providers , the 27-year-old spent the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic on the front lines . In July 2020 , Malone joined the ranks of COVID patients .
Transplant Institute Director Jayme Locke , MD , MPH , gave Malone ’ s liver time to heal but ultimately determined that the damage was permanent . “ There ’ s a tipping point when the liver loses its ability to recover , and only time gives you that information ,” Dr . Locke says . “ And as his liver failed , it made his kidney function worse .”
Even as he experienced liver and kidney failure , Malone wasn ’ t guaranteed a transplant . Because the number of organs available for transplant is limited , multiple factors must be considered when placing candidates on the waitlist . “ Malone ’ s functional status wasn ’ t great , so we were concerned about his ability to recover from surgery ,” Dr . Locke says . “ But he ’ s a young man and a health care provider who risked his life taking care of patients with COVID , so we had to swing for the fences .”
“ I started taking cough drops for a minor sore throat ,” he says . “ Then one day , when I was doing rounds before my shift , I became weak and had shortness of breath .”
Sure enough , he tested
Micah Malone , RN positive for the virus .
“ It became harder to breathe , and I couldn ’ t lie in a normal position ,” he recalls . “ I called 911 , went to the emergency room , and then was sent to the ICU .” There , he spent nearly two months in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator . “ The first thing I remember after waking up is being told that I had a gastrointestinal bleed because I ’ d been intubated ,” Malone says .
First of Many Challenges That was just the first of many challenges he would face . By the end of November 2021 , Malone had suffered two additional gastrointestinal bleeds , life-threatening sepsis , a bed sore that wouldn ’ t heal , and COVID cholangiopathy , which is an uncommon but serious injury to the bile ducts of the liver . His surgical team , led by UAB Comprehensive
Once the decision was made , Malone was on the transplant waitlist for only a week . On a scale ranging from 6 to 40 , Malone ’ s Model for End- State Liver Disease ( MELD ) score was 40 , putting him at the top of his blood group for a donor organ . He underwent liver and kidney transplant surgery in mid-December 2021 – one year and five months after receiving his positive COVID-19 test result .
Family Support and a Hopeful Future Malone attributes much of his success to the support of his family and friends . “ My mother , father , and sister took care of me , and my UAB coworkers from different departments checked up on me and helped me ,” he says .
Within a week of surgery , Malone felt like a new person . “ By early December , I felt like I was fading away ,” he says . “ Anytime I closed my eyes , I felt like I could pass on .” Today he feels that he ’ s been given a second chance at life . “ It sounds cliché , but it is truly a gift .”
Malone continues to recover both from lingering COVID complications and from his liver and kidney transplant . “ It ’ s a slow process , with weekly labs and regular appointments ,” he says . “ My main goal is to get well enough to work in my old job again .”
28 UAB CTI Report