What’s next
Scott & White’s goal is to perform liver
transplants as well; this could happen
in three years’ time. With that service,
Scott & White would offer the full
gamut of complex transplant services to
Central Texas.
More dual organ transplants are
likely as well. Dr. Zehr foresees Scott
& White surgeons performing five to
15 heart-kidney transplants over the
next several years, as more patients need
this sophisticated level of care. “When
you bring transplantation into a tertiary
care center, you escalate the quality of
all the other programs around it,” says
Dr. Zehr. “At the end of the day,
everybody is a better doctor.” And
patients benefit, too, knowing the
healthcare experts at Scott & White
continue finding ways to bring the most
advanced care to them. n
Dr. Jaffers is also an associate professor of
surgery at the Texas A&M Health Science
Center College of Medicine.
Dr. Nolan is also an assistant professor of
internal medicine at the Texas A&M Health
Science Center College of Medicine.
Dr. Sanchez is also an assistant professor of
medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science
Center College of Medicine.
Dr. Sareyyupoglu is also an assistant
professor of surgery at the Texas A&M
Health Science Center College of Medicine.
Dr. White is also an assistant professor of
medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science
Center College of Medicine.
Dr. Zehr is also a professor of surgery at the
Texas A&M Health Science Center College
of Medicine.
A birthday gift
for Tracy
Twenty-five is a lucky number for
Tracy Barnett, of Giddings, Texas.
Last year, he celebrated his 25th birthday. He also got the news of
a lifetime on September 25, when a pair of lungs became available
to relieve the young man of a debilitating disease he had battled his
entire life. Mr. Barnett had bronchiectasis (a difficult to diagnose
condition), and pulmonary hypertension. Both conditions made it
hard to breathe, and they eventually ravaged his lungs. By the time
Mr. Barnett was referred to Scott & White, and saw Kirkland Nolan,
MD, head of the division of pulmonary medicine at Scott & White
Hospital - Round Rock, his lungs had deteriorated to the point where
he was told he may only have months to live. Mr. Barnett had to quit
work and rely on oxygen tanks and breathing treatments to help him
survive. Luckily, he had to wait only a month for a new set of lungs. He
would be the first person at Scott & White to receive a lung transplant.
Last January, Scott & White received certification for lung
transplantation from the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS),
the governing body for organ transplantation. Until that point, two
dozen people each year in Central Texas had to leave the area for a
lung transplant. Now, more patients are counting on Scott & White
for this lifesaving surgery.
After a three-week hospital stay following his successful transplant
and intensive care, Mr. Barnett had continued follow-up visits to Juan
Sanchez, MD, medical director of the lung transplantation program,
and pulmonary medicine specialist Heath White, DO. Now, Mr. Barnett
feels great. “It’s wonderful to go dancing on the weekends and listen
to country music. I can also run up the stairs to a movie theater with
my friends, which I couldn’t do before,” he says. “Now I’m back to work
driving my truck. It’s not just a career—it’s my passion!”
Hear from Lisa Mitchell, a patient who received a kidney-pancreas transplant from Dr. Jaffers.
Also, discover how caregivers move to action when UNOS announces an organ is available,
and learn more about how organs are procured.
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The Catalyst April 13 | sw.org