COMMITMENT | to patients and the future
Autoimmune hepatitis can be
treated medically, but primary sclerosing
cholangitis cannot. “We don’t have
a good treatment for that disease,”
Dr. Vincent says, “and it can cause
cirrhosis and cancer. The only cure
for it is a liver transplant.” By the time
she came to Dr. Vincent, Mrs. Barcak
already had cirrhosis, or scarring of the
liver. Symptoms can include fatigue,
weakness, itching, fluid retention, high
blood pressure, and more.
Regional collaboration
benefiting the patient
Mrs. Barcak’s health worsened in 2006
when she suffered from an enlarged
spleen. Surgery was necessary to
remove her spleen and gallbladder.
It was clear that her situation would
continue to deteriorate without a
major medical intervention. It became
imperative to place Mrs. Barcak on a
liver transplant list.
As Mrs. Barcak’s complications
multiplied, Dr. Vincent grew to admire
her patient’s fortitude. “During this
time she worked and had a family,
and she just pushed through it,” says
Dr. Vincent. Four years later, with no
liver forthcoming from the national
(deceased) donor transplant waiting
list, Dr. Vincent suggested to her
patient and the Barcak family that they
consider Baylor Scott & White’s living
donor liver program based in Dallas,
but they didn’t want to pursue it at
first. “Initially, I wasn’t sure I wanted
anyone to have that kind of surgery for
me,” Mrs. Barcak says.
But by 2014, Mrs. Barcak’s health
had deteriorated to the point that she
had been hospitalized several times for
bile duct infections, and Dr. Vincent
again broached the subject of a living
donor transplant. “I felt like it was
time to revisit that option,” she says.
“I know most of the physicians on
the liver transplant team at Baylor
University Medical Center in Dallas
personally, and have a good working
relationship with them.” She consulted
with specialists from Baylor Scott
& White in North Texas, including
Giuliano Testa, MD, who created the
Living Donor Transplant Program,
and Tiffany Anthony, MD, a surgeon
in the program.
The turning point came last
December, when Mrs. Barcak and her
older sister, Lani Young, age 38, went
on a “sister trip,” as they refer to it,
to Hallettsville, where Mr. Barcak’s
family has a farm. “When I arrived,
I immediately got really, really sick,”
says Mrs. Barcak. They got back into
the car and drove two hours home to
Rockdale. That night, Mrs. Young
decided she wanted to learn how she
could become her sister’s liver donor.
In January, Mrs. Young underwent
three days of tests to determine if
she was a match for her sister, and
healthy enough to undergo the surgery.
Dr. Anthony says a donor advocate
Baylor Scott & White’s expert physicians in the north and central regions collaborated to bring
Mrs. Barcak a higher quality of life through the health system’s living donor transplant program.
Tiffany Anthony, MD
6
THE CATALYST September 15 | sw.org
Jennifer Vincent, DO
Giuliano Testa, MD