COMMITMENT | to patients and the future
their condition worsens. “It offers a
new and often lifesaving opportunity
for many patients,” he says.
Shortly after waking from the
surgery, Mrs. Barcak sensed the
benefits of her sister’s gift. “I felt more
clearheaded than I had in a long time,”
she says. “I didn’t realize I was so
foggy before.”
The right partnership in place
The health system’s relationship
brought together the substantial
resources and talented clinicians at
Baylor Scott & White institutions, and
allowed the transplant to happen in a
timely manner, Dr. Vincent says. “It
exemplifies how we all work together
for the benefit of the patient.” Dr.
Anthony praised Dr. Vincent for the
care she had given Mrs. Barcak over the
previous eight years. “The hepatologists
are key to keeping the patients as
healthy as possible until it’s time for
them to come to transplant,” she says.
Dr. Vincent continues to see
Mrs. Barcak routinely and says she is
recovering well. “I’ve really enjoyed
taking care of her, and getting to know
her family, too,” she says. Mrs. Barcak
feels the same about Dr. Vincent.
“She’s been awesome,” she says. “She’s
really looked after me.”
Both sisters are doing well after
their surgeries. “Other than the scar
down my stomach, I almost forgot we
went through this six months ago,” says
Mrs. Young. “I feel like I’m back to
100 percent.” Dr. Testa says the Baylor
Scott & White transplant team was
very moved by Mrs. Young’s devotion
to her sister. “You can feel how happy
she is that her sister is doing well, and
that they can do things that for a long
time were not possible,” he says.
Back to a normal life after
a lifesaving gift
Mrs. Barcak never asked her sister to
donate part of her liver, but she also
knew she couldn’t talk her out of it.
“When she sets out to do something,
there’s no stopping her,” she says. “It
was her wanting to do it, and me finally
just accepting it.”
Mrs. Young, who teaches art at
Rockdale Junior High School, explains
Lacy and Lani tell their story.
http://youtu.be/fq6tNc1pG4A
8
THE CATALYST September 15 | sw.org
why she made the decision. “I put
myself in her shoes. I had to look at her
kids. They were going to lose a mom
if I didn’t do this,” she says. “I had
something she needed. I couldn’t keep
that from her.” Her sister, meanwhile,
is a new person. “Just physically,
I couldn’t believe the difference,” Mrs.
Young says about her younger sister.
“Her eyes are white again. Her skin’s
cleared up.”
Mrs. Barcak says her vitality, long
lost, has returned. “I have more energy
than I have had in a long time. I
almost have a little too much energy.
My husband says I’m running circles
around him.” n
Baylor Scott & White Health is one
of only two Texas hospital systems
to offer living donor liver transplants,
and the only one in North Texas.
“Living donor transplant requires a more advanced expertise
than standard liver transplant,” Dr. Anthony says. Such
expertise can be found only at hospitals with “a large
enough, a stable enough, and a prolific enough transplant
program.” Baylor University Medical Center - Dallas
surgeons performed their first liver transplant in December
1984, making it only the second hospital in the country to
have a liver transplant program at the time. “The living donor
liver transplant program is an extension of that high level of
quality care in our transplant program,” Dr. Anthony says.