My name is Judith Lattin. I live in San Francisco, California, and on December 20, 2010, I received
a living donor liver transplant because of autoimmune liver disease.
When I first found out, I was scared. And I almost think it took me two years to kind
of get out of being shocked about it.
The reason I went to Stanford was because the doctors that I was seeing, felt that I
would not survive regular surgery at their facility.
My sister was along with me, and they spoke about living donor, liver transplants. And,
she made some noise about it at that time, and I didn't want her to do this at the time;
I just felt it was just too dangerous.
I told her that, I really felt like this was what I was meant to do, I wanted to help her.
I didn't want her to have to wait.
We could all see her getting more sick, and, to make her wait for a healthy liver while
she was getting sicker just didn't seem fair.
Once she got me to believe, too, that she really was serious about this, and the doctors
believed she was really serious about this, then we really started getting it done.
Having been told at this other facility that surgery is not an option for you because they
don't feel that you will survive it, that's basically a death sentence.
I knew that Stanford was exceptional just from day one when Dr. Concepcion talked with
me and told me yes, he could do it, there was hope.
Doing the live donor procedure is one of the most difficult procedures. You cannot decrease
for a long time the blood flow to the liver.
You're actually transecting liver tissue while there is still a lot of blood flow going through
it. And this makes it much more difficult, much more dangerous.
There's no turning back after you clamp the vessels in the recipient.
The tissue of the liver is not very sturdy. So it doesn't hold stitches very well. It's
like trying to sew together wet tissue paper. And so we want to do everything perfect the
first time around.
In December of 2010, the surgery was done, and it was "okay, here we go" and we both
came out of it alive and well.
I had someone wheel me down to see Judy the day after surgery. It was just a great feeling
to see the smile on her face and how excited she was to see me and everything.
The quality of care that I got at Stanford was exceptional. The nurses were fantastic.
The doctors are top of the line doctors. They also listened to me. They care about you as
a human being.
I had faith in the Stanford medical team that took care of me. I knew that they were some
of the best in the world.
I think there are a lot of good liver surgeons out there but, the surgeons here have such
a tremendous breadth as well as depth of experience, seeing many, many complicated cases that other
centers simply don't want to touch.
We have done so many complex liver operations, that even when we get into trouble we know
how to get out of it.
There has been significant innovation in the development of new tools, instruments. And
some of this equipment allows us to partition the liver with minimal blood loss. It makes
the operation safer.
I'm not tired anymore and I just started to do things. Just go for a walk, or go outside
and enjoy. I just have a joy for life now that wasn't there when I was sick.
I think, when you've had the fear of losing your life, and you get such a huge gift, it's
borrowed time. You have to make it a gift every day.
My sister likes to say that she likes to have her liver visit my liver every once in awhile
to get them together.
I have a part of my sister in me and it will always be there. We were always close, and
now it's just even closer.