Dec 07, 2022
Not everyone gets two birthdays, but Randall Anderson does—the first was when he was born, and the second was when he was given a second shot at life by a person who had lost theirs. Every year on March 11, he thinks of them: "Because of their gift, I'm able to hug my wife, my kids, my grandkids," Anderson said. "It was an incredible journey. And now we're living life to the fullest. I do that in honor of the person who donated their liver so I could live. I think about them every day."
The story began in the early 1990s. Randall Anderson's path took an unexpected turn after routine blood work uncovered elevated liver enzymes, which further tests showed were Hepatitis C (contracted from a blood transfusion) and cirrhosis of the liver. And so began his more than two-decade-long odyssey to maintain his health and eventually receive a liver transplant in 2021.
Randall and his wife, a Licensed Professional Counselor at St. Anthony's hospital in Oklahoma City, are members of our health plan. So as they searched for a liver transplant center in the area, they connected with Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Clinic at Integris Baptist Hospital and were able to receive care there because of its "Center of Excellence" status. Anderson took nothing for granted. "I was sure to keep every appointment and testing they suggested. If they said jump, I said, how high?" His adherence to following doctors' orders was one of his guideposts and the other was his faith that all will be as it should be.
"Life was pretty much normal as far as my energy level and I was able to do regular activities and maintain my work schedule," Anderson said. But his life now also included regular visits to the clinic every 6 months for an ultrasound and blood work to monitor his liver disease. During this time, he also went through 1 ½ years of interferon treatments to cure his Hepatitis C, so that by 2003 his Hep C was no longer an issue, but his cirrhosis was progressing. Somehow, during this time, he also helped raise two sons, earned his Master's degree, and continued his full-time job teaching high school students with special needs.
As the years went on, he experienced more symptoms that needed treatments—fluid retention and esophageal varices, but his test results were not bad enough to be on the transplant list. In 2019, he began to have fluid build up in his stomach, which had to be removed by paracentesis. "At that point, I realized my condition was worsening," Anderson said. Finally, in February 2021, chronic cough and lethargy sent him to St. Anthony's, where he was admitted and treated for a low sodium level. After 10 days his condition continued to worsen.
"We contacted my doctors at Nazih Zuhdi and informed them what was happening," Anderson said. They reviewed his MELD score, which was high enough to place him on the transplant list, and on March 4, 2021, he transferred to Integris Baptist for testing to determine eligibility. A whirlwind of tests ensued—EEG, EGD, EKG, heart catheterization, colonoscopy, bone scan, dental screening, psychological evaluation, and social evaluation. He was approved five days later.
Prepared to wait for a match at home, he was instead kept an extra day to have fluid drawn from around his lungs. So on March 10, still in the hospital, he was surprised when the staff informed him that a potential donor was found, and later, that the donor was a match. He was wheeled into surgery at 1 am on March 11 for a 7-hour surgery performed by Dr. Srinivasan, Dr. Duffy, Dr. Kohli, and Dr. Spyrou and their surgical team.
The hospital staff provided him with a binder to guide his pre-and-post-surgical care—as an educator, he embraced the information they provided and still refers to it today. Meticulously following doctors' orders for more than 20 years had kept him healthy enough to receive this gift, and now he was determined to apply that same discipline to his post-surgical regimen, and it was demanding: along with wellness check appointments with his surgeon there were lab draws 2x/week for 6 weeks, then 1x/week for 6 weeks, until his test results stabilized, when they decreased to 1x/month. There was in-home physical therapy and home health nursing care from SSM Health that continued 6 weeks after surgery. And finally, he is on an 11-pill regime twice daily.
And there was managing insurance coverage for all of this—which was facilitated by Julie Havens, RN-Case Manager, Health Plans. The two quickly developed a warm relationship, enough so that when the official relationship ended a year after his surgery, Anderson called Havens just to catch up. Both are "people people" and spoke glowingly of one another. According to Anderson, "Julie was a great support to me." Havens and Anderson both placed a premium on good communication and humor as great tools to turn what could have been a chore, into a pleasant but productive process.
Anderson enjoyed teams of caring professionals, who along with his family, were members of "Team Randall" at the transplant clinic, the hospital, the surgical team, and the health plan alike. "I loved all the people who cared about me." And most important of all Anderson took good care of himself.
.png?width=2009&height=383&ext=.png){kind=logo}