Liver Transplant

When Northeast Philadelphia resident Louis G. Ditto received a liver transplant at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in December 2001, he came away grateful and in awe of the medical team that saved his life. "There's nothing I would not do for Jefferson as a whole and the nursing staff in particular," said Ditto, 52, an office worker who also received a kidney. "Those people are wonderful. " Given success stories like that, Jefferson's pioneering program stands firmly alongside the four other adult liver-transplant programs in the Philadelphia region: Each year, they give scores of patients with failing organs a new lease on life.

Gov. Casey's chief of staff, James W. Brown, has been through the routine before. The physician consultations, the medical examinations, the operation. So after yesterday's announcement that Casey would undergo tests this weekend to determine his fitness for a liver transplant, Brown was mindful of events six years ago when the governor needed bypass surgery. "I guess my mood is cautiously optimistic," said Brown, settling with a subdued expression into a high-backed, well-worn, brown leather chair in the governor's reception room.

Broadcaster Pat Summerall was hospitalized in stable condition yesterday awaiting a donor organ for a liver transplant. The 73-year-old former NFL kicker is on the waiting list at St. Luke's Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., spokesman Erik Kaldor said. He could not say how long it would take before Summerall received a transplant. The veteran broadcaster was flown by air ambulance to Jacksonville from Fort Worth, Texas, where he had been hospitalized in Methodist Medical Center's intensive-care unit since early this week.

John Keppler is glad to be home. "Ninety-two days (in the hospital) is a long time, too long," he said. Keppler, 33, of Sharon Hill, returned to his Ridley Avenue home last week about three months after he was hospitalized on Feb. 26 for a liver transplant operation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. "I'm tired, really tired, but it feels good to be home," he said. Keppler underwent a 13-hour liver transplant operation on Feb. 27. He had been waiting for a donor for about three weeks after doctors determined that he was in the final stages of liver disease and could not be "sufficiently managed by medical therapy or other surgical procedures," hospital spokesman Steve Brown said.

The city doesn't know yet exactly where it will get $130,000 to pay for firefighter Tyrone Appling's liver transplant, but City Finance Director Carlo R. Gambetta said yesterday he hoped to "squeeze out" the money from a $135 million fund used for city employees' health and welfare benefits. Both Gambetta and Mayor Goode said the decision to pay for the operation was done as a unique, humanitarian gesture and that they did not believe it would set a precedent for other ill city workers to seek city aid. Appling, meanwhile, was listed in critical condition this morning at Pittsburgh's Presbyterian-University Hospital.

Philadelphia firefighter Tyrone Appling died last night in a Pittsburgh hospital where he was awaiting a liver transplant which the city, in an unprecedented decision, had agreed to pay for. A hospital spokeswoman said Appling, 33, died of "systemic complications, due to acute hepatitis. " Appling, 33, of West Oak Lane, was airlifted to Presbyterian-University Hospital Feb. 19 after the city officials said the city would pay for the $130,000 transplant. A doctor who had treated Appling for hepatitis at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Northern Division, before the fireman went to Pittsburgh said then that Appling was "gravely ill. His only chance is for a transplant operation.

Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle has developed progressive liver failure and might need a liver transplant. Mantle, 63, was admitted May 28 to Baylor University Medical Center. Hospital spokeswoman Denise Kile Walton said he was in stable condition. Roy True, a Dallas attorney and longtime friend of the former New York Yankees centerfielder, said in a statement that doctors have characterized Mantle's condition as progressive liver failure due to infection. True quoted Drs. Daniel DeMarco and Kent Hamilton, specialists in gastroenterology, as saying Mantle might require a liver transplant.

Morgan Wootten, the acclaimed high school basketball coach who has sent a dozen players to the NBA, had a life-saving liver transplant in Baltimore yesterday, and his doctors said he might be able to coach next season. The 5 1/2-hour operation on the DeMatha High School coach went as planned, said James Burdick, director of the kidney transplant program at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Wootten was listed in critical condition in the surgical intensive care unit. Burdick said the prognosis was good and Wootten could be released next week.

The days and weeks of waiting for baby Vanessa Lopez Andino and her mother, Belinda, may soon be over. One-year-old Vanessa, who needs a liver transplant, is first on the list to receive a liver from St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. Meanwhile, the fund drive to raise the $150,000 needed to save the baby's life is continuing. A benefit concert to help the baby, who was brought to the United States by her mother last summer, will be held at the 23 East Caberet on Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore at 8 p.m. Thursday.

After winning a biggest-loser contest at her church, Myra Garcia of Trenton was dismayed when her stomach started growing for no reason this year. A "prophetess" who visited the church urged Garcia, who felt just fine, to seek help. The next week, she started feeling tired and nauseated, and went to a doctor. A series of medical tests came up with an unusual explanation: a type of "benign" tumor that rarely grows beyond a couple inches wide had engulfed the right side of her liver.

LONDON - For the first time, doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab. In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. In March 2011, the girl's doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant. They took a 31/2-inch section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube.

Timeline for transplants SUNDAY, Nov. 22 11:30 p.m. After discussion with family, Sonia signs the consent form for Paco to be an organ donor and directs kidney to Paco's uncle, Ramon Tejeda, if compatible. Midnight Information relayed to the Chicago organ donor program, Gift of Hope, regarding directed kidney donation to Paco's uncle. MONDAY, Nov. 23 1 a.m. Medical testing to determine organ suitability begins at Hahnemann University Hospital. 4 a.m. Donor blood sent to Chicago for kidney compatibility testing for Paco's uncle.

Richard J. Leighton, 57, of Broomall, founder of Office Basics, died of cancer Wednesday, Sept. 1, at Bryn Mawr Hospital. In 1981, Mr. Leighton opened an office-supply store in a retail storefront in Springfield, Delaware County. In the next six years the business moved twice to bigger quarters. In 1999, Office Basics moved to a new, fully automated, 100,000-square-foot warehouse and office building in Boothwyn. Mr. Leighton later opened branch facilities in Allentown and Lancaster.

Kathleen P. Falkenstein, a nurse practitioner and pediatric liver transplantation expert, loved her patients. While commuting several times each week to New York University to get her doctorate in nursing, Dr. Falkenstein continued to work in pediatrics. When one of her patients on a transplant list did not have a phone, Dr. Falkenstein drove to the child's home to tell the parents a liver was ready. And she made sure that children who were coming in from other countries for a transplant had a host family.

Juleus J. Sullivan Jr., 79, of Blue Bell, a retired distillery-company executive and commercial real estate broker, died of heart failure Tuesday, March 30, at his winter home in Belmont Village in San Diego. The James J. Sullivan School in Frankford is named for one of Mr. Sullivan's grandfathers, a hosiery manufacturer who served on the Philadelphia Board of Education. Mr. Sullivan grew up in Chestnut Hill and graduated from La Salle College High School. During the Korean War, he served in the Navy aboard the aircraft carrier Leyte.

Joseph J. Bolduc Jr., 56, of Port Richmond, a neighborhood activist and a former Philadelphia firefighter and paramedic, died of complications from liver cancer Wednesday at Northeast Hospital. Mr. Bolduc believed he contracted hepatitis C while serving in the Fire Department from 1984 to 1988, his son Christopher said. The disease led to liver cancer, which was diagnosed in 2005. He had a liver transplant in 2006, but the cancer returned the following year. Mr. Bolduc was active in the Philadelphia firefighters' union's effort to seek improved health benefits and testing for members exposed to hepatitis C, his son said.

Dock Ellis, the former pitcher best remembered for his flamboyance and social activism as a member of the great Pittsburgh Pirates teams of the 1970s, died yesterday of a liver ailment in California, according to a report on ESPN.com. Ellis' former agent, Tom Reich, confirmed his death. Ellis was 63. Ellis spent 12 years in the majors with Pittsburgh, the New York Yankees, Oakland, Texas and the New York Mets. He retired in 1979 with a record of 138-119, but was best known for several colorful incidents on and off the field.

Howard Nathan set out to be a doctor. Rejected from medical school, he hoped that networking with some prominent local transplant surgeons might give him another shot at admission. Instead, Nathan, who runs Philadelphia's Gift of Life Donor Program, wound up a world traveler and a prominent leader in the world of organ transplantation. Now in his 31st year at the organ program, he is president of the International Society of Organ Donation and Procurement. In 1978, Nathan became the third employee of what was then the Delaware Valley Transplant Program.

James T. Whitaker Jr., 56, of Lawnside, chief press officer for SEPTA, died of complications from a liver transplant on May 6 at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. Mr. Whitaker joined SEPTA as a press relations officer in 1982. Before that he had worked in commuter relations for Conrail for five years. Whenever there were breakdowns or delays, he was SEPTA's spokesman, his son Cord said. When there was a blizzard and most people stayed home, he went to work to update the public and media about train, trolley, and bus service, his son said.