When Fred Melton, 62, of Sandy Springs, Ga., began experiencing weight fluctuation and leg swelling, he mentioned his symptoms to his primary care physician. He was then referred to a liver specialist, who ran multiple tests.

“He said, ‘You definitely have some liver problems and we can’t handle you here at this particular hospital,’” remembered Melton. “The next thing I know, I’m at Piedmont.”

His diagnosis

Melton was diagnosed with severe end-stage liver disease cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer, a common tumor that cirrhotics are prone to get.

Oncologists treated Melton’s tumor with localized chemotherapy called chemoembolization.

“It shrunk his tumor and allowed us to buy some time for him,” explained Harrison Pollinger, D.O., F.A.C.S.

While the chemotherapy prevented the tumor from spreading, Melton still required a transplant because of the significant cirrhosis in his liver caused by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Waiting for a new liver

Although he endured months of grueling treatments, Melton said the worst part of the experience was waiting for a new liver that matched his blood type.

“It starts eating at you, particularly when you keep going up and down with the fluid in your stomach,” Melton said.

At first, Melton had fluid buildup removed once a month. As it gradually became more severe, he underwent the procedure once a week. His physicians told him he needed a transplant soon.

A donor liver

Finally, in November 2013, Melton received a phone call that a donor liver matching his blood type was available.

“He’s been waiting on the waiting list for quite some time,” Dr. Pollinger said. “A donor liver became available for him this evening.”

“Part of the reason that it takes so long to get a liver is 15,000 people need a liver, but there are only about 8,000 livers available each year,” Melton said.

Fred Melton’s new liver

“We work in teams,” Dr. Pollinger said. “There’s always a liver transplant surgeon on for the recipient operation and there’s another surgeon on for the donor operation.”

Melton's new liver was healthy, with normal vessels and structure.

The hepatectomy

“While I’m working on the recipient, Dr. Johnson will be preparing the [new] liver on the ice bath, getting the blood vessels ready, trimming it of any unnecessary, fatty tissue,” said Dr. Pollinger. “It really takes a team to get this operation done.”

Recovery time

Recovery time depends on how sick the patient was before undergoing the transplant.

“For someone like Fred who is sick, but otherwise in pretty good health, he should stay in the hospital for about seven days and be fully recovered in about three months,” Dr. Pollinger said.

Life after transplant

Melton’s prognosis is good.

“With his new liver, Mr. Melton should no longer suffer from confusion related to liver disease,” said Devina Bhasin, M.D., his transplant hepatologist. “A lot of the fatigue people experience with cirrhosis from liver disease should, over time, get better.”

He will also no longer require weekly procedures to remove fluid buildup in his abdomen.

“Almost most importantly, he no longer has liver cancer,” she said. “He’s been cured of that.”

Dr. Bhasin told Melton to “take it easy – you’ve got years ahead of you now.”

A second chance at life

With his second chance at life, Melton plans to spend as much time as possible with his beloved grandchildren.

“I missed a summer of doing stuff with the grandkids,” he said.

“Like fishing,” added his grandson. “We always used to do that when I was a young kid – or younger.”

Since 2005, the Piedmont Transplant team has been caring for patients with liver disease and has performed more than 650 liver transplants.

Five days after his transplant, Fred Melton was discharged from Piedmont Atlanta Hospital. He is now making up for lost time with his grandchildren.

Visit Piedmont Transplant Institute to learn more about liver transplantation. 

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