4/29/2008 9:59:00 AM Bieringer recuperating after liver transplant
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Two days after John Bieringer’s liver transplant it was all thumbs up, as John is pictured above (left) with his children, Jessie, Johnny, Jacque and Lisa.
by Kristen J. Kubisiak and Carol Moorman
In November, John Bieringer was diagnosed with bile duct cancer.
His life depended upon finding a new liver.
"There are two paths," he said. "The first path would be a living donor liver transplant. The second is to wait for a deceased liver transplant to become available."
John ended up taking the second path.
On Thursday, April 17, he received a new liver and is currently recuperating at Rochester Methodist Hospital in Rochester, where the liver transplant was performed, thanks to a family who donated to John the liver of a deceased loved one.
Life-long lower digestive system issues
John and his wife, Jan, live in Sauk Centre, but since January they have been at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where he was receiving treatment. John is familiar to the area as the owner of Dairyland Supply in Sauk Centre for the past 35 years.
This most recent medical development isn't the first time John has had trouble in his lower digestive system. When he was 10 years old, the Sauk Centre native was diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis and hospitalized. He almost died.
"Back then, people didn't know as much as they do now about what it was, or how to treat it," John said.
After moving to a more progressive hospital, the condition was treated. Within a year, all symptoms of the disease were gone and he was back at work on his parents' 30-cow dairy farm.
Until 1981, John lived a relatively healthy life, then the ulcerative colitis returned-stronger than ever. It was that year he made his first visit to the Mayo Clinic. His colon was removed successfully, but two short years later John was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) a progressive disease that causes inflammation, hardening and scarring of the bile ducts.
It eventually leads to liver disease.
Since 1983, he has been into the clinic for annual and biannual checkups, but beyond that he has had no health issues.
"I lived a 100 percent normal life," he said. "I raised four children, I ran a business and did the things normal healthy people do."
Liver transplant
But a shadow was hanging over John. He knew that PSC could progress into cancer. In November of 2007 he began showing symptoms of bile duct obstruction-jaundice, itching, fatigue and weight-loss. He was diagnosed with bile duct cancer.
Since then, the Bieringers have been on an emotional roller coaster. They have spent the bulk of the past four months in Rochester, where John started intensive radiation and chemotherapy treatments in January.
But treating the cancer was only one part of the problem. John's liver had been working under great strain to keep him well and the strain was taking its toll. Liver transplant discussions began.
According to Life Source, a nonprofit organization that manages organ and tissue donations in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and part of western Wisconsin, thousands of men, woman and children in the United States are waiting for organ transplants that could save their lives. Only one-third of those people will receive the life-saving transplants they need and every day an estimated 17 people will die waiting.
The ideal situation for John would have been a live donor liver transplant, when the donor would give 60 percent of his or her liver to John. Both the donor and John's livers would return to normal adult size in a very short time-three to four weeks.
The benefits of a living donor liver transplant are that the surgery is planned, which reduces the waiting time for the recipients, who may not be able to wait due to the nature of their disease; and it enables the recipient to undergo the transplant when he or she is in the best health medically, which improves recovery time.
Doctors told them if John remained in moderately good health, he could have had to wait 18 months or more for a deceased liver transplant to become available. If his health deteriorated, he would have moved up in the national transplant's priority list.
At least 275 adult-to-adult living donor liver transplants had been performed in the United States by early 2000, and several hundred more in other parts of the world.
Before John learned he needed a liver transplant, he said he was unaware how many people were in need of organ donors.
"It was a real wake up call," he said.
John and Jan hoped that through revealing their personal struggle, they could bring awareness to a very serious, yet rarely discussed, issue.
John's new liver,
new chance at life
John is now one of those lucky ones. While staying at the Gift of Life Transplant House, the Bieringers received the call they had been waiting for at 11:15 p.m., on Wednesday, April 16. Their doctor said they might have found a liver for John at a nearby hospital. John was rushed to the hospital and prepped for the possible transplant.
They remained there through the night as everything inched closer to surgery. Finally, at 1:45 p.m. on April 17, John was wheeled to the operating room and his transplant surgery began.
Following the transplant John was in the intensive care only one day, before being moved to a private room. Almost immediately, his complexion became lighter, his eyes brighter and whiter, he regained strength in his voice and his health started returning.
He is currently "unplugged" from all the equipment and is "doing wonderfully," according to an April 22 website update.
The swelling in his hands, ankles and feet is down, his blood glucose levels are down to nearer normal. Liver and kidney functions are good. His appetite is increasing and expanding.
It's literally one step at a time, one day at a time. He is hoping to be home soon.
John and Jan are thankful for all the support they continue to receive. And of course, they are grateful to the family who donated the liver of their loved one, and the "gift of life," allowing John to continue down a path of healing.
"Spring is here and what better time to be renewed and reborn," wrote Jan, adding, "God bless the family of the donor."
