Husband and wife get liver transplants years apart
Methodist Hospital Specialty and Transplant has the highest long-term survival rate in the country for patients three years after liver transplant. Patients Felipe and Carmen Ramos, from Laredo, Texas, have been married for 43 years. They are grateful for having received liver transplants at the Methodist Hospital Specialty and Transplant liver transplant program. Both of them needed a liver transplant for end stage liver disease from Hepatitis C.
When Felipe retired from the U.S. Army after 20 years of service, physicians discovered he had Hepatitis C during the standard discharge procedures. His liver disease had already progressed to advanced cirrhosis of the liver, and he was referred to Methodist Hospital Specialty and Transplant for a liver transplant in 2012.
In May 2019, Felipe’s wife Carmen was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and liver cancer. Felipe and Carmen, having experienced excellent surgical and post-transplant care for Felipe at Methodist Hospital Specialty and Transplant, decided to select the same program for management of Carmen’s liver cancer and cirrhosis.
Dr. Lokesh Bathla, surgeon at Specialty and Transplant, successfully ablated her liver tumor with minimally invasive surgical techniques. Since Carmen had cirrhosis and liver cancer, she qualified for liver transplant listing. In less than a year, she received the most important call of her life, that they had a liver for her.
“All the physicians worked as a team,” said Carmen. “My surgery went smooth, and I’m now back home in Laredo.”
Now Felipe is taking his turn to care for his wife.
“During my ordeal, my wife was very supportive. Now I know what she was going through taking care of me,” said Felipe Ramos. “As her husband, I’m giving her the support she gave me.”
Carmen said they are both taking their anti-rejection medications every day, and they are eating healthy, exercising and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Felipe and Carmen were treated for Hepatitis C pre-transplant and achieved sustained virologic response (SVR), which has proven to be the gold standard in measuring the success of Hepatitis C therapy.