Samuel Paul Rife
 Liver Recipient April 2, 2007
I have just celebrated my first year anniversary of my liver transplant that was done on April 2, 2008. What a party we had!!! I am feeling healthier and stronger as time goes on, and most of all I am feeling very blessed. I am so grateful for the Organ Donor Family to have given me the ultimate gift of life. I am grateful for the chance to be a productive member of my family, a helpful husband, an involved father with my three children, and I am able to pursue my friendships and some work. My story is a miracle story because it took a long time to be able to get on the “Transplant List” to be in a position to be able to receive an offer. But with the help of all of the professionals at the Texas Liver Center I was finally on the list after working at it for over six months. During that time, I was very ill due to the cirrhosis that the Hepatitis –C had caused, and my liver was failing with a possible week or two left to live. And then the miracle came! We actually got a phone call with an offer within two weeks of getting on the “List”. It came before I even got my pager! The transplant surgery has changed my life. I no longer deal with the symptoms of encephalopathy that caused so much confusion, or with the ascites that caused the fluid build up and the discomfort. Even though it has taken me awhile to regain my strength since the surgery, I have felt very clear headed and that has been a relief. I am currently taking a year’s program of chemotherapy (interferon) because the Hep-C was affecting the new liver, but along with my post transplant nurse, Nse, I am thrilled with my lab reports that say the virus is undetectable. I now find the Liver Support Group to be very helpful in dealing with this major life event. I would like to say: “There is hope”
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