WAITING FOR A LIVER
There are 269 people on the waiting list for a new liver in Georgia, and 15,776 nationwide, said Amanda Bartlett, media relations coordinator at Piedmont Hospital. Piedmont Hospital performs about 225 liver transplants each year, and only about half of the people on the waiting list get new livers, Dr. Lance Stein said.
Four years ago, Gary Grantham, 56, was on life support.
His liver failed. His kidneys shut down, then his lungs collapsed. The doctors at Piedmont Hospital declared him too weak for a liver transplant.
This week, however, he will join thousands of other runners at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race.
Grantham has made a remarkable recovery, learning how to walk again and then to run, and has been committed to finishing the Peachtree Road Race thanks to the transplant he eventually received.
When Grantham was in his early 30s, his doctor noticed the numbers of his liver tests were off. Every checkup after that, they remained off, he said.
In spring 2008, his skin took on a yellowish tint. He quickly lost 50 pounds, and constantly felt weak, said his wife, Virginia Grantham. On a trip to the Georgia Aquarium, he felt too sick to walk around. That November, he collapsed, and not long after began vomiting blood, she said.
He was rushed to the hospital in Warner Robins, where the doctor told Virginia Grantham they couldn’t help her husband.
“I couldn’t take it. I had to find him someone who could help,” she said.
After frantic calls to other doctors, her husband visited other liver specialists and was put on the waiting list to get treatment at Piedmont Hospital.
“When the liver fails, you can’t process food. Your body breaks down muscle mass for protein, so you become emaciated,” said Dr. Lance Stein, a transplant hepatologist at Piedmont Hospital.
By May, Grantham was on life support. He had lost 100 pounds in just over a year. Doctors once again told Virginia Grantham that there was little hope for her husband’s survival.
But he did survive. In June 2009, he received a liver transplant and began recovering.
“I was so weak after I had the surgery, I couldn’t even stand up,” Grantham said, “I had to relearn how to walk.”
His first outing after the surgery was to go and watch the AJC Peachtree Road Race.
“I remember, he told me it was a dream of his to do that someday,” his wife said.
Grantham has always run to escape, even before his liver failure. As the manager of Harris Service Co. in Byron, he works long hours and needs a break from cellphones and clients.
So, now, at least five times a week, he is up at 4:30 a.m., running. He averages about 5 miles per day.
Grantham used the goal of completing the race to help motivate him through recovery.
“I’ll not set a time record, but I’ll finish,” he said.
