Page 17 - Methodist Health System | Methodist Dallas Medical Center | Shine | Spring 2013

During the summer of 2011, Glenn Salyer reached a turning point
in his life. The medicine that had kept his autoimmune hepatitis — a
condition in which the immune system wages war on the liver — in
check for almost 20 years had stopped working.
“My liver had degraded to the point that I needed to have a
transplant,” Salyer says. “The news was devastating.”
Armond Schwartz, MD, independently practicing
gastroenterologist on the medical staff at Methodist Dallas
Medical Center, who had been treating Salyer from day one,
referred him to The Liver Institute at Methodist Dallas.
“The people at The Liver Institute are just fantastic,”
Salyer says. “You don’t just have one surgeon — you get the
whole team. They’re all looking out for you.”
Overseeing Salyer’s care was Alejandro Mejia, MD,
FACS, independently practicing transplant and hepato-
biliary surgeon on the medical staff at Methodist Dallas.
“You want to be at a place where there’s a lot
of experience in the physicians treating you and
performing your operation, and you need a
multidisciplinary team approach to get it right,”
Dr. Mejia says. “That’s why Methodist Dallas’
transplant program excels.”
Waiting for the call
In the months to follow, Salyer’s health continued to
decline, causing him to be hospitalized 13 times in
nine months. Time was running out, and the illness
was taking its toll not only on Salyer, but also on his
whole family.
“My daughter was 8 at the time, and after my hos-
pital stays, she would just sit in my lap and cry,” Salyer
recalls. “She was so worried I wouldn’t come home.”
Finally, on July 1, 2011, Salyer got the call saying
a liver was available.
“When I woke from surgery on July 2, the sun was
shining,” Salyer says. “It was a beautiful day for me.”
Starting over
Salyer was in the hospital for less than a week after his
transplant, and within days his jaundiced skin and eyes
were losing their yellow hues.
“Having a new liver that works perfectly well trans-
formed his overall physiology,” Dr. Mejia says. “That just
leads to feeling great and being able to resume all your
normal activities.”
Such was the case for Salyer, who returned to work two
months later and vacationed last summer with his family
in Florida.
Looking back, he knows he couldn’t have made it without his
family, especially his wife, Tammy. He’s also grateful to the organ
donor and his or her family.
“Knowing that someone has to die so that you can live is very
humbling,” he says. “I don’t want to take this for granted.”
The Liver Institute treats the gamut of liver, pancreatic, and bile duct disorders and
diseases. To learn how they can help you, go to MethodistHealthSystem.org/Liver.
Texas law prohibits hospitals from practicing medicine. The physicians on the Methodist Health System medical staff are
independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Methodist Health System or Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
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