MUSC Transplant Center

[Guest guest]

I know there are only a handful of us here in the Carolinas, but I

thought this was a bit of interesting info for anyone in this area.

Last Friday we were attending a Donate Life SC luncheon (their annual

clergy appreciation luncheon), and one of the speakers was Dr.

Prabhakar Baliga who is Head of Division of Transplant Surgery for

MUSC (Medical Univ. of South Carolina in ton). I got the

chance to talk with Dr. Baliga afterwards and was extremely impressed

with him!! He listened very carefully to my questions, answered them

fully and also showed a gentle sense of humor. Truly a rare find in

the medical world, it seems.

Anyway, he had spoken regarding the desperate need for living donors

for kidney transplants. I asked him if MUSC was doing any living

donor liver transplants. He explained that since the liver tx list is

so very short here, they had been able to accommodate all liver tx

patients with cadaveric livers. He told us that MUSC has one of the

shortest wait times in the country for a liver tx -- approx. 3 months

or a bit less!!! (Though the wait time for a kidney is about 3 years.)

At least 2 of Dr. Baliga's liver tx patients were also at the luncheon

and they were very outspoken in their praise of this man. He gave us

an immediate sense of confidence and security. If I were going the

transplant route, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to put my life in

his hands. (For those who don't know .... I cannot tolerate

anesthesia and a liver tx. without it would be such a bummer, don't ya

know?!)

I have been a patient in the MUSC hospital (for biliary stents) and we

were greatly astonished and impressed by their efficiency and

competence. Only about a million times better than our local

hospital!!!! So with the combination of an outstanding hospital and a

surgeon like Dr. Baliga, you've got a lot going in your favor.

Regards,

Carolyn B. in SC