I'm 30 months post transplant and it sounds as if gman66 and I may have a common thread to our stories. I too had HCC after many years of cirrhosis due to PBC. The miracle workers at Mayo Jacksonville were able to eradicate my liver tumors with Y-90 treatment but, as wondrous as that was, it didn't mean I could immediately be put on the transplant list. I had to remain cancer-free for a period of time stipulated by UNOS in order to be put on the list. I finally met the criteria after the required time elapsed and was very fortunate that I didn't have to wait long (just a matter of weeks) before my call came that they had an organ donor for me. The waiting to satisfy the UNOS requirement is a bit tense, but the way I look at it I would likely have been dead six months after my diagnosis and every day that the Y-90 bought me was one I didn't have before. I went for the transplant because it was my understanding that once a cirrhotic liver starts to develop HCC tumors, it will in all probability continue to develop them, so transplant was my best option for living a longer, healthier life. It is also relevant to my case that I never felt very ill from my PBC; my liver did a very good job of compensating, so I wasn't debilitated and was a good candidate for transplant; that matters.

Jump to this post