Bill Varner's Transplant Journal

My name is Bill Varner, and I was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) in September 2000. I am 45 years old and work as a VP for strategic planning and marketing with a health system in Virginia where I have lived for about 9 years. I have a wonderful, supportive wife, Catherine, and two awesome kids, Julia (7) and Will (4).

So, what is PSC? It is a condition that causes the bile ducts to constrict severely. As a result, bile does not flow as easily through the liver as it does in a healthy individual. Ultimately this causes bile to spill into the bloodstream and significant scarring to occur throughout the liver. There is no known cause for PSC and no real treatment, other than a liver transplant. Although PSC is not generally considered to be hereditary, there are instances of it within families; my mom had PSC and died in August 2008 from cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer), a known risk of PSC.

Until about four years ago I had been almost entirely symptom-free. That changed suddenly, and I have outlined the experience of wrestling with my symptoms in more detail throughout the blog. With the onset of symptoms, I started having stents placed into my bile ducts in order to keep them open. During the procedure, a fiber optic tube is maneuvered through your mouth, through your stomach, briefly into the intestines, and up to the liver. Although the relief is almost instant following each procedure, the stents have a very short life and must be replaced every three months. This approach kept my symptoms under control for about two years, but eventually became ineffective when the tiny microscopic ducts which can’t be stented began closing. At this point, there was little that could be done to control the progression of the disease. Although this was an extremely discouraging development, I did have one remaining course of treatment: a liver transplant.

I was formally placed on the transplant list on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2009. Exactly seven months later, I received the transplant that would save my life and dramatically improve the quality of each day. My donor, a hero in every conceivable sense of the word, made all of this possible, but probably not in the way you’re accustomed to when you think of an organ donor (here’s a hint: she’s still alive and we’re both living thanks to one liver — hers). Read the blog to learn more.

I knew when I began this journey that it would change my life. But I had no idea how many ways it would change it, and how differently I would come to view the world, my friends, my co-workers, the power of prayer, and the very real ability that we have to save lives every day when the power of medical technology meets the generosity and faith of individuals and communities.

I’ll continue updating my status through this blog. The most current post is here.