On Tuesday, February 17, 2009, Wayne McGrew left the hospital to die at home.  His physicians didn’t expect him to live through the weekend. 

A week earlier, Wayne visited his gastroenterologist Adil Choudhary, M.D.,  at Huguley Memorial Medical Center.  Dr. Choudhary was so concerned about Wayne that he wouldn’t let him leave the office.  Dr. Choudhary scheduled an emergency appointment for Wayne at Baylor Hospital’s transplant department for later that day, and Wayne waited in Dr. Choudhary’s office until then.

“His color was terrible, he was extremely weak, he was gravely ill,” said Dr. Choudhary, founder of the Center for Digestive and Liver Disorders at Huguley.  “I did not want for him to be alone.”

Wayne was admitted to Baylor, where testing confirmed that a new liver was Wayne’s only hope.  But Wayne hadn’t been approved by Medicaid for a transplant, and those on the transplant list wait an average of two years for a new liver.

After a week in the hospital, Wayne went home with death looming.  He wrote out his will.  He spent his savings on a designer suit to be buried in, but then decided the suit was so nice that he should leave it to his brother.  So Wayne laid out his department store suit.   That would do fine, he thought.  His neighbor checked on him every two hours to make certain he was still living.

Wayne had come to terms with his fate.  He’d become well acquainted with death in recent years as the primary caretaker for his grandmother, father and mother before they each passed.  He wasn’t in any pain, just very weak, cold and tired.  He slept frequently, and he assumed that he’d fall asleep and not wake up. 

Although he was only 50, Wayne wasn’t bitter about facing death.  After all, he’d brought it on himself.  Years of heavy drinking had destroyed his liver, turning his skin yellow and causing him to lose 60 pounds.  He had quit alcohol altogether, but the damage was done.

Wayne moved to Burleson in 2002 from his native Louisiana so that he and his brother could look after their aging parents.  A respiratory therapist, Wayne worked full time at a hospital and cared for his parents.  After his father passed, his mother grew ill.  Wayne missed work frequently to care for his mother, and Wayne began to have symptoms of alcoholic liver disease, including throwing up blood.   Ultimately he stopped working, leaving him without health insurance or a regular income. 

In October 2008 at Dr. Choudhary’s recommendation, Wayne was evaluated for a transplant at Baylor Hospital.  Although he was in worse health than many on the transplant list, he had no means to cover the expensive surgery.  When Wayne applied for Social Security and Medicaid benefits, he was told to expect a response in 90 days.  The first stroke of luck:  his approval came in ten days.

Wayne’s second stroke of luck came on Thursday, February 19, 2009.  He received a phone call that he had been put on the list for a liver transplant.  “I felt a tiny ray of hope,” says Wayne, “but two doctors had just told me I was days from dying.  I knew I wouldn’t live long enough to receive a new liver.”

Wayne was mistaken.  Within three hours, he received a call that a donor liver was available.  That night, he underwent more testing at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, and Friday morning he was in surgery.

“The improvement was immediate,” says Wayne.  “I was up and walking the next day.  And on Tuesday I went home.”

Living in the Present
Wayne appreciates his second chance at life.  “I’m a different person.  I haven’t had a drink in almost four years, I jog and work out every day.  I’m doing some part-time work as a respiratory therapist, and I’m looking for full-time work.”

Wayne has an enormous sense of gratitude to the liver donor and the medical team that saved his life, especially Dr. Choudhary, whom he still sees regularly for follow-up care.  “Dr. Choudhary really cares about his patients.  Even now, he’s very conscientious and keeps a close eye on my liver function.  I will never forget that if Dr. Choudhary hadn’t sent me to Baylor that day, I wouldn’t be here now.”

Dr. Adil Choudhary was recently honored for the second time as a “Top Doc” by Fort Worth, Texas magazine.   A member of the select group of Fellows of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Dr. Choudhary trained at New York University, Yale and Tulane.  In addition to treating liver disorders, Dr. Choudhary sees patients conditions of the digestive tract and performs painless colon cancer screenings.  He may be reached at 817-551-7332.