Mom’s pregnancy leads to uncovering need for life-saving liver transplant
Virydiana Lopez is celebrating another Mother’s Day, a milestone she may not have seen if she didn’t receive an emergency liver transplant just days after giving birth. She’s grateful her team of doctors in El Paso and San Antonio were able to quickly work together to save her and her son’s life.
Lopez said she was healthy going into her second pregnancy, but then she started to feel something wasn’t right.
“I started having some issues,” said Lopez. “I was jaundiced and disoriented and was admitted to the hospital. Tests showed a rare genetic condition, and I was referred to another doctor who cares for high-risk pregnancies.”
Dr. Harlen Giles, a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist at Del Sol Medical Center, said Lopez was having trouble speaking and her condition was deteriorating rapidly. The rare condition was a false positive, but further testing revealed trouble with her liver. They performed an emergency C-section at 28 weeks. On Nov. 5, 2018, she delivered her baby boy, Andrew, who was rushed to the NICU. Lopez said she has no memory of the birth.
“I was very concerned. This isn’t very common at all for women who are pregnant,” said Dr. Richard Guerrero, a Hepatologist in El Paso. “We were hoping her liver failure would improve after delivery; however, she was getting worse.”
Doctors said Lopez started to decline and her blood was not clotting properly. The team at Del Sol Medical Center discovered Lopez had fulminant liver failure, where the liver stops working in a matter of days.
“I would have told you she was going to die,” said Dr. Giles. “This truly is a miracle.”
Lopez was taken by air flight to Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant in San Antonio and placed in the top status transplant waitlist in Texas and Oklahoma.
“Without a transplant, she would have died. The chance of surviving was zero,” said Dr. Preston Foster, a liver transplant surgeon at Specialty and Transplant. “There’s not a dialysis treatment for liver failure.”
Lopez received a liver transplant on Nov. 11, 2018 in San Antonio. Her mother stayed with her while Lopez’s husband was in El Paso with their son. Both mother and baby were released from the two hospitals in January.
“Today, my son is all caught up on his milestones,” said Lopez. “I’ve had no episodes of rejection with my new liver. Because of this, I’ve decided to go to school to become a medical assistant.”
Her doctors credit the multidisciplinary team who came together in El Paso and San Antonio to provide great continuity of care.
“It’s the ultimate triumph over a disease,” said Dr. Foster. “An organ is destroyed in a few days, and we are able to replace it. Now she’s living a normal life. I think that’s incredible.”
Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant is nationally recognized for its transplant program.