Linda Williams endured years of “house arrest” with a compromised immune system before a liver transplant at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
“I couldn’t go outside because of all the allergens in the air,” says Linda, a retired office manager who adores the great outdoors. “I couldn’t go to the grocery store. I couldn’t go to church. It was tough.”
Putting cirrhosis behind her after 13 years, she’s now free to enjoy her farm in East Texas, thanks to the hospital’s transplant staff and a new lifesaving tool now at their disposal.
“They really care about their patients,” Linda says. “It was written all over the face of every one of them. They made me feel like I was so important.”
LATE-STAGE CIRRHOSIS
Linda was placed on a transplant list in 2021 when her liver disease caused her health to reach its low point.
“I really didn’t expect to see my next birthday,” says Linda, who turned 72 in April. “I knew my health was deteriorating fast.”
Cirrhosis is a late-stage liver disease that replaces healthy tissue with scar tissue, blocking the organ’s ability to filter toxins and eventually causing it to fail.
Linda and her family were keenly aware that a new liver may never become available to her because other patients might come first.
“I understood completely that a younger person deserves the chance to live the life I already have,” Linda says. “I just wanted whatever God wanted, and I wanted to wait gracefully for my turn.”
Fortunately for Linda, her turn came sooner than anyone expected when a newly acquired medical device at Methodist Dallas widened the donor pool for patients like her.
Alejandro Mejia, MD, FACS, answered every question Linda had in the days leading up to her surgery.
HOPE PUMP SAVES LIVES
Linda was the first Methodist Dallas patient to benefit from the use of the Bridge to Life VitaSmart Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion system.
Known as the HOPE pump, this innovative technology uses oxygenated fluid at cool temperatures to rejuvenate donor livers before a transplant.
“This system feeds oxygen into the liver, which helps recover the metabolism of the liver, so it will perform better once it’s transplanted,” says Alejandro Mejia, MD, FACS, executive director of organ transplantation at Methodist Dallas. “This tool greatly expands the pool of donors for our patients.”
Dozens of patients have already benefited from the pump at Methodist Dallas, and Dr. Mejia says his team is on pace to double the number of livers transplanted at the hospital this year.
“We feel extremely fortunate to get this pump so soon after the FDA approved its use in December,” Dr. Mejia says. “It will benefit patient outcomes and reduce complications for years to come.”
With decades of experience and a patient-centered focus, the Transplant Institute at Methodist Dallas has built a national reputation for transplant excellence. Visit MethodistHealthSystem.org
CALL COMES AT BEDTIME
Linda committed to making numerous trips from her home outside Grand Saline to see her doctors at Methodist Dallas before her surgery in March 2026. It was the final drive her family won’t forget — although it’s all a blur for Linda.
“She was getting ready for bed, and she gets a phone call at 11:11 p.m.,” says her daughter Michele Steltzlen. “So the entire family got up and got going, and we’re all playing phone tag with each other.”
The family made it to the hospital just after midnight and expected the surgery to last anywhere from six to 10 hours. Four hours later, they learned the transplant was a success — all made possible by Dr. Mejia, his team, and the HOPE pump.
“It was one of the fastest surgeries her surgeon had done,” Michele says. “Dr. Mejia told us she made Methodist history by being the first transplant recipient to ever use the HOPE pump.”
With her health transformed, Linda is no longer under cirrhosis-imposed “house arrest.”
ALWAYS TIME TO PRAY
Within a week of the transplant, Linda’s health had transformed, and she was discharged from Methodist Dallas after just two weeks.
During that time, Linda lost track of how many times the staff made her feel like she was their only patient, from Dr. Mejia to every nurse and beloved transplant coordinator Imelda Ulrich, BSN, RN, CCTC.
“I can’t tell you how many of them would come in and ask if I wanted a word of prayer,” says Linda, who holds her Christian faith dear. “They all prayed with me, and that made me feel better.”
Linda only regrets that she can’t thank her donor personally, but she hopes others will follow their example and share that lifesaving generosity.
“How wonderful is it for someone to be so caring that they shared a part of their self with you when they can no longer use it?” Linda says. “That’s giving life to somebody. That’s what God does.”
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