Life After Liver Transplant: Billy’s Story

Billy Taddeo has been through a lot in the past seven years since he retired. But at 70 years old now, he says he feels great. It’s hard to believe he had a liver transplant just 20 months ago.

Billy lives in Fort Myers, Fla., with his wife Karen and was diagnosed in 2017 with hepatitis C (a viral infection that causes inflammation that damages the liver) and cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver.

A person can have hepatitis C for years before any symptoms occur and, often, by the time it is diagnosed, damage has already occurred in the liver. By the time Billy was diagnosed with hepatitis C, his liver was functioning at only about 25 percent.

Billy was prescribed HarvoniÒ, a pill that cures hepatitis C that had just recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

“For three years after that, all was good,” Billy says.

But in January of 2020, Billy’s gastroenterologist noticed a small spot on his liver that he said would be important to “keep an eye on.” Six months later, Billy noticed he was passing black tarry stools, a symptom of advanced liver disease. Results from several scans and tests showed several tumors on Billy’s liver and one outside the liver on one of his adrenal glands, which made him ineligible for a liver transplant at the time.

“Their commitment to my recovery was nothing short of incredible. I tell people that if you want world-class treatment, this is the place you need to be. ”

Billy’s doctor referred him to Cleveland Clinic in Florida, where he met with Xaralambos Bobby Zervos, DO, medical director of the liver disease program. Dr. Zervos is a transplant specialist and is Associate Director of the Abdominal Transplant and Liver Transplantation Chair and Medical Director at Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital. Under the care of gastrointestinal oncologist Arun Nagarajan, MD, Billy underwent a newly approved immunotherapy treatment. He received infusions from November 2020 until July of 2021. By the time his treatment was complete, there was only one of the five tumors left, which was on the portal vein (main blood vessel to the liver), and it had shrunk from 13 centimeters down to 1 centimeter.

Billy’s condition remained stable until throughout the rest of 2021. He underwent a TIPS procedure, a procedure in which a shunt is placed between veins in the liver to relieve pressure on the portal vein. Otherwise, he was “fine,” he says, for the next couple of years by taking medication regularly for his liver.

When Dr. Nagarajan asked him how he felt about a liver transplant, he said he was surprised.

“I had just started feeling good again,” Billy says. “I’d been waiting to feel that good again for the last three to five years.”

But he still had heavy scarring on the liver due to the hepatitis, and he was about to turn 69. The outcomes for liver transplants in patients older than 70 are slightly less favorable than in younger patients. Billy and his wife Karen took time to think about it, and they eventually decided transplantation was the best thing to do. Billy was placed on the liver transplant list and about two weeks later he got a call that a liver was ready for him.

Within three days post-transplant Billy was able to walk around the hospital. He was discharged on his sixth day. He says the first month post-transplant was the hardest but overall, his recovery was smooth.

“I feel better now than I think I’m supposed to be allowed to,” he jokes.

Though it wasn’t an easy road, he says he is glad he did it and he is happy to share his story with anyone.

“The benefits far outweigh the negatives,” he says.

He is especially thankful to his transplant surgeon, Antonio Pinna, MD, Director of the Abdominal Transplant Center, along with his transplant team, the Critical Care Unit nurses, and his “amazing” post-transplant team. He also credits his family and close friends for supporting him throughout his journey back to good health.

“Their commitment to my recovery was nothing short of incredible,” he says. “I tell people that if you want world-class treatment, this is the place you need to be. Cleveland Clinic is as good as it gets.”