Dallas surgeon meets liver transplant patient in Temple


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TEMPLE, Texas (AP) — Students in Brad Billeaudeaux's Temple High theater arts class on Monday witnessed the power of words when Dr. Robert Goldstein, a transplant surgeon from Baylor Scott & White in Dallas, came to the class to meet Ashli Taylor.

Fourteen years ago, Goldstein removed part of Ashli's mother's liver, which was then transplanted into Ashli, who was less than a year old and had congenital cirrhosis of the liver.

The Temple Daily Telegram (http://bit.ly/1HCYMnz ) reports not long after Ashli was born, she began showing symptoms of liver disease and eventually a biopsy revealed the seriousness of the situation.

On June 21, 2001, she was placed on the National Organ Transplant List and her health continued to decline.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Ashli and her mother, Crystal Pope-Taylor, were on their way to Houston to see another physician. They received a call from "Nanna" telling them to turn around because the country was under attack.

Two other calls came in: Ashli needed to be hospitalized because of an infection and another announcing a liver for transplant was available. However, the organ was in another state and needed to be flown in, but all flights were grounded after the terrorist attacks.

Pope-Taylor immediately began to pursue becoming a living donor to her daughter.

Ashli, 15, shared that story in her letter to Goldstein.

"You probably have no idea who I am, but you had a great impact in my life," she wrote to Goldstein. "I know you've had a lot of patients over the years and they appreciate your work. But my parents' lives would be totally different if it weren't for you, especially my mom."

The letter began as a class assignment from Billeaudeaux to write about anything.

"All of you have incredible stories to tell and this class is a vehicle for that," Billeaudeaux said. "Y'all have power in your words."

That's when Goldstein walked into the classroom, followed by Pope-Taylor.

"Ashli, I'm your mom's surgeon," he said. "You wrote me a letter and it was amazing."

The things you do and say have an effect, Goldstein told the class.

"It had been 14 years and out of the blue you get a letter like this and I can't tell you what this means," he said. "The words moved everybody in the office."

Goldstein has performed hundreds of surgeries and much of the time the surgeons are not aware of where that patient ends up.

Goldstein removed part of the left side of the Pope-Taylor's liver at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, which was then sent to Children's Medical Center of Dallas, where it was transplanted into Ashli.

"We made an impact on her, but Ashli made more of an impact on us," he said. "This is why we spend the hours doing what we do, because when you see something like this, it's incredible."

"I was not expecting this at all, but I'm really grateful," Ashli said of Goldstein's visit.

Sept. 11, 2001, was the worst day ever, Pope-Taylor said.

"Looking at what was going on in the country was awful, but when it hit me personally and could mean my child might not survive, it was a whole other ballgame," she said. "When it's your child, you do whatever is needed."

Ashli's health is great and she has never shown any signs of organ rejection, her mother said.

Early on, Ashli's parents had been told their daughter might lag behind developmentally and physically because she had been ill for so long, but she caught up quickly and has excelled. Ashli is in all Advanced Placement classes and is active in the band, choir, theater arts and is considering pursuing a degree in music when she goes to college.

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Information from: Temple (Texas) Daily Telegram, http://www.tdtnews.com

This is an AP Member Exchange shared by the Temple Daily Telegram

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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