500th Liver Transplant
Scott Branstrator, Vanderbilt's 500th liver transplant patient, and his fiancee Linda Nicholson of Ft. Wayne, Ind., visit the clinic for a follow-up appointment after his transplant surgery on Sept. 16 by Drs. Kelly Wright and Wright Pinson. Branstrator was diagnosed in 1999 with hepatitis C and a cancerous tumor on his liver, but wasn't put on the list for a transplant for three years because he didn't have a caregiver. That's when Nicholson, his high school sweetheart, contacted him and they started their relationship again. Branstrator was then put on the list and only waited six months for his transplant. The couple will be married as soon as he's recovered. "I feel like we have a new lease on life," said Nicholson.