Mantle Ok After Surgery

Mickey Mantle, two weeks from death with a diseased and damaged liver, was given an “excellent chance for recovery” Thursday after receiving a donated organ that was found within two days.

The 63-year-old Mantle underwent nearly seven hours of surgery at Baylor University Medical Center in which he received a transplanted liver to replace one ruined by a malignant tumor, hepatitis C and decades of drinking.

Mantle, who was listed in critical but stable condition, opened his eyes Thursday afternoon, and doctors expected him to be able to respond to questions by this morning.

The surgery went smoothly after some initial difficulties with scar tissue from an earlier gall bladder operation.

“He now has an excellent chance for recovery,” lead transplant surgeon Robert Goldstein said. “The liver seems to be functioning, and that’s the key to immediate post operative recovery.”

The new liver was draining properly and Mantle’s kidneys were working again, Goldstein said shortly after the operation.

He added, that Mantle had “a week, maybe two to live” had he not had the surgery.

The liver donor was found late Wednesday and once tests showed it was compatible with the Hall of Famer, surgery began around 4 a.m., CDT said hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Jones.

Doctors and organ bank officials said there was no way Mantle got the new liver because of his celebrity. They said he was in need of the organ worse than anyone else in the region and got lucky that an organ from someone with his same blood type and body weight became available late Wednesday.

The same donor also provided six other organs to five other people. The donor’s identity had not been released Thursday and was to remain secret unless both that person’s family and the Mantles wanted to publicize it.

The potentially life-saving operation came exactly 26 years after the New York Yankees retired Mantle’s uniform No. 7 in a ceremony June 8, 1969, before more than 60,000 fans at Yankee Stadium.

Mantle’s liver has been deteriorating because of a small malignant tumor, years of alcohol abuse and a long dormant hepatitis C infection, doctors said. They said his highly publicized bout with alcoholism contributed to his problems.

Fear the cancer had spread within Mantle forced doctors to prepare another patient for the liver transplant. Surgeons weren’t sure at first because of the scar tissue.

“Once we got that out, things went pretty smooth,” Goldstein said.

The five-year survival expectancy for someone who has received a liver transplant is about 70 percent. But because of his age and alcoholinduced liver problems, Mantle’s chances probably would be about 60 percent, Goldstein has said.

“He is 63 years old which puts him into our elderly population. And you just have to be very, very concerned and watch very closely to make sure that everything goes very well,” Goldstein said.

Mantle was hospitalized on May 28 complaining of stomach pains. Although doctors publicly announced his condition Wednesday, they notified the Southwest Organ Bank Inc. on Tuesday that a new liver was needed.

The organization’s director, Alison Smith, said it was not too unusual for an organ to be found within two days because Mantle’s poor health placed him in the Status 2 category.

“The highest urgency category are those who are in the intensive care unit on life support and he wasn’t there yet,” Dr. Goran Klintmalm said. “He was the second highest urgency, which means that he’s so sick he can’t leave the hospital.”