Kentucky father recovering after second liver transplant, beating cancer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — After a nearly 18-year journey from beating cancer to a liver transplant, a Kentucky father has returned to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Elijah Taylor was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and required chemotherapy, radiation, and eventually a liver transplant. According to GoFundMe , Taylor’s mother was able to be a live donor and both made a full recovery.

But on July 4, Taylor began to experience pain in his side. After a trip to the emergency room, Taylor’s family said doctors discovered a blood clot in the artery of his liver. After unsuccessful treatment attempts in Louisville and Lexington, it was determined that he’d need to return to the Mayo Clinic, per the fundraiser . The clinic sent its critical care jet to Lexington and Taylor found himself in a hospital bed until further notice.

“Many more tests and many more scary moments later, it was determined that the liver was irreparably damaged and a second transplant was needed,” Beth Searcy, the fundraiser organizer, wrote.

On July 26, Taylor received his second liver transplant. But doctors warned that recovery would be harder the second go-round, “and that is definitely proving true,” Searcy said.

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“There have been steps forward and steps backward since then. Hopeful progress and scary setbacks, both. But day by day he is slowly improving,” she said.

His wife, Elizabeth, wrote on their Caring Bridge page that they’ve experienced feeding tube and stomach complications since the procedure. She’s thankful he’s begun to sit up on his own and walk with assistance, but, they still have a long way to go.

According to Searcy, it’s estimated that Taylor will remain at the Mayo Clinic until at least September. She decided to start a GoFundMe to assist with living and travel expenses so his children could also visit.

For more information on how you can contribute, click here .

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