After a fall in late 2018, testing from a Colorado emergency room showed Ed Allis’ liver numbers were extremely abnormal, and he was referred to UAMS for follow-up. He was put on the transplant list in the summer of 2019, and on May 31, 2020, UAMS surgeons Dr. Lyle Burdine and Dr. Emmanouil Giorgakis performed a liver transplant. Hepatologist Dr. Katie Rude evaluated him and cared for him before and after his transplant, helping him enjoy life with his new granddaughter and “joy in the normalcy.”
“My transplant took place during COVID, and I couldn’t have visitors. The hospital staff became my family, and I later told friends that there are angels walking the halls of UAMS. I think I sometimes suffer from separation anxiety because I don’t get to see them as much as I used to. “ — Ed Allis, Little Rock
