A second chance at life: HCA Healthcare patient receives liver transplant on her birthday

Irma Ybarra, a mother and grandmother, from El Paso, Texas, sings “Born to be Alive,” a song she requested be played as she went into surgery. It was the last thing she remembers before her life-saving liver transplant that happened to be scheduled on her birthday. But her birthday took a dramatic turn when she coded in her hospital room the morning of her scheduled surgery.

Irma started feeling sick during the summer of 2020. She was vomiting, nauseated, her normally soft skin was rough, scaly and itchy, and her enzyme levels were severely elevated. The whites of her eyes had turned yellow. At one point, she was trembling, drooling and on the verge of passing out. After several trips to the ER and doctor visits, her doctor in El Paso realized her liver was failing. In September, they told her she needed to get to HCA Healthcare affiliate Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant in San Antonio as soon as possible because she may not have long to live.

“They told me ‘If you drive there, you won’t make it. Dr. Foster and his team are expecting you,’” said Irma Ybarra.

Irma’s mother and husband booked airline tickets immediately. They checked into the ER at Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant on Sept. 21. The following day, the team ordered a stress test, lab work, EKG, and other evaluations to determine Irma’s MELD score, which is the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease that determines the severity of a patient’s liver disease. Her scores put her at the top of the liver transplant waiting list.

“We were able to complete her evaluation quickly because she was fairly young and didn’t have any prior medical problems,” said Dr. Preston Foster, medical director of the liver transplant program at Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant. “She was a high priority patient because of her high MELD Score.”

The following day, they found a match for a liver donation. She was scheduled for surgery on Sept. 24, Irma’s birthday. That morning, Irma went into cardiopulmonary arrest in her hospital room.

“I was holding her, and she said ‘I feel weak.’ That’s when her eyes rolled back in her head. The nurses ran in and started chest compressions.”

Irma’s mother was distraught. “I thought ‘Oh my God! My baby girl is dying in front of my eyes.’ Then the nurses asked me to step out of the room. I prayed and prayed. They brought her back. On her birthday.”

It took about 30 minutes for the team to resuscitate her. Later that day, doctors determined she was still fit to receive the scheduled transplant. The staff brought Irma balloons and sang happy birthday to her before they wheeled her off to surgery. Irma asked that they play “Born to be Alive” as she went into the OR. Irma’s liver transplant surgery was a success.

“It’s a miracle really. I died and came back to life on my birthday. Dr. Foster gave me the best birthday present ever,” said Irma.

A few days after surgery, her natural skin color was returning. She was laughing and joking with her mom. Irma spent several months living in an apartment in San Antonio, to make her twice-weekly appointments to the liver clinic. She is now back at home with her family and extremely grateful to the team that saved her life.