YOUR PARTNER IN HEALTH - Austin Austin Tax Vitality Appeal SPRING 2013 NEWS web.pdfLocked Bag 25, Heidelberg VIC3084 Ph: (03) 9496 5753 Email: [email protected] State-of-the-art

VitalityYOUR PARTNER IN HEALTH

SPRING 2013

A spinal cord or brain acquired injury can be a tragic and serious event. Once stable, patients may wonder how they’ll get back their life. This is where rehabilitation enters the picture.

Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre’s Manager of Creative and Leisure Therapies, Sal Dema, focuses on the importance of leisure in one’s life and using creative practices in therapeutic ways for patients. Sal and his team are as vital a component as the physical therapists in getting a patient back to the activities of their daily life. And this surprises some people.

Sal points out that, “Rehabilitation is not just about physical function, people have to adjust to the impact their injury or illness has on their mental, emotional and social state. Creative Therapies use the arts to help people deal with these impacts. They can help with physical function through the use of manual skills to produce art and sound, rhythm can help people coordinate their movements. There is also the opportunity for patients to express the things that are hard to say out loud by representing them in paintings or songs.”

The Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre (RTRC) introduced Art Therapy ten years ago and found that it encouraged patients to share their feelings and emotions. “Often an art therapist sees a patient use dark colours at the start of their rehab. But by the end, that same patient would be using brighter colours,” Sal says. To therapists, that shift in colours quietly shares that patient’s mental and emotional journey allowing

them to express their grief and loss and moving on to accepting the situation and seeing potential for life in the future.

For instance, this beautiful painting (left) was created by a patient named Gina.

Four years ago, Gina learned that a virus had attacked her spinal cord and left her legs useless. Her doctors didn’t know if she’d ever walk again. Gina was transferred to RTRC so she could strengthen and re-train her leg muscles. After a month, she was strong enough to stand.

Creative therapy was important to Gina achieving this milestone. Physical therapists would comment how patients not engaged with their physical therapy would become engaged through creative therapies.

Gina took up woodwork and painting. She says, “They took me away from focusing on my physical impairment and helped me discover new abilities, different ways of doing things and helped motivate me.”

Gina was able to walk again because of a daily combination of physiotherapy, occupational therapy and creative therapy.

Gina felt that “painting complemented the physical therapy in that it allowed me to take the focus away from what I had lost and highlight what I could do.” And gave her the opportunity to talk to other people.

Today, as an outpatient, Gina comes in for physio in the morning and, rather than go home, sits and reads before Art Therapy in the Sensory Garden built and looked after by patients in Horticulture Therapy.

The goal of RTRC is to give patients the right mix so they develop the skills they need and gain the highest level of independence possible after a serious spinal cord or brain injury. For Gina, and thousands of other rehab patients, they got the balance right.

You can support Austin Health’s Rehabilitation Appeal today. Your donation will help Sal and his team provide more patients, like Gina, with access to creative therapies. As Sal shared, “a $50 donation does so much! That kind of gift helps pay for a creative therapy session... It’s simple, the more $50 we have, the more people we help.”

Giving mobility and hope to patients

Locked Bag 25, Heidelberg VIC 3084Ph: (03) 9496 5753 Email: [email protected]

State-of-the-art facilities at Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre (RTRC) are set to give patients the best possible surroundings for recovery and rehabilitation.

Austin Health’s 43 year old Mellor Ward is located at RTRC and is being given a new lease of life. Opened in 1970 and named after Lesley Mellor, who served as President of the Hospital Council for 14 years, the Ward helps patients - who have a physical disability, are fragile, or recovering from a traumatic injury or illness - with a wide range of rehabilitation needs.

The new Mellor Ward is a refurbishment of an existing ward at a cost of $5.9 million and is due to be completed this year. It will become a more modern, welcoming place for the more than 300 orthopaedic, neurological, and amputee patients who stay in the ward each year.

The Ward has been designed with amenities similar to a home environment, giving patients an opportunity to practice day-to-day tasks before returning to their own home, and will have many of the wonderful projects completed in the Art Therapy program on display. It has been integrated with a specially designed mobility garden that will double as an enjoyable space for patients and their families.

The Minister for Health David Davis said the aim was to make patients feel at home while still having access to the highest quality rehabilitation services. Mr Davis added:

“The new Mellor Ward will ensure patients receive quality care for many years to come, encompassing everything from having private spaces to enjoy the serene environment to communal spaces for loved ones to visit.”

New Ward to Improve Patient Experience Thank you for the time and energy that you put into your events, raising funds so

that we can ensure patients have access to world-class care.

Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre has once again delivered a fun and entertaining Music and Trivia night to raise funds for its Creative Therapy Service. An impressive $18,500 was raised on the night with the support from Soroptimist International - Business On Collins who have partnered with Royal Talbot in managing the event.

We are always so grateful to those in the community who choose to support Austin Health through various fundraising activities.

Are you celebrating a special anniversary soon or planning a party with family and friends for your birthday? Why not consider the special gift of a donation to Austin Health instead of presents or flowers? It’s a wonderful way to celebrate and make a difference at the same time. Bruce chose to do this when he celebrated his 100th Birthday and asked his family and friends to make a special donation to Austin Health in lieu of gifts. Thank you Bruce!

Call Melissa on 03 9496 5753 if you would like more information on how to register your fundraising event or please visit www.austin.org.au/support-us/community-fundraising.

Create a lasting legacy

Making a Will is a very private and personal matter. First and foremost you will want to see that you adequately provide for your loved ones. You may then wish to consider leaving a gift to Austin Health. Many people are unaware they can leave a small percentage of their estate to charity, yet this can still be a very important contribution. Your generosity can directly transform the lives of patients for many years to come.

If you would like more information on how your gift can make a difference, please contact Sevi on 03 9496 5361 for a confidential discussion.

Thank you for the difference you make!

On September 20, Olivia Newton-John opened the final Stage of the Centre, including two new inpatient wards, a palliative care ward named after her late mother Irene and two new research floors.

Since opening last July, the Cancer & Wellness Centre has slowly but surely become completely occupied. Last year, some of the researchers from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and all of the outpatient services moved into the Centre.

In July this year, the remaining researchers were moved in with new laboratories opened. And over two days in the middle of August, 44 acute and 17 palliative care inpatients were moved into the new Cancer & Wellness Centre from the old Cancer Wards. Over two days in early September, eight surgical patients were moved into the Centre.

This now marks the full occupancy of the Cancer & Wellness Centre. A feat we are all very proud of as patients will now receive all their cancer treatment in the one location.

Patients are excited by the move into the Centre. There are more single rooms on the wards providing more patients with privacy. They have traded drab grey and white shared rooms at the old Cancer Ward for warm colourful rooms with wellness spaces for rest or relief. There’s even a lovely quiet garden they can see from their balcony or window adding to their sense of wellness and wellbeing.

The Cancer & Wellness Centre is a proud symbol of Austin Health’s commitment to state-of-the-art cancer treatment and care for our community.

Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre Update

Nerve surgery gives people with quadriplegia use of their hands

After a spinal cord injury left him with quadriplegia, 23 year old Jim Anderson had no hand function at all, and limited movement in his elbows.

When he was offered the opportunity to be the first person in Australia to undergo a triple nerve transfer to restore some of his hand and arm function, he was unwavering in his decision to take the risk.

"I said yes before they even explained it," Mr Anderson said. "Nothing was going to get worse. It has definitely made life easier."

After five months of intense rehabilitation, he is able to extend his fingers and demonstrate the use of his triceps.

Mr Anderson is now one of ten C5 and C6 level

quadriplegics to have regained some use of their arms and hands after nerve transfer surgery at Austin Health.

In nerve transfer surgery, nerves that no longer function due to spinal cord injury (in this case, nerves that control the arm and hands) are rerouted to working nerves, restoring lost function.

Surgeons at Austin Health's Victorian Spinal Cord Service have brought together a number of these procedures for the first time, with very promising early results.

Plastic surgeon Natasha van Zyl described the project as a "labour of love" that will change lives. "This will have massive implications as they can now pretty much run a normal life from a wheelchair," Ms van Zyl said.

It’s a pleasure to share some of the exciting ways Austin Health, including the Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre and the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre (RTRC), are leading the way in world-class care.

In this issue you’ll read how Austin Health is leading the way in Rehabilitation, Research and Redevelopment. You will read heart-warming stories of 50-year old Gina and how the team at RTRC helped her regain her mobility, 23-year old Jim and how leading nerve surgery gave him back the use of his hands and seven-year old Dylan who received the first liver transplant from mother to child.

Each story strongly highlights the great contributions Austin Health is making in rehabilitation, nerve damage repair, and liver transplantation.

You’ll also read of the opening of the inpatient wards at the Cancer & Wellness Centre, which means the Centre is now fully occupied. I thank every person who helped make this dream a reality for cancer patients.

Finally, we’ve just come to the end of a major renovation of patient care space within the Mellor Ward at the RTRC which looks after patients of all ages. This move now lets us provide better care for more patients well into the future.

All of us here at Austin Health are grateful to all of our loyal supporters who allow us to provide excellent patient care today while discovering tomorrow’s treatments and cures.

Dr Brendan Murphy Chief Executive Officer

A message from the CEO

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Liver Transplant Unit Turns 25 Years

Professor Christopher Rowe, Austin Health's Director of Nuclear Medicine and Centre for PET.

ICED – a new study in spinal cord injuryPatients suffering traumatic spinal cord injury will be the beneficiaries of a new study that seeks to reduce damage to the spinal cord in the time from accident to emergency surgery.

The new study, conducted by inaugural Spinal Research Institute (SRI) Clinical Research Fellow, Dr Ian Mosley (right), is part of a larger study to investigate Immediate Cooling and Early Decompression (ICED) to improve outcomes for spinal patients.

Dr Mosley will use the 12-month fellowship to investigate the timing of decompression surgery for patients following traumatic spinal cord injury and evaluate a paramedic neurological assessment education program designed specifically for patients with suspected spinal cord injuries.

SRI Director, A/Prof Doug Brown, said “This research is a significant step forward in improving the initial management of spinal cord injuries. Acute traumatic spinal cord injury is a particularly devastating event and most patients are young and the majority will have severe paralysis and functional deficits with ongoing complex social, psychological and medical needs.”

Dr Mosley said, “At present there is no immediate treatment for patients with acute spinal cord injury and so even the slightest improvement in outcome has the potential to greatly ease the burden of disease.”

The Spinal Research Institute was established at Austin Health in 2012 with the aid of the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and the Institute for Safety Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR). SRI works in close partnership with the Victorian Spinal Cord Service to facilitate clinical and translational research in spinal cord injury.

Mothers and their children have a powerful natural connection. But few have the kind Jennifer Nish has with her son Dylan.

2013 gave Dylan Nish plenty to celebrate. He turned seven and he also marked the 6th anniversary of his new chance at life.

Back in 2007, Jennifer’s liver was sliced and transplanted into one-year old Dylan. When that happened – not only was Dylan’s life saved – he became the first patient in Victoria to have a split liver transplant and opened another door for chronic liver disease patients in the state.

But to his mum Dylan’s just a “normal little boy, full of energy 24/7.”

Dylan’s transplant is one of many firsts from Austin Health’s Liver Transplant Unit which was established in 1988. Back then Professor Bob Jones founded the Unit and performed the first successful liver transplant in Victoria.

The Austin is the sole liver transplant site for Victoria, Tasmania, and parts of NSW and SA, and only one of four across the nation.

Today, Professor Bob Jones is the Director of the Unit and has performed hundreds of transplants during the past two and a half decades. Over the past 25 years, he has seen the operation change drastically.

“Back then the drugs weren’t as good. A lot of people rejected organs,” Prof Jones recalls. “And so many people were dying from the procedure, some considered it dangerous and unethical … But without a transplant, the death rate was 100 percent.”

A sharp contrast to the Unit’s current 90 percent success rate. But Professor Jones credits the Unit’s continuing accomplishments to his team of doctors and nurses who work painstakingly and untiringly every day.

He also credits the generosity of our donors who donated almost $150,000 so two pieces of state-of-the-art equipment could be bought. The equipment helps them monitor the formation of blood clots which can cause disastrous results during transplantation.

Also, not content to rest on past deeds, the Unit continues to attempt new procedures that save more lives. After a three-day marathon, the Unit recently performed two back-to-back round-the-clock operations that saved four lives.

Professor Jones says his job is extremely satisfying – especially when he sees happy and successful former patients 10, or even 20 years after their operation.

Above: Dylan Nish today with his brother and Austin Health nurse

Above: Professor Jones with Dylan as a baby

Nerve surgery gives people with quadriplegia use of their hands

After a spinal cord injury left him with quadriplegia, 23 year old Jim Anderson had no hand function at all, and limited movement in his elbows.

When he was offered the opportunity to be the first person in Australia to undergo a triple nerve transfer to restore some of his hand and arm function, he was unwavering in his decision to take the risk.

"I said yes before they even explained it," Mr Anderson said. "Nothing was going to get worse. It has definitely made life easier."

After five months of intense rehabilitation, he is able to extend his fingers and demonstrate the use of his triceps.

Mr Anderson is now one of ten C5 and C6 level

quadriplegics to have regained some use of their arms and hands after nerve transfer surgery at Austin Health.

In nerve transfer surgery, nerves that no longer function due to spinal cord injury (in this case, nerves that control the arm and hands) are rerouted to working nerves, restoring lost function.

Surgeons at Austin Health's Victorian Spinal Cord Service have brought together a number of these procedures for the first time, with very promising early results.

Plastic surgeon Natasha van Zyl described the project as a "labour of love" that will change lives. "This will have massive implications as they can now pretty much run a normal life from a wheelchair," Ms van Zyl said.

It’s a pleasure to share some of the exciting ways Austin Health, including the Olivia Newton-John Cancer & Wellness Centre and the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre (RTRC), are leading the way in world-class care.

In this issue you’ll read how Austin Health is leading the way in Rehabilitation, Research and Redevelopment. You will read heart-warming stories of 50-year old Gina and how the team at RTRC helped her regain her mobility, 23-year old Jim and how leading nerve surgery gave him back the use of his hands and seven-year old Dylan who received the first liver transplant from mother to child.

Each story strongly highlights the great contributions Austin Health is making in rehabilitation, nerve damage repair, and liver transplantation.

You’ll also read of the opening of the inpatient wards at the Cancer & Wellness Centre, which means the Centre is now fully occupied. I thank every person who helped make this dream a reality for cancer patients.

Finally, we’ve just come to the end of a major renovation of patient care space within the Mellor Ward at the RTRC which looks after patients of all ages. This move now lets us provide better care for more patients well into the future.

All of us here at Austin Health are grateful to all of our loyal supporters who allow us to provide excellent patient care today while discovering tomorrow’s treatments and cures.

Dr Brendan Murphy Chief Executive Officer

A message from the CEO

YE

S!

I will

sup

por

t th

e A

ustin

’s R

ehab

ilita

tion

Ap

pea

l.

Ple

ase

send

me

info

rmat

ion

abo

ut:

Mak

ing

a b

eque

st in

my

Will

to

Aus

tin H

ealth

; or

I ha

ve a

lread

y in

clud

ed A

ustin

Hea

lth in

my

Will

Title

: Dr/

Mr/

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Don

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ns o

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25,

Hei

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IC 3

084

Ph:

(03)

949

6 57

53

Em

ail:

fund

rais

ing@

aust

in.o

rg.a

u

AB

N 9

6 23

7 38

8 06

3

AH

VS

P13

I w

ould

like

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bec

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a re

gula

r su

pp

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Aus

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ealth

. Ple

ase

se

nd m

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ore

info

rmat

ion.

Ple

ase

acce

pt

my

tax

ded

uctib

le d

ona

tion

of:

$35

$50

$75

$15

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$__

____

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choi

ce

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my

cheq

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oney

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Liver Transplant Unit Turns 25 Years

Professor Christopher Rowe, Austin Health's Director of Nuclear Medicine and Centre for PET.

ICED – a new study in spinal cord injuryPatients suffering traumatic spinal cord injury will be the beneficiaries of a new study that seeks to reduce damage to the spinal cord in the time from accident to emergency surgery.

The new study, conducted by inaugural Spinal Research Institute (SRI) Clinical Research Fellow, Dr Ian Mosley (right), is part of a larger study to investigate Immediate Cooling and Early Decompression (ICED) to improve outcomes for spinal patients.

Dr Mosley will use the 12-month fellowship to investigate the timing of decompression surgery for patients following traumatic spinal cord injury and evaluate a paramedic neurological assessment education program designed specifically for patients with suspected spinal cord injuries.

SRI Director, A/Prof Doug Brown, said “This research is a significant step forward in improving the initial management of spinal cord injuries. Acute traumatic spinal cord injury is a particularly devastating event and most patients are young and the majority will have severe paralysis and functional deficits with ongoing complex social, psychological and medical needs.”

Dr Mosley said, “At present there is no immediate treatment for patients with acute spinal cord injury and so even the slightest improvement in outcome has the potential to greatly ease the burden of disease.”

The Spinal Research Institute was established at Austin Health in 2012 with the aid of the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and the Institute for Safety Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR). SRI works in close partnership with the Victorian Spinal Cord Service to facilitate clinical and translational research in spinal cord injury.

Mothers and their children have a powerful natural connection. But few have the kind Jennifer Nish has with her son Dylan.

2013 gave Dylan Nish plenty to celebrate. He turned seven and he also marked the 6th anniversary of his new chance at life.

Back in 2007, Jennifer’s liver was sliced and transplanted into one-year old Dylan. When that happened – not only was Dylan’s life saved – he became the first patient in Victoria to have a split liver transplant and opened another door for chronic liver disease patients in the state.

But to his mum Dylan’s just a “normal little boy, full of energy 24/7.”

Dylan’s transplant is one of many firsts from Austin Health’s Liver Transplant Unit which was established in 1988. Back then Professor Bob Jones founded the Unit and performed the first successful liver transplant in Victoria.

The Austin is the sole liver transplant site for Victoria, Tasmania, and parts of NSW and SA, and only one of four across the nation.

Today, Professor Bob Jones is the Director of the Unit and has performed hundreds of transplants during the past two and a half decades. Over the past 25 years, he has seen the operation change drastically.

“Back then the drugs weren’t as good. A lot of people rejected organs,” Prof Jones recalls. “And so many people were dying from the procedure, some considered it dangerous and unethical … But without a transplant, the death rate was 100 percent.”

A sharp contrast to the Unit’s current 90 percent success rate. But Professor Jones credits the Unit’s continuing accomplishments to his team of doctors and nurses who work painstakingly and untiringly every day.

He also credits the generosity of our donors who donated almost $150,000 so two pieces of state-of-the-art equipment could be bought. The equipment helps them monitor the formation of blood clots which can cause disastrous results during transplantation.

Also, not content to rest on past deeds, the Unit continues to attempt new procedures that save more lives. After a three-day marathon, the Unit recently performed two back-to-back round-the-clock operations that saved four lives.

Professor Jones says his job is extremely satisfying – especially when he sees happy and successful former patients 10, or even 20 years after their operation.

Above: Dylan Nish today with his brother and Austin Health nurse

Above: Professor Jones with Dylan as a baby

Nerve surg

ery gives p

eop

le with q

uadrip

legia use o

f their hands

After a sp

inal cord

injury left him w

ith quad

ripleg

ia, 23 year o

ld Jim

And

erson had

no hand

function at all, and

lim

ited m

ovem

ent in his elbo

ws.

When he w

as offered the opportunity to be the first person in A

ustralia to undergo a triple nerve transfer to restore som

e of his hand and arm function, he w

as unwavering in

his decision to take the risk.

"I said yes before they even explained it," Mr A

nderson said. "N

othing was going to get w

orse. It has definitely m

ade life easier."

After five m

onths of intense rehabilitation, he is able to extend his fingers and dem

onstrate the use of his triceps.

Mr A

nderson is now one of ten C

5 and C6 level

quadriplegics to have regained some use of their arm

s and hands after nerve transfer surgery at A

ustin Health.

In nerve transfer surgery, nerves that no longer function due to spinal cord injury (in this case, nerves that control the arm

and hands) are rerouted to working nerves,

restoring lost function.

Surgeons at A

ustin Health's V

ictorian Spinal C

ord Service

have brought together a number of these procedures for

the first time, w

ith very promising early results.

Plastic surgeon N

atasha van Zyl described the project as a "labour of love" that w

ill change lives. "This will have

massive im

plications as they can now pretty m

uch run a norm

al life from a w

heelchair," Ms van Zyl said.

It’s a pleasure to share some of the exciting w

ays A

ustin Health, including the O

livia New

ton-John C

ancer & W

ellness Centre and the R

oyal Talbot R

ehabilitation Centre (R

TRC

), are leading the way

in world-class care.

In this issue you’ll read how A

ustin Health is

leading the way in R

ehabilitation, Research and

Redevelopm

ent. You will read heart-w

arming stories

of 50-year old Gina and how

the team at R

TRC

helped her regain her m

obility, 23-year old Jim and

how leading nerve surgery gave him

back the use of his hands and seven-year old D

ylan who received

the first liver transplant from m

other to child.

Each story strongly highlights the great contributions

Austin H

ealth is making in rehabilitation, nerve

damage repair, and liver transplantation.

You’ll also read of the opening of the inpatient wards

at the Cancer &

Wellness C

entre, which m

eans the C

entre is now fully occupied. I thank every person w

ho helped m

ake this dream a reality for cancer patients.

Finally, we’ve just com

e to the end of a major

renovation of patient care space within the M

ellor W

ard at the RTR

C w

hich looks after patients of all ages. This m

ove now lets us provide better care for

more patients w

ell into the future.

All of us here at A

ustin Health are grateful to all of

our loyal supporters w

ho allow us to provide

excellent patient care today w

hile discovering tom

orrow’s treatm

ents and cures.

Dr B

rendan Murphy

Chief E

xecutive Officer

A m

essage fro

m the C

EO

YES! I will support the Austin’s Rehabilitation Appeal.

Please send me information about:

Making a bequest in my Will to Austin Health; or

I have already included Austin Health in my Will

Title: Dr/Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms ___________________________

Name: _________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________

________________________________ P/code: ________

Email:____________________________________________

Supporter No. (if known): __________________________

Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.Locked Bag 25, Heidelberg VIC 3084Ph: (03) 9496 5753 Email: [email protected]

ABN 96 237 388 063

AHVSP13

I would like to become a regular supporter of Austin Health. Please send me more information.

Please accept my tax deductible donation of: $35 $50 $75 $150 $__________my choice

Enclosed is my cheque/money order made payable to Austin Health OR Please debit the amount I have indicated from my:

VISA MASTERCARD AMEX AMEX ID

Name on Card:

Signature: Expiry: /

Daytime Phone Number:

Liver Transplant U

nit Turns 25 Years

Professor C

hristopher Row

e, Austin

Health's D

irector of Nuclear M

edicine and

Centre for P

ET.

ICE

D – a new

study in sp

inal cord

injuryP

atients suffering traum

atic spinal co

rd injury w

ill be

the beneficiaries o

f a new stud

y that seeks to red

uce d

amag

e to the sp

inal cord

in the time fro

m accid

ent to

emerg

ency surgery.

The new study, conducted by inaugural S

pinal Research

Institute (SR

I) Clinical R

esearch Fellow, D

r Ian Mosley (right),

is part of a larger study to investigate Imm

ediate Cooling

and Early D

ecompression (IC

ED

) to improve outcom

es for spinal patients.

Dr M

osley will use the 12-m

onth fellowship to investigate

the timing of decom

pression surgery for patients following

traumatic spinal cord injury and evaluate a param

edic neurological assessm

ent education program designed

specifically for patients with suspected spinal cord injuries.

SR

I Director, A

/Prof D

oug Brow

n, said “This research is a significant step forw

ard in improving the initial m

anagement

of spinal cord injuries. Acute traum

atic spinal cord injury is a particularly devastating event and m

ost patients are young and the m

ajority will have severe paralysis and functional

deficits with ongoing com

plex social, psychological and m

edical needs.”

Dr M

osley said, “At present there is no im

mediate treatm

ent for patients w

ith acute spinal cord injury and so even the slightest im

provement in outcom

e has the potential to greatly ease the burden of disease.”

The Spinal R

esearch Institute w

as established at A

ustin H

ealth in 2012 w

ith the aid of the Transport A

ccident C

omm

ission (TAC

) and the Institute for S

afety C

ompensation and

Recovery R

esearch (IS

CR

R). S

RI w

orks in close partnership w

ith the Victorian

Spinal C

ord Service to

facilitate clinical and translational research in spinal cord injury.

Mo

thers and their child

ren have a po

werful natural co

nnection. B

ut few

have the kind Jennifer N

ish has with her so

n Dylan.

2013 gave Dylan N

ish plenty to celebrate. He turned seven and he also m

arked the 6th anniversary of his new

chance at life.

Back in 2007, Jennifer’s liver w

as sliced and transplanted into one-year old D

ylan. When that happened – not only w

as Dylan’s life saved – he becam

e the first patient in V

ictoria to have a split liver transplant and opened another door for chronic liver disease patients in the state.

But to his m

um D

ylan’s just a “normal little b

oy, full of energy 24/7.”

Dylan’s transplant is one of m

any firsts from A

ustin Health’s Liver Transplant U

nit w

hich was established in 1988. B

ack then Professor B

ob Jones founded the U

nit and performed the first successful liver transplant in V

ictoria.

The Austin is the sole liver transplant site for V

ictoria, Tasmania, and parts of

NS

W and S

A, and only one of four across the nation.

Today, Professor B

ob Jones is the Director of the U

nit and has performed

hundreds of transplants during the past two and a half decades. O

ver the past 25 years, he has seen the operation change drastically.

“Back then the d

rugs weren’t as good

. A lot of p

eople rejected

organs,” Prof

Jones recalls. “And

so many p

eople w

ere dying from

the proced

ure, some

considered

it dangerous and

unethical … B

ut without a transp

lant, the death

rate was 100 p

ercent.”

A sharp contrast to the U

nit’s current 90 percent success rate. But P

rofessor Jones credits the U

nit’s continuing accomplishm

ents to his team of doctors and

nurses who w

ork painstakingly and untiringly every day.

He also credits the generosity of our donors w

ho donated almost $150,000 so

two pieces of state-of-the-art equipm

ent could be bought. The equipment helps

them m

onitor the formation of blood clots w

hich can cause disastrous results during transplantation.

Also, not content to rest on past deeds, the U

nit continues to attempt new

procedures that save m

ore lives. After a three-day m

arathon, the Unit recently

performed tw

o back-to-back round-the-clock operations that saved four lives.

Professor Jones says his job is extrem

ely satisfying – especially when he sees

happy and successful former patients 10, or even 20 years after their operation.

Above: D

ylan Nish today w

ith his brother and Austin H

ealth nurse

Above: P

rofessor Jones with D

ylan as a baby


SPRING 2013









































SPRING 2013








































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