Expert liver care gets local grandmother healthy for the holidays

A mother to three, grandmother to six and great-grandmother to one, it’s no surprise that 84-year-old Anna A. loves Christmas. It’s the time of year that her family gathers in her Southeast Aurora, CO home to catch up and spend time together.  Sadly, the 2023 holidays were spent in the hospital with her husband of 64 years who then passed away just after the new year. So, for 2024, Anna was determined to have a memorable holiday celebration. But a surprising phone call put those plans in jeopardy.

While on a fall trip to Branson, MO with her family, Anna received a phone call from her gastroenterologist. She had been seeing him for an esophageal procedure and he had recently ordered imaging. The phone call was to tell Anna that the results likely showed the presence of liver cancer. He put her in touch with HCA HealthONE Presbyterian/St. Luke’s and Raheel Jajja, MD, an experienced hepatobiliary/transplant surgeon. After reviewing her case, Dr. Jajja believed he could remove the cancer with liver resection surgery. Also known as hepatectomy, a liver resection is performed to remove the diseased part of the liver while leaving healthy tissue intact.

But learning that Anna was 84 years old gave him pause. “He found out I was 84 years old, and he said he wanted me to come in so he could look me in the eyes and see if he thought I could handle the two-to-four-hour surgery,” Anna recalls. “When I came in, he said that I looked very spry, and my tests looked good so he thought I could withstand it.”

Anna was on-board for the surgery, but under one condition: “I told him that Christmas was one of my favorite holidays. And if we were going to do surgery, I wanted to do it as soon as we could so I could be feeling good for the holidays.” Dr. Jajja obliged and the surgery was set for late October.

It went even better than expected. Dr. Jajja told Anna that he believed he removed all the cancerous tissue. On top of that, Anna’s recovery was immediately impressive. “A lot of the nurses thought I was doing better than the young people were, and Dr. Jajja said he’d ‘vouch for that!’ He had me up and walking in the hospital and even had me stand to take a picture so he could show his wife [also a doctor]—I guess an 84-year-old is supposed to look different!” Anna details.

While she’s not back to 100 percent, Anna was thrilled to celebrate Thanksgiving at her home with many members of her family. “They brought a lot of the menu, but I fixed the turkey!” Anna explains. Plans are underway for Christmas, and she’ll follow up with Dr. Jajja after the new year but for now, it’s clear: Anna is feeling great and ready to celebrate the 2024 holidays thanks to the quick, exceptional treatment from P/SL and Dr. Jajja.