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From the outside, Rudy Erb appeared to be the picture of health. He didn’t drink or smoke, he ate a healthy diet and he exercised regularly. In fact, he had just finished a 100-mile bike ride and was training to run in his second marathon when he first learned there may be a problem with his liver.

“It was 2010 and I was in my early 40’s. I was applying for supplemental life insurance and had to get some lab work done,” remembers Erb. “It came as quite a surprise when the results showed that my liver enzymes were really high.”

Erb was referred to the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute at INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center, where he first met Joykumar Patel, M.D., a transplant hepatologist who specializes in end-stage liver disease management. Erb was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, more commonly known as PSC. “It is a chronic liver disease in which the bile ducts inside and outside the liver become inflamed and scarred, and eventually narrowed or blocked. When this happens, bile builds up in the liver and causes further liver damage,” explains Patel. “Typically, this process happens fairly slowly. That was our hope for Rudy, because the ultimate fix for PSC is transplantation.”

Erb was able to manage the disease with medication for several more years until his condition started to deteriorate. “I was at my son’s wedding in Canada when I began to feel like something was off,” admits Erb. “I had no energy, I wasn’t biking anymore and I noticed swelling in my abdomen and feet. I knew that wasn’t good.”
New lab work confirmed it was time to start thinking about a liver transplant. “Most people I think are distraught to hear they need a transplant,” Erb says. “But since I had been dealing with this for so many years, I was honestly relieved. I wanted to fix this and get on with my life.”

On Dec. 20, 2023, Erb was placed on the organ transplant list. Seven days later on Dec. 27, 2023, he became the 109th liver recipient (of a record breaking 111) performed at the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute in 2023. “The emotional part for me, is that someone lost their life on Christmas,” exclaims Erb. “That’s hard to process. It fuels me though to live my best life possible so this person’s, and this family’s, unselfish gift is not in vain.”

Just roughly three months after Erb’s procedure, he says he feels great. His skin is no longer yellow and his energy is starting to return. He is able to drive and is exercising once again on a spin bike. *Click here for complete video story.

“We are glad that we could help Rudy get back to feeling better and living a normal life,” says Ananth Srinivasan, M.D., a transplant surgeon at the institute. “It’s important to know that certain conditions like PSC exist that cause progressive liver damage in spite of the patient trying to lead a healthy, active and clean lifestyle. The whole team here at the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute is equipped to treat, manage and help patients with all types of liver disease recover and be ‘reborn’ in some ways. We are proud of our ever-growing transplant family.”

Erb is sharing his story this April during National Donate Life Month in hopes it will benefit others. “I marvel at what nurses and doctors do. They are truly angels on earth. The care I received at INTEGRIS Health was outstanding. My only regret is not coming here sooner.”

He continues, “This experience has taught me two things: 1) the importance of health screenings and regular preventive care and 2) the significance of being an organ donor and passing on the potential gift of life to someone else.”

Oklahomans have three options to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor. Residents can sign-up when renewing their driver’s license, visit LifeShareRegistry.org to sign up online, or call 800-826-LIFE (5433) and request a donor registration form.