CHICAGO -- One year ago, Phillip Hanks was enduring the first of two surgeries. One was almost eight hours to give him a new intestine, stomach, liver and pancreas. The following day, Hanks was back on the operating table to get a kidney.
Hanks, a father of six, received a multivisceral transplant — a simultaneous transplant of multiple organs — at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis in April 2021. Since then, Hanks, of Joliet, Illinois, said he doesn’t want to say it’s been easy, but his health has been “smooth sailing.” No hiccups on the health front, no drama.
In fact, Hanks celebrated birthday 51 on April 23. He’s still driving to Indianapolis for hospital checkups, but not as frequently.
