MADISON, Wis. — After years of battle, a retired Madison service member has undergone a change.
Operation Desert Storm veteran Jason Arbogast credit the Madison VA and UW Well being for serving to him flip his life round.
Arbogast, who obtained a life-saving liver transplant throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, stated he owes his second likelihood to a group of devoted professionals.
“I wouldn’t be right here if it wasn’t for a military of individuals,” he stated.
Dr. Rita German, a UW Well being transplant hepatologist on the Madison VA, performed a key position in Aborgast’s restoration. She pointed to his army service, sacrifices and eventual sobriety as important components in his success.
“I knew he would get there — it was only a matter of when,” she stated.
The street to restoration was removed from simple. Arbogast battled isolation, bodily ache, and even a relapse into alcohol use after his transplant.
“I don’t assume individuals perceive the quantity of ache,” he stated.
Regardless of these hurdles, he discovered goal in his ache, ultimately changing into a peer assist specialist on the Madison VA, the place he now helps different veterans navigate their transplant journeys.
“Daily I get up with that means, goal and mission,” Arbogast stated. “I feel that’s what a number of vets are in search of after they get out.”
Kate Barrett, his liver transplant coordinator on the VA, praised Arbogast’s transformation.
“I noticed Jason being challenged, and I noticed him overcoming these challenges. Now, I see him serving to others, which feels good — it makes all of it value it.”
German stated there’s a rising want for assist. She stated she treats an rising variety of youthful veterans with life-threatening liver illnesses on the VA.
“This was a illness considered in sufferers of their 50s and 60s, however increasingly more, it has change into a illness of youthful sufferers,” she defined.
For Arbogast, the chance to assist his fellow service members is his biggest honor.
“If I don’t profit from it every single day, I’m failing — that donor, that donor’s household, myself, and my family,” he stated. “I obtained this chance. It’s a clear slate. I could make it look nevertheless I would like.”
