“I’d recommend that anyone go
to Baylor Scott & White, and
consider donating. They save so
many lives. There are no words
to say how thankful I am.”
– Toni Williams
LIFE ANEW
A grateful heart
transplant patient
survives a rare
diagnosis, thanks to
the exceptional care at
Baylor Scott & White.
20
THE CATALYST Fall 17 | bswhealth.com
was sick for five years,” says
Toni Williams, of Temple.
“I was weak, I couldn’t walk
very far, and I had trouble breathing.
I was so close to not being here.”
Mrs. Williams was an otherwise
healthy woman who, like many
people her age, was enjoying life,
including her grandchildren and
even great-grandchildren, with her
husband, Pat, of 34 years. Then, in
2011, her symptoms seemed to spring
“I
out of nowhere.
After a series of tests that included
a chest X-ray and magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI), Robert C. Scott, III,
MD, PhD, a cardiologist at Scott &
White Medical Center in Temple,
diagnosed Mrs. Williams with
sarcoidosis of the heart. The medical
community doesn’t know what exactly
causes this debilitating inflammatory
disease, though it is most often
found in the lungs and can be very