USA: Il cantante Rock Lou Reed salvato da un trapianto di fegato a 71 anni

Lou Reed saved by liver transplant after years of drugs and alcohol take their toll

Lou Reed, the influential American rock musician, was forced to have a lifesaving transplant after suffering a chronic liver failure.

The 71 -year-old founder member of The Velvet Underground – whose records chronicled the drug culture and seedy underbelly of New York – is now recovering from the surgery he underwent at a clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, his wife Laurie Anderson has revealed.

Reed, the writer of songs such as Walk on the Wild Side and Heroin, had unexpectedly cancelled five concert appearances in April, including two performances at the Coachella festival, in California. One of the venues told disappointed fans there had been “unavoidable complications”.

Miss Anderson, a songwriter and performance artist, said: “It’s as serious as it gets. He was dying. You don’t get it for fun.”

She described the operation as “a big surgery which went very well”, adding: “You send out two planes – one for the donor, one for the recipient – at the same time. You bring the donor in live, you take him off life support.

“It’s a technological feat. I was completely awestruck. I find certain things about technology truly, deeply inspiring.”

Reed’s work has long evoked his both fascination and struggle with drugs and alcohol. Heroin, written in 1964, and released with the Velvet Underground three years later, featured the line: “Heroin, be the death of me/Heroin, it’s my wife and it’s my life.”

He once said of his drug-taking: “I take drugs just because, in the 20th century, in a technological age living in the city, there are certain drugs you have to take just to keep yourself normal like a caveman, just to bring yourself up or down.

“But to attain equilibrium you need to take certain drugs. They don’t get you high even, they just get you normal.”

Although he successfully overcame his addictions a number of years ago the physical strain on his body appears to have finally taken its toll. He has previously suffered from hepatitis.

Miss Anderson, a performance artist known for her 1981 hit single O Superman, said that the couple had chosen transplant surgery at the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland, rather than those in the couple’s home city of New York because she claimed that its hospitals were dysfunctional.

In an interview for the Times newspaper, she said: “Fortunately we can outsource like corporations. It’s medical tourism. The Cleveland clinic is massive.

“They have the best results for heart, liver and kidney transplants. Whenever I get discouraged about how stupid technology is and how greedy and stupid Americans are, I go to the Cleveland clinic because the people there are genuinely very kind and very smart.”

Miss Anderson, who married Reed five years ago after they had been together for over 15 years, said the impact of his sudden deterioration and the subsequent operation had left her drained.

She said: “When you’ve been with someone for a long time, it’s almost like it’s happening to you because of the empathy between partners.” She added, however: “This is no longer an operation that is life threatening. They put it [the new liver] in immediately and it started to work immediately. Every week it gets better. I can imagine a world where you can get everything transplanted.”

Reed’s work, both with Velvet Underground and as a solo artist, has influenced generations of musicians, including the groundbreaking British and American punk bands of the 70s.

Miss Anderson, 65, said that he could be back at work in a few months and was already up and about doing t’ai chi, although she warned that “he’ll never totally recover from this.”

Lou Reed’s New Liver Sparks Old Debate About Transplants

How do you feel about an aging rock icon, who spent his youth wrecking his liver with booze and drugs, being able to get a new liver at age 71? Is it right, considering that there are far more people on the organ-transplant list than there are donors?

How about if this same rocker has mended his ways and been a pillar of health since he was in his 40s? Does that change things?

The news that singer-songwriter-guitarist Lou Reed underwent a liver transplant about a month ago at Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic brings up the touchy subject of whether age or past indiscretions should affect organ-transplant decisions.

The topic is being raised more often these days now that the number of older Americans receiving organ transplants is going up. In the past decade the number of organ-transplant patients who are 65 or older has jumped from 3 percent to more than 25 percent, the New York Times reported.

According to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, the number of kidney transplants between 1998 and 2011 tripled among those over 65. Between 2001 and 2011 the percentage of liver-transplant recipients nearly doubled, from 7.4 to 13 percent.

Medicare pays for the surgery, but patients are responsible for co-pays and out-of-pocket costs, including drugs and travel, according to the Times.

Reed’s wife, musician Laurie Anderson, said her husband “was dying” of liver failure before undergoing the operation several weeks ago, the Associated Press reported. She said Reed wasn’t yet back to full strength, but “he’s already working and doing tai chi,” the ancient, graceful Chinese exercise regimen he has practiced for 30 years.

On his website, Reed posted a message saying he’s”bigger and stronger” than ever, calling himself “a triumph of modern medicine” and crediting his health to his doing tai chi.

Reed, who was born and raised in New York, cofounded the influential 1960s rock group the Velvet Underground. The group’s song “Heroin,” which Reed wrote about addiction, is included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of top songs that shaped rock and roll.

Reed left the group in 1970 to start a solo career. His best-known solo works include “Walk on the Wild Side.”

Anderson said Reed and she chose the Cleveland Clinic, one of the country’s leading transplant centers, because hospitals in Reed’s home state of New York were “dysfunctional.” The Cleveland Clinic, unlike some other facilities, also has no age limit on transplant patients, according to the New York Times.