A Round Lake Beach man who turned down a liver transplant to run in the 2023 Chicago Marathon completed the marathon again this year, but this time cancer-free with a new liver.
Batbayar Tserendorj, of Round Lake Beach, received a liver cancer diagnosis, likely caused by chronic hepatitis B and D infections, in 2023.
The husband, father and avid runner was left with a lot to process. He was placed on the liver transplant waitlist.
With his medical team’s support, Tserendorj decided to train for his first marathon, the 2023 Chicago Marathon.
“Running can improve cardiovascular function, which may support the body’s ability to recover from surgery,” said Northwestern Medicine transplant surgeon Juan Carlos Caicedo, MD.
“After Batbayar finished radiation to shrink his liver tumor, we were supportive of him training while he waited on a match for a new liver. The tricky part came down to timing. There was no way to know exactly when the right organ would become available,” Caicedo said.
At 9 p.m. on the evening before the race, Tserendorj, who was 60 at the time, was getting ready for bed at his hotel in downtown Chicago when his Northwestern Medicine medical team called.
He would have to make a tough decision — turn down the offer for a new liver and run the marathon or go to the hospital to receive his transplant.
Tserendorj decided someone else could benefit from that liver and he was not going to miss his shot at completing the marathon.
“This was my chance,” Tserendorj said. “I knew I’d need a liver transplant in the long run, but my body was ready to race. I’d been training for months. Plus, I knew the liver could go to the next person on the waitlist, which made me feel good.”
Tserendorj crossed the finish line of the Chicago Marathon on October 8, 2023.
He returned to downtown Chicago 19 days later to receive his liver transplant from the Northwestern Medicine Organ Transplant Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
He calls the day that he received his new liver, October 27, his second birthday. He has been cancer-free ever since.
“Typically, we’d be concerned if one of our patients turned down the opportunity for a transplant because we want our patients to get better sooner, but this was different,” said Northwestern Medicine transplant hepatologist Amanda Cheung, MD.
“Batbayar’s entire medical team could see his drive to run the marathon, so we were happy to support his decision and even happier to see him reach his goals,” Cheung said.
Tserendorj was determined to get back to running after his surgery. He ramped up his training for the 2024 Chicago Marathon with permission from his doctors.
“If my body allows me, I’m going to go there and finish,” Tserendorj said prior to completing the 2024 Chicago Marathon on Sunday.
“And to do it with my new liver will be the ultimate celebration of life. Like the marathon, my journey with cancer has been about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and I see that in everyone from my donor to my incredible Northwestern Medicine medical team. Liver transplantation is not a death sentence. It’s a second chance at life,” Tserendorj said.