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Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch Recovering After Liver Transplant

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- House Speaker Michael Busch is recovering after having a liver transplant Thursday.

The Annapolis delegate has had a form of liver disease related to skin cancer medication.

RELATED: Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch Has Liver Transplant

Busch is the longest serving speaker of the House of Delegates in Maryland history.

He has been having health problems this year, and downplayed the significance, but issued a statement Thursday night:

"Recently my doctors diagnosed me with liver disease. We decided that the best available course of action was to proceed with a liver transplant."

The donor was his sister.

"There are a fair number of living donations that happen every year, primarily kidney as well as liver," says Karen Kennedy of the Living Legacy Foundation.

Speaker Busch went through the Living Donor program at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He received a portion of his sister's liver in the transplant operation.

The Living Legacy Foundation helps matches with donors who have died, emphasizing the notion that living donors speed the process.

"Often many family and friends come forward to seek to help, the evaluation is complex , making sure the blood type matches and many considerations go into that, so it's an amazing gift that's able to happen when it does," Kennedy says.

Busch states:

"This is the first significant medical issue I have had in my life and it does force you to reflect on those who may not have the same quality of care that many are blessed with."

Busch says both the University of Maryland Living Donor program and the Living Legacy Foundation are dedicated helping people bounce back.

Medical experts say the outcomes for liver transplant patients are 95 percent positive.

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