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