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Liver transplant - Let's support each other
Transplants | Last Active: May 16 6:52pm | Replies (1572)Comment receiving replies
I hope that today brings some uplifting news to you about your current status. I am aware of how overwhelming this is for you. And I know how frightening it is when our precious organ is at risk. I imagine, too, that the medical terms and activities are confusing as well. I know it was for me. If you are feeling up-to-it, try to engage in conversation with your nurses, as doctors can be quick in /quick out due to their schedule. Are you at your transplant hospital?
@rickherman @silverwoman @gaylea1 @hdillon7 @ajdo129 @gerryp
I want to invite you to visit this conversation and meet @melissa0919 who is in hospital with signs of rejection of her recently transplanted liver. I know that she would appreciate your expressions of hope and encouragement during this difficult time, also Do you have an related experience to share? Have you dealt with rejection?
Replies to "I hope that today brings some uplifting news to you about your current status. I am..."
Melissa0919: Hi there! I received my liver tx at Mayo in Jacksonville 5 years ago and I appreciate what you are going through. For the first time at the beginning of this year, I experienced a bout of rejection and needed to go to Mayo (500 miles away) for anti-rejection treatment with SoluMedrol. That brought my LFT's down to acceptable range and I was able to go home on prednisone. I've been able to taper to 5 mg. of prednisone a day and, while I dislike the side effects, I'm glad to be able to take it and hang on to my tx liver. It has been my understanding from the very beginning that I will be fighting rejection to one degree or another for the rest of my life and this will not be smooth sailing, but I'm on the green side of the grass and able to do almost everything I enjoy doing most days. The way I figure it, I would have been dead from liver cancer 5 years ago this month and everyday is a gift to be delighted in and treasured. Keep your sunny side up.
To melissa0919
Before I even had a transplant and my friends were calling me to reassure me, I was surprised at how many liver transplants they knew. Friend Sharon has a brother whose third time transplant several years ago is doing well and a local vet is still taking care of the city's pups, cats and other critters after his second transplant. You are not alone.
Though I have yet to face confirmed rejection, at 18 months post transplant I have had several possible rejection scares. After six months post transplant, I would get urgent calls from Mayo after my weekly blood draw results. Over the course of a nine month stretch, Mayo would tell me to come immediately for a biopsy (3), am ultrasound (2) or an ERCP (2). Of course I researched what happens if your body rejects the liver and I learned rejection isn't like an "on/off" light switch. There are several interventions that can turn around the signs of rejection and, if needed, there are many successful repeat transplants.
I have been given a blessing since my original prognosis two years ago when I was told I have two months to live. I treat each day as a lifetime and embrace each moment, challenging or not, as the richness and depth of living. As I have realized that the depth of grief we suffer is the reflection of the love we have. So is the fear of death as the reflection of the preciousness of living. So I focus on the moments of living and fight for them if need be.
I do hope this helps. ajdo129
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Hi Melissa. I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this so soon after transplant. I have not experienced this but have seen many who have. It must be very scary but I've only seen positive outcomes. Wishing you well.