Biliary Atresia

Molly was born on December 30, 2009; she was a healthy baby. We were thrilled our gorgeous baby girl had finally arrived. Twenty-four hours after she was born, jaundice set in and our happiness turned to fear. While jaundice is fairly normal in newborns, Molly’s jaundice was serious and life-threatening. Overnight, we were thrown from a happy euphoria into deep despair. Over the course of the next five weeks, Molly underwent a series of blood draws, scans and diagnostic testing. As each day passed, her skin turned more yellow, she stopped gaining weight and became very agitated. No one can imagine the fear that was living inside us.

After weeks of tests, we finally received a diagnosis… Biliary Atresia. Molly’s surgeon shed tears with us as she delivered this heartbreaking news. Only days after diagnosis, our Molly underwent the extensive Kasai surgery. Surgery took almost eight hours, the longest eight hours of our life. Miracles do happen. The surgery went well, the bile duct removal was a success, her liver showed little damage, and her surgeon was able to find very healthy bile flow during the reconstruction. Our little fighter was doing her best to defeat her disease.

Today, Molly is extremely healthy, despite two hospital stays since her Kasai. She has been medication-free for three years, her liver is working well, and she is braver than ever.

Molly is kind, loving, animated, and a bit sassy. She is almost 10 years old, in 4th grade where she enjoys math, science, and art. She enjoys pizza, basketball, chess, crafting, and playing with her friends.

Our family is thankful for the science that has saved her life, and we do all we can to make sure other children are saved as well. Please join us and the American Liver Foundation in the fight to help save children from liver disease.

Last updated on July 11th, 2022 at 04:11 pm