Liver Transplant

Within hours, Heather and Jeff received the shocking news from doctors: Aidan was in “acute liver failure”.

My liver was in trouble. I learned that the ducts from the liver that deliver bile to the intestines had become damaged. There was a good possibility my liver would eventually fail.

I had difficulty with my memory and I began to experience loss of appetite, lethargy and difficulty concentrating. All the symptoms that I know now to be of liver failure.

Never would have thought I would have liver disease. I began my journey with liver disease in 2011 and despite ongoing treatments and medication, I ended up being hospitalized in May of 2012.

After a battery of tests, she learned from her Mayo Clinic team that she needed a liver transplant, a message that stunned her, given her history of excellent health.

Julie donated 65% of her liver to a stranger. After looking into living donation, Julie came to find that many transplant centers did not do altruistic liver donations.

A medical team at New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital conducted its first living donor liver transplant surgery on Kevin, my younger brother. I was the living donor.

Some of you may already know, today I embark on my most testing journey ever taken, the process of getting placed on the USA organ transplant list – I need a liver.

I’m Becky and I was diagnosed with NASH and was put on the transplant list in 2011. Later in my journey I was officially diagnosed with Cryptogenic Cirrhosis.

I walked in my first Liver Life Walk just 6 weeks post-transplant. I was diagnosed with liver disease in February of 2010, after being sick for about 2 years.

For every liver transplant, there are two stories. The story of the donor and the story of the recipient. Sometimes—not often—there is a third story.

I went into surgery at about 225 lbs. and when I got home after rehabilitation I weighed 138 lbs. I worked with in home physical therapist and eventually start slowly going back to a health club.