My story begins in August of 1998. I had edema in the legs and I noticed that my palms were red. I had been having pain in the abdomen tired all the time. I saw my primary care physician and she suggested that I have blood work done. She called me about the results - Hepatitis B and C. She referred me to a Gastroenterologist.

I saw him in September and had tests run - abdominal Doppler sonogram, CAT scan, EGD, and liver biopsy. By December 1998 I had the final answer - chronic Hepatitis C resulting in cirrhosis with a liver so bad that I would need to be transplanted. I have probably had Hepatitis C for 25 years or more. When I was young, I was invincible, like most people in their 20s, and experimented with things I shouldn't have. I was referred to the St. Luke's transplant team.

The doctor there managed to control the symptoms of the liver disease and I was able to continue to work. In May of 2000 he decided it was time for evaluation for transplant. Due to insurance reasons I was referred to Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. I was officially put on the transplant waiting list in July of 2000. I got my beeper shortly after I was put on the list and carried it faithfully everywhere.

This year, 2001, my symptoms continued to worsen. My quality of life had diminished to work, if I could make it in, and sleeping. I couldn't walk very far - everything was an effort. My skin was starting to turn yellow and energy was minimal. That is one thing that liver disease does - zaps you of all your energy and leaves you feeling helpless and lazy.

By the end of February, I was only able to make it to work three days out of five. I couldn't get out of the bed and slept most of the time I was at home. I reached the point of roaming around the house all-night, restless and exhausted, and sleeping during the day. I watched as my belly and legs became swollen from the ascites and edema. My toes looked like grapes on the end of my feet. I had no ankles and the skin on my legs and body felt tight and unbendable. The fluid pills no longer worked. The doctor at St. Luke's was going to put a shunt in the liver to get rid of the fluid. The build up of fluid makes it hard to get into your clothes. I had no clothes that I could wear except pants with an elastic waist or sweats - not exactly work attire. At that time I decided to go on disability.

I went to visit my retired parents on Tuesday, April 24th, so I could rest and eat without having to do anything else. They live in a small town in Louisiana about four hours from my home in Houston. I took my beeper so I would know if I got called. On Saturday, April 28th, I discovered that my beeper wasn't working. I panicked and was planning on driving back to Houston on Monday to take care of the beeper issue.

On April 29th, 2001, at 9:15am Baylor called my house - of course they didn't get an answer. They called my sister and she told them where I was. At about 9:30am they called my parents house to say they had a liver for me. There wasn't time to think, thank goodness. I only had six hours to get to Baylor, which is seven hours by car from my parents house. They wanted me there by 2:00pm. I tried to get on American Airlines with a prepaid ticket. My brother in law begged American to hold the plane for 5 minutes so I would be able to make the flight. When I got to the airport to check in the plane had left 2 minutes early and I missed the flight by 4 minutes. I will NEVER travel with American Airlines again, I ask you not to either. I had to charter an air-ambulance to Dallas. That was pretty special just the pilot and me. I faced the "I have to think about this now, what in the world am I doing on this plane, have I gone totally out of my mind, do you realize what they are going to do to you, are you sure you want to do this, I bet this is going to hurt, I'm afraid, I'm worried, I'm gonna' scream, blues." I got to the hospital at about 1:30pm with a $2500 charge on my credit card, but, there for the grace of God I was. There wasn't time to be afraid of what was about to start taking place. I was scheduled for surgery at 7:00am on Monday, April 30th.

My surgery lasted only 4 hours. I was in ICU until the following day. I hated the tubes in my throat, and up my nose. You have tubes coming out of all kinds of holes in your body. Holes that were already there and new holes that were made while you were knocked out. I begged them to get the respirator tube out and get me to my room on the 14th floor. The big concern was pneumonia and fluid in the lungs. I guess my pleading and moaning worked because they shipped me to my room on Tuesday, May 1st, in the afternoon.

On Wednesday I was up and walking around. Even feeling better - as hard as that may be to believe. The morphine they give you for pain really messes with your head. I was told I was making imaginary phone calls and talking to people that weren't there. I believed I was working and taking customer calls. I can laugh about all this now, but it was crazy at the time.

By Thursday, I was feeling bad again. I was gaining fluid and I thought I would just burst! I was sick to the stomach and had a lot of pain. A sonogram was done and then some abdominal x-rays. A bile leak was discovered and on Saturday, May 5th, I was back in surgery that afternoon. They did a Roux-en-y. This joins the bile duct to the small intestine. Bile leaks after transplants are relatively common. I have talked to several people here that have had the same thing. The second surgery meant that I had to start recovering all over again.

While still in the hospital my labs showed possible rejection. Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure is a liver biopsy. My first one was on Monday, May 7th. The biopsy showed rejection so I was given massive doses of steroids. (Pump-me-up) On the fourth day they did another biopsy, to make sure I wasn't in rejection any longer. Once that was decided, I was "thrown out" of the hospital on Thursday, May 10th, and brought to Twice Blessed House II to rest and recover. Liver transplant patients are required to stay in the Dallas area for three months after transplant until the combination of immunosuppressants are adjusted.

Everything was going along great - you reach a plateau when you get your staples out. That is a very happy day! It's three weeks from surgery before they pull them out - but wow it's a great feeling not carrying around all that "heavy metal". Mine came out on May 25th. I must say I had a hard time looking at my belly with the staples in. The Mercedes cut is one BIG UGLY SCAR.

Oh, the delicate balance of being immunocompromised - and what a balancing act it is to find YOUR personal, what works best for you, "IS Level". Well, too much and you get CMV - Cytomegalovirus - a nasty, make you feel bad, sick to the stomach, gosh my gut hurts, diarrhea all day, oh no I might throw up, I've gotta' lay down in a fetal position, please don't talk to me now, virus. I started to feel bad on the weekend of June 2nd. Believe me - once you have a liver transplant and the nurses say "tell us about any ache and pain you have", you are so freaked out that you will miss something, you literally tell them everything. Fortunately, because of that, we caught it early and started treatment right away. They treat it with IVs twice a day, for 14 days with Ganciclovir. It's a chemo drug and a biohazard to your skin and the skin of others. Imagine what it does to your veins. I have only one vein left, in my right arm, from which to draw blood, at least for now I still have the vein. You know when your veins close up. Your arm starts hurting and you feel it leaking back out the IV. Come at me with a needle now and I guarantee I will jump!

Prograf and CellCept are the anti-rejection medications I started out on. When you contract CMV they stop the CellCept. The Prograf gave me terrible headaches. I was steadily being weaned off the prednisolone and things were becoming manageable.

Not enough immunosuppressant and you are back in rejection again. At clinic on Friday, June 29th, my liver numbers were on the rise. A GGT of 120, after the numbers rising for three clinics, sent me to the hospital for a biopsy. The phone call came on Saturday, "go to the hospital for a heplock and a massive dose of steroids, then check into the hospital on Sunday, July 1st". When you go in for rejection they also throw in more Ganciclovir, just for a preventative measure. Because I have no veins left for a picc line, they put in a subclavian line. NEVER have one of these put in with out some kind of drug to relax you. I know now. It took an hour of stabbing me to get the line in and days trying to get over the pain. I know what to do if I ever need that again.

The best thing about the rejection is that my anti-rejection drug was changed from Prograf to Neoral. The very day I stopped taking Prograf my headaches disappeared. I haven't had one of those now since July 2nd.

I spent the Fourth of July watching fireworks from my hospital room. I made the best of it! Actually it was the first time I have gotten to see eight fireworks displays at the same time. When I saw a few grand finales, I called it a night. I was biopsied again on July 5th, and released from the hospital with the rejection in check. Now, just to stay this way until I get to go home.

Most of the other patients that were transplanted around the same time were already on the once a week lab and clinic list. The rejection and CMV kept me on the twice a week list. My liver numbers have continued to drop and my IS level is now about where it should be. The good news is that I get released from clinic on July 27th. Look out Houston 'cause here I come!

I dedicate this site and story to my sister, Lorna. Without her by my side during my stay in the hospital, I don't think I would have made it. She has been my "Sister Angel" through all this. She listens, gives feedback, and shares her love. I also need to thank her husband, Dale, for being so patient and for sharing her with me. I want to thank my parents, for being there for me, once again and taking care of me when I couldn't take care of myself. I also thank the rest of my family and friends too for their support and comfort.

I go home with a new liver and a new life. I actually "feel" like doing things again. I feel years younger. I am better now than I have been in years. It is wonderful to have energy and look forward to doing something. I can't wait to get my house clean, go for walks with my puppy, make plans with friends that I will actually be able to keep, get back to work for A2D, enjoy the life I have been missing, and thank God for the life I have now. I plan on working as a volunteer for Organ Donation through some agency in Houston, to give something back, that to me now, is so precious.