My Appointment With Hepatologist Today

[Guest guest]

I saw my hepatologist today, and he was pleased and a bit surprised

how well my treatment has been going for me with hardly any side

effects. I will be needing shots to keep my hemoglobin up soon.

They don't want it going lower than 12, and it is at 13 now.

I asked about my hematocrit falling, and my bilirubin rising, and he

just told me the treatment is causing that and not to worry about it

because it is still in normal range.

There was a lady in the waiting room who asked me what I had. I told

her a liver, and it will be a year in 15 days, and she said she got a

liver too. She asked me how it went for me, and I told her it went

quite well without any complications. That upset her because she is

6 weeks post transplant, and is having problems. She is weak and in

a wheel chair, and has to wear a mask in public. After her

transplant, part of the liver didn't work...I'm thinking it was the

bile ducts, but not sure. Anyway, they had to go back in and fix

that, and then she got fluid in her lungs, had to spend a whole

weekend on a trach, and she is just upset about how things haven't

been going so well for her. Her husband told her not to compare her

surgery with other people's like mine. I told her to keep her

spirits up and things will get better. It just takes some people

longer than others. I felt bad that she was having such problems,

and I was blessed to have things go well. I hope she feels better

soon. I may see her again at my next appointment in three months

because a lot of the same people seem to be there when I am there.

I got a nice, emotional surprise, but also sad too today. My

coordinator gave me my file and I had to wait for the receptionist to

come back to make my next appointment, and while I was waiting, I

opened up my file to glance through it as I wait, which I have done

before. It opened up to a page I never saw before, and I have always

wondered about. It had my donor's info on it...actually, my donor's

birthday, so I know how old my donor was, and how old my new liver

is. They would never tell me anything before except that it was

young and healthy. My donor's birthday was on January 4, 1983. This

is very sad to me because the tests were done on her on January 5,

2008, which is the same night I got the call that a match was found.

This means that she passed away on or near her birthday, and that is

so sad to me. She was 25 years old on January 4, 2008. My

transplant was on January 6, 2008. She was a Capricorn like me. My

birthday is 9 days after hers on the 13th. Now that I know when her

birthday was, I have three days I will consider very special as my

own birthdays...her birthday, my transplant date, and my own

birthday. I plan to say special prayers for her and her family on

her birthday. I feel so much closer to her now knowing when her

birthday was. I hope I hear from her family one day since I consider

them as part of my family since part of her is a part of me.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Penny