So, as many of you have noticed, for a long time I've been absent from the forum. As I posted briefly in Rekkert's thread, for the past few months, I've been in and out of urgent cares, doctor's appointments, and have been hospitalized twice.
Basically, I am NOT in good shape at all. It all began with my having vomited a *huge* amount of blood one night, which resulted in my mom calling an ambulance, and me being taken to the ER, where it was determined I had a tear in my esophagus. They gave me a lot of replacement blood and plasma, and prescribed an antibiotic. We had thought all was well. Not so. Not even a few weeks later, I vomited a much smaller amount of blood again, and it was once again off to the ER. This time, after a few days at the local hospital, I was transferred to UCLA, where the liver and kidney team could monitor me. I should say that when I was 13 years old, I had a liver transplant. After doing some tests, they discovered that my liver is now failing, due to cirrhosis of the liver, and that I now require a new liver transplant. Also, my kidneys are on the verge of failing, as they're not functioning as well as they should, either.
So, it looks like I'm in for another hospital stay in the next several months, depending on when a suitable donor liver can be found. I was 13 when I had my first transplant, and I'm 42 years old now. As an adult, I'm a lot more aware not only of the situation, but of what the recovery will be like, and how painful it will be. I'm not looking forward to it, but at this point, I just want everything to be over with, so I can start to live a normal life again. But I'm not confident that I have the emotional fortitude to deal well with this. I hope somehow I can muster the strength to get me through it. I've had to quit my job of 8 years as manager of a Pizza Hut because of all the constant hospital visits, and have filed for disability.
Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know what's been going on, in case anyone cared, lol. I'll be posting here as often as I can, and will keep you all updated. Thanks.
- BolianAdmiral
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I was hoping to say that in a way that had more warmth and depth of feeling than a birthday card from the office of an insurance agent. So much for that hope.
After 5 months of waiting, I finally got my liver and kidney transplant. I’m back home now, recovering. Physical recovery will be difficult, as so much time in the hospital left me with almost no muscle mass, and a weight loss of 50lbs. Thankfully, I have visits from physical therapy at home twice a week, as I need to learn to walk again.
My heartfelt thanks to everyone who wished me well.
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