Sorry this post has taken so long......A very special belated birthday gift for my precious donor. My birthday was on 15/10/ and I could not have wished for a better more precious gift, one I intend to treasure and look after for the donor for the rest of my days.
Hi all, as the title says, sorry for taking so long to update you all, I had a routine appointment at Belfast City Hospital on Thursday morning to start plasmapheresis to help ease the itch of the horrible PBC from which I suffer....after an eventful but stress free few hours where the treatment was carried out I was told to go home and rest and await the relief from the itch in the coming days and with a return date of 1 month for second treatment.
7...,yes SEVEN minutes after arriving back into the house, the phone rang, I looked and saw it was a private number and jokingly said to darling hubby, be a laugh if this was King’s with the offer of a liver....and it WAS EXACTLY THAT.
The lovely coordinator called to say they had a donor liver to offer me, gold star, almost a perfect match, in her words, it was the best possible liver that could have been found for me. Donor had suffered catastrophic brain injury the liver had been assessed and found to be fit for transplant and within one hour I was on a flight from Belfast City straight to Heathrow, brief stop off whilst they organised an ambulance for me and after an amazing night where the stars all aligned the transplant took place on Friday morning. Darling hubby by my side as I walked to theatre at 8.30 am, was out of theatre in ICU after 7 hours, ventilator removed before I even left theatre and after 3 more hours and initial tests darling hubby dear son and heir and fabulous brother in law, my rocks, walked down the ICU ward, took my hands, I opened my eyes, smiled and said I love you all....and they near died of shock....such a wonderful joyous moment.
Out of ICU/HDU 24 hours ahead of schedule, sitting in a chair having a wash, one central line out and in a side room on Todd ward surrounded by the absolute angels on earth doctors surgeons and nurses and HCAS who are the loveliest most dedicated people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. initial tests show transplant complete success, and pending scan on Wednesday 5 days post surgery drains out and possibly a move back to Belfast by the weekend. Cannot begin to tell you how much of a change I feel already, the surgeons are amazed as are my family back home in Belfast. Cannot fathom how I will ever be able to put my gratitude on paper to the donor family for the precious gift of life they have bestowed upon me and my boys but that day will come and I will leave them in no doubt how grateful I am.
Much love to you all recovering from, still waiting on transplant or going through assessment and if any of you are kicking around Todd ward look out for the pink dressing gown, the red snazzy socks and the gorgeous tight stocking n says hello.
Geraldine if you and Danny are still here please pop in and say hello. Xxxx
Love and light Eilish
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Bbsmom
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Congratulations, what wonderful news! How good to hear how well you are doing too. Sounds like you may be home very soon. Home to your new life and so much to look forward to.
Thank you for sharing your amazing story and wonderful brilliant news! Congratulations and may I wish your journey home to be a comfortable one! Now take care and enjoy every moment of your new life ahead!
Many congratulations to you and yours. A safe journey home when you get to go. I just loved how you wrote that!! Just took me back. Take care with your recovery. Andy.
Hi
What wonderful news. I'm so so pleased for you. Onwards and upwards now, it's looking like you will be home ready to start your new life with your loving family and friends around you, and everyone's support on here too. Love and hugs to you all Lynne xxxx
That is fantastic news. Super! And said with such enthusiasm- love it 😁👍. Here’s wishing you a continued speedy recovery 👍. What a fantastic birthday gift indeed!
What great news, and a wonderful positive, and hope giving story. You are truly blessed, and you deserve it. I hope and pray for your speedy recovery, and your return home.🙏🙏🙏. I will also say a prayer for your donor's family to help in their grieving.🙏🙏🙏
Congratulations. Fantastic news to hear. Wishing you a good recovery xx
Dear Eilish, this must be the most beautiful and joyful account EVER about why you can't say if plasmapharesis got rid of your PBC itch! It's great to hear about it. xx
You lot are inspirational and I love you all to bits, surgeon basically said today I took the rule book ripped it up and wrote my own lol, hard to put an Irish lass down and hold them back, I owe it all to my donor and will spend the rest of my new life living a tiny bit of their lives through me xx
I read your post with tears running down my cheeks. It was so beautifully written, a testament to true strength and postivity. It really helped as my husband had just "signed up" and joined the list that day.
Hopefully your dear hubby won’t have long to await, within hours I could feel the amazing diffence in my life, I pray everyone waiting will get to feel that for themselves really soon. Love n hugs xxx
It is indeed truly amazing how quickly you feel different and then everyone starts telling you how well you look. So then you think ye gods what on earth did I look like before 😁👍.
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