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Friday 23 June 2017

My Experience.

I never share this story as Its quite personal and also I never talk much about it. Today I want to share my story of going through a liver transplant, I want to share my experience to help people or just put the message out there for people that may be going through this today and need some hope and encouragement to get through their experience. 
So here goes.....

Hello, my name is Shula Jenkins and I am 22 years old. I was born with a liver disease called Biliary Atresia. Everything my family and I had to go through; the many hospital appointments and smaller operations I needed since birth I fortunately can not remember due to being so young, but I was lucky enough to be able to have a liver transplant when I was 6 years old. I was put on a waiting list for a transplant when I was five years old after I coughed up blood but it was soon sorted and fixed.
On the 10th april 2001 at 4 o'clock in the morning my mum received a phone call from Kings College in London to say they had a donar that was a match for me, so an ambulance would arrive to pick me up and take me to the hospital in London where I would have my transplant. From this moment on, everything happened very quickly and all seems a bit of a blur to me, I remember getting into the hospital with my parents and being greeted by hospital staff and told to sit on a bed. The next thing I knew, I had the transplant and was waking up and trying to adjust to the equipment around me and the tubes and wires that were attatched to me, helping to monitor, feed and medicaite me.
The next day, after my huge operation, I was moved into a ward. This meant it was easier for my family to visit and spend time with me. From this day on, I would receive physiotherapy to help me move from the bed to the chair, then once I was strong enough, the staff would help me to walk to the play area so I could play games,etc.
I still had to be monitored, having tubes attached to my stomach, hand and neck, helping me take necessary medication and to remove any waste. These tubes were removed in the first week, which helped me move easier and become a bit more mobile. I did have a few set back with being in pain  but with the hospital staffs helped me, I was soon feeling better. After making such good progress I was able to leave the hospital and go home after 3 weeks. After 3 weeks I was soon playing in the children's park enjoying myself.
I was sent home with all my medication I needed and my parents/family was shown how I needed to take them. I had to be away from school for 6 months, which I didn't mind at all, but when I returned I was slightly behind, so had a lot of catching up to do. 
I had to still take all my medication and attend regular hospital appointments and blood tests, but over the years each of these decreased and now I only need to take two anti-rejection tablets morning and evening and only attend one hospital appointment a year to make sure everything is okay. 
I went to study art and design at college and now I am in full time work, working with young children.
I wanted to share my story, so that anybody who is waiting for a transplant or families who have a child with a liver complaint like I had, I hope it will show that everything can be all right and although waiting for a transplant or having a disease, like this, can be a very troubling time, you can get through it and go on to live a happy and healthy life!
Thank you for reading about my experience :)

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3 comments:

  1. You are a brave girl Shula and had your Mum not have told me what you had been through I would never have guessed because you seem to just get on with living and enjoying life and that is such an inspiration for other children/adults who may need a transplant and worry about their future. Thank you for sharing your experience and I hope you continue to keep well and have a wonderful life �� xx

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  2. The question marks should be a smiley face and don't know how they got there !

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  3. Thank you, I really hope it does help people! I hope my experience will let people know that you can fight anything in your way. I just hope the word spreads, thank you for your comment xx

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