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    Liver Transplant: My Story
    Liver Transplant: My Story
    Liver Transplant: My Story
    Ebook93 pages1 hour

    Liver Transplant: My Story

    By Bernice Berger Miller

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    About this ebook

    A person without a functioning liver will die. Until a mere 30 years ago, there was no solution for millions suffering from many forms of liver disease, one of which is Hepatitis C, The Silent Killer. The Solution? Transplantation.
    LIVER TRANSPLANT: MY STORY describes my experience from the first moment of realization that my liver was diseased through to the pre-transplant, actual transplant, and post-transplant periods. It makes clear what the body is going through and what it will go through. All medical descriptions are defined in layman's terms and made completely understandable. It answers many questions such as, "What does the liver do?"
    This book is written for all those patients who are transplant candidates. It attempts to allay the anxiety they may have as they approach unknown territory. It makes the unknown known, thereby removing the mystery of the impending experience. It also speaks loudly of the inherent value of believing that all will be well. It assures the patient that the miracle of transplantation transforms what had been a death sentence into a gift of life. And here I am, writing all about it.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateMay 10, 2012
    ISBN9781468594232
    Liver Transplant: My Story
    Author

    Bernice Berger Miller

    Bernice Berger Miller, author of ITS ALL ABOUT A NAME, has written works in several genres. She has written childrens stories, poetry, short stories, and selections for private purposes. As a building contractor, she has built 3 and 4 bedroom condominium apartments. She has traveled extensively visiting many countries worldwide, and she is a partner in the antique and collectible business. And when she is relaxing, she writes, reads, and goes to football games. And when the game is an Away Game, she watches it on TV. Shes been a season ticket holder for 35 years. Her time with her children, grandchildren, and great grandchild (Jackson) is the best of everything she enjoys. She earned her B.S. degree from Columbia University and her Ph.D from the University of Florida. Her grandchildren run most of their school reports through her, and they pay her by walking her through the internet and computer carefully and gingerly because they know shes a kindergartner in those areas. Its a perfect give and take relationship. She loves it best when shes the giver.

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      Book preview

      Liver Transplant - Bernice Berger Miller

      Liver Transplant: 

       My Story

      Bernice Berger Miller

      US%26UKLogoB%26Wnew.ai

      AuthorHouse™

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.authorhouse.com

      Phone: 1-800-839-8640

      © 2012 Bernice Berger Miller. All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      Published by AuthorHouse 5/4/2012

      ISBN: 978-1-4685-9423-2 (e)

      ISBN: 978-1-4685-9424-9 (sc)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2012907283

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Contents

      CHAPTER 1

      CHAPTER 2

      CHAPTER 3

      CHAPTER 4

      CHAPTER 5

      CHAPTER 6

      CHAPTER 7

      CHAPTER 8

      CHAPTER 9

      CHAPTER 10

      CHAPTER 11

      CHAPTER 12

      CHAPTER 13

      CHAPTER 14

      CHAPTER 15

      CHAPTER 16

      CHAPTER 17

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      I dedicate my book to two special people.

      They led the way on my long journey back to health.

      Andreas G. Tzakis, M.D.

      Chief of Transplant Surgery

      University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine and

      Jackson Memorial Hospital

      Eugene R. Schiff, M.D.

      Director, Schiff Center for Liver Diseases

      Director, Hepatology Laboratory

      University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

      Acknowledging all the devoted people that are my partners in My Story would require a volume. The professionals with the superb skills to execute such a miraculous feat of transplantation and the loving caregivers that gave up so much to take over the long job of my recovery, all must accept my humble gratitude.

      Of course, Dr. Andreas Tzakis and Dr. Eugene Schiff. Dr. David Levi, Dr. Nathan Segel, Dr. Tekin, Dr. Moon, and Dr. Nishida. Leslie Kravetz who made The Call all the way from Michigan where she was visiting. Toni DeManno who is watching out for me morning, noon, and night.

      My incredible professional caregivers, Rozzie Buckham, Jackie Williams, and Alberte Noel. My team of therapists Robert Murdocco and Lisa Strom.

      And my own personal team that surely would wrap me up in cotton and carry me every step of this long arduous journey, Corinne Cott my favorite daughter (I have only one) and Bobby Miller my favorite son (I have only one) and June Seligman my best friend.

      And the donor and the donor’s family whom I do not know. I extend to them my sincerest gratitude for the life they have given me.

      Also by Bernice Berger Miller

      THE HORSE-GOD

      THE LAST SYLLABLE

      THE FOURSOME

      CHAPTER 1

      June 2006. 11 PM. The phone’s ring had an upbeat jingle. Leslie, the pre-transplant coordinator assigned to me, said, Binky. We may have a match. The preliminary signs are good. But (it’s the ‘but’ that will get you every time) I’m waiting for a call from Dr. Moon. He’s harvesting the liver. He’ll make a few more tests. Don’t move from home. I’ll call you back in an hour.

      My heart banged in my chest. How could it not be The Call I’ve been waiting for? My cirrhotic liver had put me to the top of The List for liver transplantation. It’s not a thing one would normally look forward to, but the alternative was not an option.

      In October 1972 I had received a blood transfusion after a routine surgery. Years later, October 1990, while I was at dinner with friends, I experienced a sudden weakness. My head drooped. My arms lost all their power. I could not remain upright. My strength left me so completely that I slipped slowly out of my chair. My friend, June, took over, as she usually does in times of crisis. Then, emerging from a dreamlike state, I found myself staring at the white walls of the local hospital’s emergency room. My physician, Dr. Segel, stood beside my bed peering at me and into places uninformed commoners don’t know about.

      Dr. Segel had no doubt about what was wrong given my neon yellow color and whatever else he found. Hepatitis, he said. I could not register the activity around me but I heard the wheels of the gurney squeal as it transported me to a hospital room. I am disclosing the next bit of information because now in retrospect, I look at it as really funny. Dr. Segel called in a gastroenterologist who examined me and asked for my history and any recent travels. His diagnosis confirmed Dr. Segel’s. He determined also that during my recent overseas travel, I must have slept with some bum off the streets and contracted hepatitis. My color was certainly yellow but it didn’t compare with the flaming red of Dr. Segel’s color. He must have ordered the consulting doctor to beat it because we never saw him again.

      It would be helpful to become familiar with the work the liver does in a body. I don’t want to get too pedantic and lose you in the process but here goes. Briefly: the liver removes harmful substances from the blood (like toxic drugs that we shouldn’t be taking anyway); the liver makes bile to help digest fat and food (like ice cream and other tasty stuff); the liver stores fat (not so good) and sugar in proper quantities that provide energy for those marathons most of us run every day; the liver fights infection (a fine attribute); the liver cleans the blood of ammonia (a surplus of which can cause confusion which many politicians suffer from these days) and of bilirubin which turns a person neon yellow that clashes with many colors we prefer to wear.

      The functions of the liver, then, are not only invaluable but are essentials for life, meaning of course, that without the liver we can’t live. Another scrap of information is that the liver is the only organ in the body that can regenerate itself. That is the reason a living donor can donate a part of his liver to a recipient with the same blood type and body size and have his own liver regenerate itself in a matter of months.

      After two weeks in the hospital, I was discharged and sent home to rest. Rest. That was the only treatment for hepatitis in 1990. Furthermore, at that time the medical community had identified only Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B. There was another strain but they had no name for it, so it was labeled Hepatitis non-A non-B. The latter is what I had. No surprise here. In addition to that ominous appellation, I had the variety labeled Genotype 1. The genotype is a mixture of genes within a virus. Currently, there are six known genotypes, but genotype 1 is the

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