Why the hell did I need a liver transplant...???

On Thanksgiving day, I woke up with what I thought was bad heartburn. I hadn't been feeling well for a while and thought I was fighting the flu or a virus. In the next couple of days, the pain started to go into my rib area and thanks to WEB MD I thought I was having a gallbladder attack. On Sunday, November 29th I went to urgent care and the Dr also agreed that it was my gallbladder and told me to follow up with my primary care Physician (PCP) on Monday. I called Dr. Olson and he wanted me to go to the ER as they would be able to do the needed tests the same day. Joe drove me to the Mercy Folsom ER and they saw me right away. They took some blood, did an ultrasound and hooked me up to an IV. We thought they would just give me medicine and let me go on my merry way until we heard the nurse ask someone if my room was ready. I looked at Joe and told him I think they are admitting me. The admitting Doctor came in and said my liver count came back extremely high and they needed to admit me. The next two days, they ran just about every test and discovered I had Hepatitis A, a viral infection that attacks your liver. My liver count was at 2600 and the normal level is 50. Hepatitis A is passed through feces and is usually passed through contaminated food or water. I most likely got it from eating out but I will never know. The health department has interviewed me and investigating my case but the incubation period is 2-7 weeks so those who know my love to eat out, know it's just about impossible to try to find the cause. After 3 nights in the hospital, they discharged me since they knew what was wrong and most people fight it and get better in a couple of weeks.

I followed up with my PCP and he worked closely with Dr. Pecha, the GI specialist who saw me in the hospital. They started doing daily blood work to make sure my levels were dropping. I would do my lab work in the morning and Dr. Olson would call me every night at 5 to give me the results. This went on for the whole month of December and my counts continued to rise. During that time, I started to throw up daily and didn't eat anything except a banana a day. On December 29th, my 5 o clock call was from Dr. Pecha. He told me that my counts became dangerous and that he contacted California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and they wanted to admit me that night. I called my parents to watch my dog, packed a couple of things and left for SF. I got there at 9:30 and they had my room ready. They took 21 vials of blood and I met with Dr. Davern who told me he was hoping to get my liver better. I still had no idea I would need a liver transplant.

To be continued....... How my liver failed.....