My
name is Elijah Jones after 25 years working in the United States military and a
life of almost perfect health, Elijah was diagnosed with cirrhosis. He needed a
transplant, but at 60 years old, he knew that the surgery would be hard on him.
“I
was in the military for 25 years. I was physically fit for all those years,
running four miles every day, even at the age of 60, And all of the sudden I
got this little liver problem. I was diagnosed with nonalcoholic
steatohepatitis, inflammation of the liver which can damage liver cells,
leading to cirrhosis. It was also causing my limbs and stomach to fill with
fluid. Every weekend, I underwent paracentesis, a procedure during which a
physician drains fluid from the belly using a catheter. I was draining five
liters of fluid every week. The treatment was very time consuming. And they
barely kept up with my symptoms. A lot of the time, I still felt tired and
uncomfortable. I felt like I was going nowhere, fast. A friend who had received
a transplant told me, you’re just treading water here. Nothing is happening.
Get yourself to India and get this thing figured out.’ I wasn’t getting better,
and I didn’t want to do the paracentesis for the rest of my life.
In
USA, many organ transplant candidates stay at the transplant waiting list for a
long time period, going through the risk of death because there aren’t enough
deceased donor organs. Living donor liver transplant surgery in India can give hope to patients who need a lifesaving
transplant. When I found out I would need a liver transplant, I started
searching online and came across India organ transplant and learned his options and how the transplant
process worked. I was happy that through India organ transplant services,
we are able to reach out to best liver
transplant surgeons in India.
Initially,
I was very skeptical about live liver. Liver surgeon in India said that there
are a lot of good points to it. The main being that you know essentially
exactly where you’re liver is coming from. You know the kind of person it is
coming from and you already know the quality beforehand. Also, with a live liver
donation, you have got a surgery date. You know when it'll happen, and it is
beneficial to plan when you're going via this sort of demanding time. I also
found out that with living donation, the donor is typically healthier. Best liver transplant surgeons in India
walked me through the process. When I explained the living donor liver
transplant process to my family, my brother, Mark, volunteered. Mark was five
years younger than me and had the same blood type. We two began the evaluation
process including a very thorough medical and psychological evaluation to make
sure Mark would be a suitable living donor candidate.
So,
not long after my liver transplant
surgery in India, when I was healed and able, I started running. I ran
because I could. It made me feel alive. As I ran, I felt back to my sickest
moments, when I couldn’t move without a person’s help. When I awoke from that
surgical treatment, the thing I
wanted to do was walk on my own without anyone’s support. When the nurse got
here in my room and wanted to see me get off the bed and right into a chair, I happily
obliged. Only sitting on the chair wasn’t enough. I thought to myself, “I am alive.” however
even better than that, “I’m living.” what a great feeling!
We
are very happy with the results. In between we were sharing our reports with India
organ transplant services team member via email, they used to show it to the best liver transplant surgeons in India
and give us his replies along with changes of medications and so forth.
Thank You!
Here is a story of another patient: Sudan Patient's Successful Liver Transplant Journey to India