When I was asked to speak today I had no hesitation in saying yes.  I am not normally the public speaking type, but what I have experienced over the past five years is something very special.  A special time in my life, I like to share with others.

I am the recipient of a donor organ.  At the age of 41, I received a liver transplant.  A special gift, a second chance at life.

I was born with a rare blood vessel disorder called Telangiectasia.  A hereditary disorder passed on to me by my mother, who died at the age of 55 of liver failure.  

My problems first began when I was admitted to Waikato Hospital in June 1988.  I was diagnosed with an enlarged liver caused by my Telangiectasia.  Much discussion and research was done before a treatment was decided on for me.  There were no guarantees, but I wanted to give it a go.  This treatment was done over a period of six months, but unfortunately was not successful and I was transferred to the Liver Unit at Auckland Hospital.

On arriving at Auckland Hospital we were warmly welcomed by the wonderful staff of ward 7B and the Liver team.  The doctors were great and felt they already knew me as they had been following my progress at Waikato Hospital.

At this stage I was unable to eat and being fed intravenously, my weight had dropped to 44kg and to go any distance I had to go in a wheel chair.

After more tests and x-rays, Professor Munn and his team came and spoke to Murray and me.  We were told that they felt it was now necessary to place me on the liver transplant list.  Without a transplant I had less than two years to live.

With a wonderful husband and four teenage children, I had a lot to live for, and was ready for any chance at life.

I remember asking 'what would life be like for me after transplant?'.  The reply was 'we wouldn't do this if we didn't think we could offer you a normal life again.'

How right they were.

When I was sick I spent many hours just lying in bed.  I would think of the many things I had not yet achieved in my life.  I wanted most of all to watch our four teenage children grow up.  To be part of their lives.  They were 18, 16, 14 and 13 years of age.  They needed a mother to help guide them through their teenage years.

I wanted to one day see the remodeling of our home, a 1910 villa, completed.  Something Murray and I had spent many years doing room by room, prior to my illness.  Another special dream was to one day have a house at the beach.  A place where we could spend time holidaying together with our family.

When you are sick these things seem so far away, but today I have seen them all.

The most recent being the purchase of our beach house at Whangamata.

An added bonus has been Murray and I celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary only three weeks ago.

I have watched our family grow.  I have seen our eldest son Brett, who is now 22, set himself up in his farming career.  Our second son Glenn, who has just celebrated his 21st birthday, become a capable and knowledgable builder.  hayden, now 19, begin the second year of his Business Management degree at Waikato University.  And Joanna our daughter, whom I spent many hours with at the Netball Courts prior to my illness, become a member of the Matamata College A netball team.

These are all very special times in my life.  Something I would never have seen without the special gift of life I received in my donor organ.

When I wake up in the morning and look outside I never forget how lucky I am to see each day begin.  Life is never taken for granted.  I have been given the gift of a second chance at life.

Thank you.

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