Rachelle’s Second Liver Transplant Journey

My doctors have made the difficult decision to proceed with a second liver transplant. It’s been a complicated road but to summarize, due to the type of donor I had (DCD - circulatory death), my donor organ had much more damage than they could have predicted. A circulatory death donor means the heart stopped beating which also means blood is no longer flowing through organs. It’s not uncommon for the recipients of these types of donors to need a second transplant. After nearly 2 years of trying to reverse damage, specifically in my bile ducts, there has not been any success and a second transplant is best option moving forward.

It’s been a difficult two years to say the least but I’m staying positive in that this second surgery will allow me to finally start living again. I haven’t been able to go back to work due to ongoing complications and after speaking with my family, I’ve decided to share a go fund me to try and help cover some expected expenses like a rental car and lodging for an extended period of time, as well as the unexpected expenses which unfortunately tend to always happen and you just don’t know what they are until they show up. I have a very hard time asking for help but after two years of unemployment, I’m struggling and anything helps. I’ll forever be grateful to my donor for giving me another chance to live and for the continuous support I’ve received from my family and friends the last two years.