"The transplant went well and I was ready to get up and sit in a chair just six hours after coming round"

I had been treated for a blood platelet condition called ITP between 2022 and 2024, but kept going back to my GP because I had a lot of bruising and was so tired that I couldn’t function. I also had pain in my liver, cramps and couldn’t sleep. I thought I might be anaemic or it was the menopause, and couldn’t believe the primary biliary cholangitis diagnosis. I kept asking my doctor if she’d been given someone else’s test results by mistake.

The steroids I was prescribed caused my body to puff up and my legs to fill with fluid. I’ve always been a super-positive person, but I felt so low because I was getting bigger and bigger. My doctors couldn’t understand it and I had a couple of hospital admissions where I was put on a drip, but I needed the steroids so couldn’t stop taking them.

My medical team didn’t think I’d need a liver transplant for a good few years, but my condition deteriorated and in January 2025 I woke up at 2am and knew something wasn’t right. I somehow made it to the bathroom where I started coughing up blood and couldn’t stop. I passed out and when I came to, my bathroom looked like it was painted red. Somehow, I managed to get back to the bedroom and I called my family who took me to the hospital where I was operated on straightaway to fit a stent.

Sadly, over the next year I was very unwell, steroids continued to be harsh on my body, I kept getting infections and developed HE which made me forgetful and confused. I was admitted to hospital to help with this because I thought I was losing my mind.

I went on the transplant list on September 8th and was so excited – I just wanted that phone to ring. I was declining 100 per cent, but went swimming four or five times a week and ate as healthily as possible so I was as well as possible.

My call came on November 18^th and I walked down to theatre with my transplant coordinator, my sister and partner. I gave them a hug, said ‘see you soon’ and didn’t look back as I couldn’t have coped if they were upset.

I walked into theatre and lay down on the operating table and the lovely anaesthetist said: ‘You’ve got this, Mary’.

The transplant went well and I was ready to get up and sit in a chair just six hours after coming round. Getting into it was horrific, but I was determined not to waste any time and later that day I was walking in the ward. I was only in intensive care for one night and in hospital for nine days in total. I went for a walk on the third day after I got home and did 10,000 steps! I’ve been so lucky – the healthy eating and exercise must have helped and I’m so grateful to my donor for a second chance at life.

Everything has been going like clockwork since then. I had incredible support and treatment at the Royal Free Hospital, and my medical team has increased or decreased my medication a couple of times, but nothing major.

I’ve also had fantastic help and guidance from Liver UK. So much information online is frightening, but when you go on the Liver UK site you feel you’re in the right place because it’s calm. It helps you understand what’s happening and why and there’s stuff about nutrition and updates on new drugs. The patient stories are so varied too and they helped me to believe I could get through this.

The charity’s pre- and post-transplant support group also became a lifeline and support network. Nobody in your family and friends understand what’s going on with your body, so you need to listen to other people who are going through the same thing as you.

To say thank you to Liver UK I decided to raise funds for them by participating in the UK Transplant Games even though I am not sporty in any way. I’ll be doing the donor run, javelin, discus and swimming. I’ve never been a runner so I am now building myself up.

I’ve worked for British Airways for 35 years – they’ve been incredible throughout my illness and when I raised £5k within six weeks, they very kindly matched it.

This whole process has definitely been mind over matter for me, thinking positive is the only way. I still get nervous before an appointment with my medical team, but I build myself up beforehand and think ‘Yes, I can do this!’

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