"It’s now five months since the transplant and I feel blessed"

I was a constant beer and wine drinker for 40 years and it got the better of me. After work I’d walk to the local pub for the chit-chat and have around four pints, then go home and have a bottle of red wine. My mind and body got used to it and I never suffered or needed a drink when I woke up in the morning, but I knew something wasn’t right. I used to get a grumble where the liver was, but thought it was my IBS.

In December 2022 my stomach started churning and I was sick. There was a little blood, but I felt instantly better so thought nothing more of it. I did dry January, as always, and in February decided to pack drinking in completely. Then in March I had the most extreme stomach pain and threw up, losing 50% of my blood. I was in hospital for five weeks.

The consultant said I was lucky to be alive, but my liver was past the point of no return. I was diagnosed with alcohol-related cirrhosis and told I couldn’t drink again. It was a shock, but I’d already stopped drinking so could deal with that. While in hospital I also had C-diff and pneumonia and wondered if this was it for me, but realised I was stronger than that and decided to fight.

On the day of my release I met Laura, the lead hepatologist nurse, who would be mentoring me. She said my lifespan was now three to five years, but if I followed the rules and didn’t drink, I might get onto the transplant list. I was eating for England even though my stomach was churning and I felt really sick, and doing number 2s four times a day to help my liver, but I was getting worse and worried I wouldn’t get on the list.

No one in the hospital was judgemental, they understood me and just wanted to help.

I had HE several times over a three-year period, which would turn me into a zombie. It was horrid – I didn’t know what was going on and would be in hospital for five or six days each time until it settled down. I was given a ‘passport’ to show at A&E when it happened which explained who I was, that I had HE and what the symptoms were so I could go straight to MAU.

I also had my belly drained four or five times and each time they took seven or eight litres and developed an umbilical hernia which was really uncomfortable.

Thankfully I was put on the list in March 2026, but told that people can wait up to two years which was worrying as I’d only been given 18 months.

I was 100% declining now. I felt sick, my belly was so uncomfortable and the umbilical hernia was like a mountain. I tried my hardest to walk and exercise, but it was a struggle. Even though things were getting worse every day, I kept a positive mental attitude that I would get the transplant and it would work.

There should be more awareness about what alcohol can do to the liver because when you get cirrhosis, there’s no turning back.

I got the first call a few weeks later, but that was a false alarm, as was the second six weeks later. The third call in June went ahead. The transplant took more than 10 hours because of all the varices wrapped around the liver, and the surgeon also sorted out the umbilical hernia. I was in hospital for a total of 40 nights, including a week in intensive care because the anti-rejection medication wasn’t right for me. I was shaking so much that I couldn’t get any food in my mouth and couldn’t walk. When my doctors weaned me off the medication and replaced it, the shakes gradually disappeared.

It’s now five months since the transplant and I feel blessed. I have a new lease of life – all the aches and pains, the IBS and the HE are gone and I’m allowed to drive again. Even when the weather is overcast, the sun is still shining in my eyes.

I still go the local pub occasionally to see the boys and keep in touch, but I now have a tonic water or diet Coke. They know my story, so they understand.

There should be more awareness about what alcohol can do to the liver because when you get cirrhosis, there’s no turning back. If you’ve been diagnosed, the important thing is to keep positive and keep praying. It’s hard to stop worrying, but what is worrying going to do for you? Try to think of other things to take your mind off it.

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