My name is Shirley, I am a 43 year-old mom to three kids, ages 15, 13, and 9. In 2004, I was diagnosed at the age of 30 with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), an autoimmune disease which destroys the small bile ducts of the liver. I went through a lot of bloodwork, ultrasounds, CT scans, MRI’s, ERCP’s, and biopsies. At the beginning of my illness my symptoms were not noticeable, but I did feel nauseous most of the time. Later on, I had very itchy skin to the point where I would make myself bleed from scratching so much. I was jaundiced to the point that my kids and nieces would ask me why my eyes are yellow. There were many times when I would cry or put try and put humour into my illness, telling them that I ‘ate a lot of mustard’!

My first thought when I heard the diagnosis, was “cirrhosis”, and that I was going to die and leave behind my two kids. I had never heard of PBC and neither had my immediate family. I had the privilege of having a supportive family and we all educated ourselves together. At the time of my diagnosis, I was told by my doctor that in about 10 years, I would need a liver transplant. I was afraid of the end stage, of what my kids would have to go through, of not being able to find a donor—I wanted time to freeze. As the years went by, my illness progressed and so did my symptoms. The itchy skin was unbearable, my skin started darkening, my hair thinned, and I lost a tremendous amount of weight. The majority of my time was spent feeling exhausted, and a lot of times I did not find joy in my everyday activities.

As a mom though, I pushed myself to care for my kids. I had to find a positive attitude, find the creativity determination to continue to be there for my husband and my family. In 2012, I was at the end stage of my illness; I was put on a transplant waitlist and received my pager! I felt like that was one step closer to getting better. As a transplant candidate I had the option of a living donor. I had three people offer to be my living donor, and at the moment I found myself wanting to accept the help because I was so tired of being ill for so many years. But then, you stop and think what about their families, and the many “what if’s”.

One of those people that offered to help right from the initial stage of my illness was my only sister. While it wasn’t possible at the beginning of my illness, the time had come 10 years later for her to become my living donor. At the time, Lisa was five-months post-partum with her third child, and was raising two other girls ages five and seven. She decided without any hesitation to start the initial process to becoming a potential living donor. At the end of March 2014, I got the great news that my one and only sister was a match! I remember we all cried so much, there were tears of joy, knowing that I would see my kids and my nieces grow up, and that I would be given a second chance to create memories and reach milestones with them.

On August 11, we both received separate calls that our liver transplant would happen two days later. My sister had the opportunity to give the “gift of life”, and that alone is a major advantage to being a living donor.

Now, we are 2 Sisters 1 Liver!

Help us change the future for Canadians with liver disease!