Harmony

What is your age and gender?

female 14

What is your liver condition?

I have Auto Immune Liver Disease

How old were you when you was diagnosed?

I was 13

How did you feel?

I felt rather worried as it was all so sudden. One week I was my normal colour and the next my skin and the whites of my eyes were yellow

How were you told?

I was told in hospital just under a month before my birthday and was in hospital until a week before my birthday

How does it affect you?

It affected me deeply as I didn’t know if my friends opinions about me would change and I didn’t know if I would stay friends with them because of my condition. It also made me a lot more self conscious about how I looked and felt

Are you on any medicines?

Yes

How often do you go to appointments?

I have weekly blood tests at my local doctors

How are you treated there?

I am treated like any other person

What are the good and bad things about having a liver condition?

There are not really any good things, but there are a couple of bad things.
They are:
1. Not being able to take part in PE at school
2. Not knowing if you will loose any of your friends
3. You don’t know if you will have to have a transplant in the future if your health declines any further
AND
4. It never leaves you, unlike having a funny tummy

Does anything worry you about having a liver condition?

Yes
1. Not knowing if I will have to have a transplant later in life
2. Not knowing if I will keep all my friends
3. I worry MOST OF ALL about school and getting knocked in the corridors and being rushed back to hospital

Have you got any messages for other young people with a liver condition?

If you are on tablets you will get better slowly but only if you remember to take them every day

Any other comments...

All the help from this website is amazing and I am slowly beginning to feel more confident again