Lives changed forever by much needed transplants
‘LIFE-SAVING OP MADE EVERY MOMENT PRECIOUS’
WHEN Julie Egan got Covid-19 at the height of the pandemic and was on a ventilator for a month, she never thought she’d be living a happier and healthier life today.
The 36-year-old, who lives in Donegal town, has had many moments in her life where she thought it would be her last.
She was diagnosed with type one diabetes when she was just 11 years old.
While she struggled with depression and anxiety due to the disease, Julie began to manage better into adulthood.
Crumble
That was until her mid-20s when her health was deteriorating so badly that she decided to leave college in Cork city and move into her family’s home in Donegal.
She said: “From there on my whole health started to crumble. I woke up one morning but could barely see, my eyesight was almost gone.
“It was absolutely terrifying, there was no sign of anything, no blurry vision or nothing up until that point. It was terrifying, my heart sank.
“There’s no feeling like it.”
While many people with type one and two diabetes develop impaired vision, only about five per cent suffer from severe vision loss.
The disease can cause diabetic retinopathy, which is caused when high blood sugar damages blood vessels in the retina.
While Julie lost her eyesight for six months, she received an operation to fix the blood vessels that had leaked in her eyes, and luckily she now has a good level of vision.
But her eyesight wouldn’t be the only thing that Julie suffered with due to diabetes, at just 30 years old she was told her kidneys were failing, and that she would need to start dialysis until she could get a transplant.
She explained: “I was four years on dialysis and I was on the (transplant) list for six months.
“It took those three years to be on the list because I also got Covid-19 while on dialysis. I got it very badly, it was a very lucky escape.
“I was on a ventilator for over 30 days. Trying to recover from that was the worst recovery of my life, it was the worst thing to take me down among all the things I’ve been through.”
Luckily, Julie recovered from Covid-19 and continued dialysis until she was given the life-changing news last year that she was matched for a kidney and pancreas transplant.
After receiving the deceased organ donation, the 36-year-old is living a happier and healthier life, with very few symptoms getting in her way. “There were so many times throughout my whole life where I would wake up in hospital and think I won’t be so lucky the next time,” she said.
“But I do have a very positive outlook on life, I try my best to get on with things and not get too deep into thinking about the doom and gloom of it all.”
Brian Vaughan is also now living a completely different life after receiving a double lung transplant two years ago.
The 44-year-old, who has cystic fibrosis, was admitted to ICU shortly after Christmas 2021, which he thought would be his last.
Bleak
He said: “The end of 2021 seemed bleak, and that Christmas was potentially my last one. My lung function continued to decline, and at that stage, it was less than 20 per cent.” However, just a few months later Brian got the life-saving call that he was matched to a diseased organ donor. He added: “The transformation after the transplant almost defies description.
“It was a renewal of life with gratitude for each precious moment.”