Local woman makes case for organ donation
The Edwardsville Intelligencer | Matt Winte
New liver gave Warren a second chance at life
Aug. 22 may not mean much at all to most of us.
It may be your birthday, it might be your wedding anniversary, or for some other reason the day might have special meaning. For Bryanna Warren, of Edwardsville, Aug. 22 is the 20th anniversary of the date she was given a second chance at life and received her liver transplant.
At only five days old, Bryanna was diagnosed with biliary atresia, which is a blockage in the tubes that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder. It causes liver damage, cirrhosis, jaundice and can be deadly if not treated.
"She never got to come home," said her dad Bryan Warren. "She was supposed to come home that day and the nurse that was working noticed that she didn't look right."
Her blood tests had shown that her billirubins level was high and â€" with what the nurse had noticed â€" they thought that something might be wrong so she was sent to St. Louis Children's Hospital.
With the doctors unsure of what was wrong, Bryan and his ex-wife Christy Lackey said that they would like to bring her home.
"We wanted her to at least come home for a little while and not just die in the hospital," Bryan said. Every morning they would bring Bryanna to the hospital for tests. Finally, the diagnosis came back as biliary atresia. With the diagnosis, the only option that the family had was Kasai surgery, which removes the blocked bile ducts and gallbladder and replaces them with a bit of the small intestine.
Read more
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
New liver gave Warren a second chance at life
Aug. 22 may not mean much at all to most of us.
It may be your birthday, it might be your wedding anniversary, or for some other reason the day might have special meaning. For Bryanna Warren, of Edwardsville, Aug. 22 is the 20th anniversary of the date she was given a second chance at life and received her liver transplant.
At only five days old, Bryanna was diagnosed with biliary atresia, which is a blockage in the tubes that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder. It causes liver damage, cirrhosis, jaundice and can be deadly if not treated.
"She never got to come home," said her dad Bryan Warren. "She was supposed to come home that day and the nurse that was working noticed that she didn't look right."
Her blood tests had shown that her billirubins level was high and â€" with what the nurse had noticed â€" they thought that something might be wrong so she was sent to St. Louis Children's Hospital.
With the doctors unsure of what was wrong, Bryan and his ex-wife Christy Lackey said that they would like to bring her home.
"We wanted her to at least come home for a little while and not just die in the hospital," Bryan said. Every morning they would bring Bryanna to the hospital for tests. Finally, the diagnosis came back as biliary atresia. With the diagnosis, the only option that the family had was Kasai surgery, which removes the blocked bile ducts and gallbladder and replaces them with a bit of the small intestine.
Read more
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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