26 and already had two liver transplants
Hudson Reporter | Gennarose Pope
Rene Rodriguez is the definition of a fighter. A young 26, he was discharged from University Hospital in Newark on Aug. 13 after receiving his second liver transplant.
Aside from being a little thin at his discharge with only 124 pounds on his 6’1†frame, Rodriguez â€" who gave an interview in his Union City home last week â€" was all hope with a witty, intelligent sense of humor, and big, smiling eyes. One would never guess he’d been in and out of hospitals fighting the complications of Hepatitis B since birth.
Rodriguez contracted Hepatitis B from his mother’s breastmilk after she contracted it during a hospital visit in the 1980s; a time when not much was known about the disease and hygiene standards were below what they are now. After he underwent 10 years of maintenance check-ups, the disease attacked his liver, and he developed tumors and cirrhosis.
Last week, he displayed a photo montage he’d put together of his latest ordeal. His first photo showed him at his healthiest shortly before things went downhill and his body rejected the transplant he received when he was 13. A second photo was taken right before he was admitted to the hospital, and a third showed Rodriguez surrounded by family after his transplant.
Read more: Hudson Reporter - 26 and already had two liver transplants Union City resident is a fighter
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{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
Rene Rodriguez is the definition of a fighter. A young 26, he was discharged from University Hospital in Newark on Aug. 13 after receiving his second liver transplant.
Aside from being a little thin at his discharge with only 124 pounds on his 6’1†frame, Rodriguez â€" who gave an interview in his Union City home last week â€" was all hope with a witty, intelligent sense of humor, and big, smiling eyes. One would never guess he’d been in and out of hospitals fighting the complications of Hepatitis B since birth.
Rodriguez contracted Hepatitis B from his mother’s breastmilk after she contracted it during a hospital visit in the 1980s; a time when not much was known about the disease and hygiene standards were below what they are now. After he underwent 10 years of maintenance check-ups, the disease attacked his liver, and he developed tumors and cirrhosis.
Last week, he displayed a photo montage he’d put together of his latest ordeal. His first photo showed him at his healthiest shortly before things went downhill and his body rejected the transplant he received when he was 13. A second photo was taken right before he was admitted to the hospital, and a third showed Rodriguez surrounded by family after his transplant.
Read more: Hudson Reporter - 26 and already had two liver transplants Union City resident is a fighter
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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