I wanted to write the story what’s it like to go through major liver transplant surgery, but I don’t remember. I needed a liver transplant as an infant due to a fluke veinal malformation. I was just two when I was lucky enough to receive my new liver, so I have zero recollection of the surgery itself. But over the past 28 years, I’ve had lots of ups and downs as an organ transplant recipient. I’m lucky enough to be able to look back at the past few decades and share my experiences.

The most visible part of being a transplant recipient is the gnarly scar I got. My scar is shaped like a ‘T’. The top of the ‘T’ reaches from the left side of my stomach to the right, and goes around my back. The bottom of the ‘T’ goes from just below my chest to two inches below my belly button. Now that I’m older, the scar blends in with my skin and under the right conditions gives me a six pack — pretty cool! When I was 5, I thoughtmy scar was my defining feature and I was so proud of it. I was a precocious little kid and when I first met people, I would show them my scar, which I called my “zipper” for the way it zipped across my stomach. I saw my zipper as a unique, special feature. I didn’t know any other kids with a zipper like mine. My zipper beat all other zippers out there, and it still does. As a kid I learned to embrace the zipper that made me stand out, rather than feeling weird about it.

Transplant patients like me take immunosuppressants to suppress their immune system, ensuring their body doesn’t attack the transplanted organ. Most of us will be taking these drugs for the rest of our lives. Think about this: You probably take vitamins or Emergen-C to boost your immune system when you’re getting a cold; everyday, I take six pills to weaken mine. I’m lucky enough to have taken one of the major immunosuppressants, beginning when it was a test drug (FK506) in the early nineties! Personally, I think the drug company should pay for my meds for the rest of my life for that, but they don’t seem to think so. Damn. Suppressing my immune system makes me more susceptible to getting sick and when I do, my drugs make it hard to recover. When you got chicken pox, you probably stayed home for a few days and watched movies, but when I got chicken pox, I spent 10 days in the hospital being monitored and slowly recovering. Despite my suppressed immune system, I rarely get sick; it must be all that dirt I ate as a kid.

One of the scariest parts of being a transplant recipient is rejection where your body attacks the transplanted organ. These episodes come about for many reasons, like changes in your body, stress, not taking your pills, or diet. If this happens, the first course of action is usually increasing the doses or changing the set of immunosuppressants you take. If that doesn’t work, the next approach is to take steroids, which are amazingly effective, but the side effects are THE WORST: Mood swings, nausea, weight gain, acne, and sleep problems. Oh joy. And it takes months to wean off the steroids after they take effect. The worst case scenario is needing a new transplanted organ, which involves a long, long wait for a lifesaving organ.

As a liver transplant recipient, alcohol is a big no-no for me. Most people don’t realize how much alcohol is engrained in our society. Cocktail parties, weddings, company happy hours, and first dates all center around booze, and there is a cultural expectation that everyone drinks. In college, I thought it would be okay if I had a drink every once in awhile, but I would wake up feeling shitty and worn out. My occasional indulgences led to liver enzyme tests showing liver damage. Now, I never drink. When I was dating, I told women right away, and if they weren’t able to deal with that, it was their problem, not mine. I skip out on events that are strictly drinking-oriented, or try to shape them to include something like playing games. Despite what society tells you, you can still have a great nightlife without drinking.

Having a liver transplant changes your life for the better. Your life has been saved, by the modern miracle of science — that’s awesome! While I have to take pills every day, I’m a pretty healthy individual. When I meet people, they have no idea I had a liver transplant and think my life is just like theirs. I’m able to do all the same things as anyone else: I play tennis, boulder, run, swim, hike, and walk my cute dog, Hank. At work, I’m held to the same expectations as everyone else, and my credit card company expects me to pay my bills on time just like everyone else (that part sucks). Now I’m off to a bike ride with my dog, thanks to my liver.

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