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A Regina nurse who suffers from a rare disease has received her second liver transplant.
Krystal Graham has been desperately waiting for the surgery to treat her life-threatening disease.
She spoke with 980 CJME’s Greg Morgan about her plight in September.
In a news release, her family announced Graham got the call there was an available liver on Dec. 30. She got on an air ambulance, went to Edmonton and had the surgery on New Year’s Eve.
However, there were a number of complications during the surgery. After 14 hours, the surgical team couldn’t finish the procedure because of heavy bleeding. Graham was put in a medically induced coma, and the team managed to complete the transplant last Sunday.
Graham is still in the ICU.
When she initially shared her story with the media, Graham helped raise awareness of the importance of registering as an organ donor.
According to her family, 746 people signed up to Saskatchewan’s Organ & Tissue Donor Registry in the month she gave her first interview, compared to 216 the month before.
She spoke about organ donation during her appearance on Morgan’s show.
“It takes less than five minutes to register yourself, and it gives someone a chance at life again. I wouldn’t be here if someone didn’t donate their organs 12 years ago, and now I’m in the same boat. But you are able to give someone else their life back, and their family gets to have that person in their life back,” she said.
“It can change someone’s life so much.”
Then, she was unsure if she would be able to get a transplant in time.
While her life was in serious danger if a liver couldn’t be found, she still managed to stay optimistic.
“The recovery process is hard, but I know I’ll get my life back one day, and I cannot wait for that,” Graham said.
Now that she has had the procedure, the doctors and other health-care workers hope to treat her until she’s stable, then move her from the ICU to the transplant ward.
After that, she’ll deal with three months of recovery and rehab.