Published: March 10, 2010
By Melody Kinser .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Sheila Tyler received long-awaited news a couple of weeks ago: She is now on the list to receive a liver transplant.
Suffering from cirrhosis, the confirmation was bittersweet for the Cherrydale resident. ‘I should have been on the list a long time ago.”
Her form of cirrhosis stems from what is called a fatty liver, with non-alcoholic influences.
She was diagnosed in July, although she has dealt with liver issues for a decade.
Bundled in a blanket in a recliner at her parents’ home, she said she thinks her name should have been placed on the transplant list years earlier. “And I would have never had to go through all this.”
She speaks softly and becomes easily winded. “I’ve been in the hospital 15 times since July.”
At 44, the mother of 13-year-old Joshua has moved in with her parents, Judson and Inez Tyler, from her King William home. The family works to maintain Joshua’s routine, which includes keeping him in his school in the neighboring county.
“My liver won’t let anything happen,” Sheila said. “My ammonia levels get really high.” When that happens, Inez added, “She goes into like a semi-coma. It’s happened about three times.”
“If I go into one of these semi-comas and no one’s around I could die with nobody around to help me,” Sheila said.
Her frustration grew as she waited to be placed on the list, because there were people waiting to get tested.
Fluid retention is a problem Sheila encounters. She has posted a weight gain of 52 pounds due to the swelling. She loses her appetite and becomes nauseous.
As a patient needing a liver, Sheila has a daily regimen of about 20 medications. “I throw up a lot,” she said, adding most medications cause drowsiness and dizziness.
For more than 10 years Sheila was employed by Jack Woodfin. As her illness progressed, she said she “couldn’t stay awake, couldn’t concentrate. I was starting to mess up.” She also said she has experienced “a lot of confusion. I can’t remember anything.”
She calls her former employer “a really good guy” and said the company has been supportive of her in her time of need.
She said her liver problem worsened after she underwent gastric bypass surgery.
“I lost 215 pounds in eight months.”
She said she was told not to drink alcohol or soft drinks, “but not that it was a lethal dosage.”
Inez said the speed of the weight loss accelerated the process of the liver issue.
Her liver, Sheila said, is about six times the size it should be. Her spleen also is very enlarged.
She said the pain “kills my back and stomach.”
Inez said there are days when it appears Sheila is doing better “and then it starts just like from the very beginning.”
“I’m tired of feeling bad. I’m tired of my son having to see it. It seems like he’s always there when it happens. Poor little guy,” Sheila said of Joshua.
Sheila is not receiving any income. “I applied for disability and that’s been over nine months ago and I still have not heard a word.
“Doctors say there is no way I can work. I really miss working.”
To help with medical expenses, a benefit gospel concert is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday, March 21, at Hanover Friends Church at 6420 Mechanicsville Turnpike in Mechanicsville.
Amy Ladd and Friends will be performing.
A love offering for Sheila will be taken during the concert.
According to Inez, an account has been established in Sheila’s name at the Wachovia Brandy Hill Plaza Financial Center at 7085 Mechanicsville Turnpike in Mechanicsville.
Inez also said that anyone interested in being tested as a donor can contact VCU Health Systems’ coordinator of donor services at 828-4104.
