A MUM whose stomach exploded through her c-section scar is locked in a race against time to receive a lifesaving five-organ transplant. Michelle Oddy, 43, desperately needs to find five new organs – all from the same donor. In 2014, the Crohn’s disease sufferer from Ilkeston, Derbys, woke up one day to find that her […]
A MUM whose stomach exploded through her c-section scar is locked in a race against time to receive a lifesaving five-organ transplant.
Michelle Oddy, 43, desperately needs to find five new organs – all from the same donor.
In 2014, the Crohn’s disease sufferer from Ilkeston, Derbys, woke up one day to find that her stomach had burst open – “leaking blood and faeces”.
A fistula had ripped through her 10-year-old caesarian scar, leaving her with multiple organ failure.
In 2015, Michelle started to dramatically lose weight and gradually dropped to just four stone in weight.
Michelle said: “They told me my organs had packed up and I only had a few days of life left.”
Luckily Michelle went to the hospital just in time, and was given a liquid feed, that was then set up at her home after spending four weeks in hospital.
Since then, a nurse comes to visit Michelle six nights a week, to administer the liquid feed which pumps vital nutrients directly to her major arteries.
Michelle said: “My weight started to get better but I still have a nurse coming to my house to feed me every day, it’s just insane, I can’t keep living like this.
“My organs have stopped working, I still have a hole in my stomach and a permanent colostomy bag.
“I had one of the worst days of my life in 2018, I felt ill so I had to go to hospital and after being there for a couple of hours, my wife, Laura, walked in and found me unresponsive and staring into space.
“The next thing I remember was the room filling up with doctors, I had gone into septic shock due to infections caused by the TPN and my veins giving in after being pumped with liquid nutrients for the last four years.
“Once they stabilised me, they told Laura to come in so we could say our goodbyes because I would not make it to the next day.
“Saying goodbye to my daughter, and Laura, was one of the hardest moments I have ever faced.”
Despite the seriousness of her condition, Michelle managed to make a full recovery – and decided to marry Laura just six weeks later.
She now needs to have her liver, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine and half of her stomach replaced.
The lifesaving op will take 20 hours to complete. Michelle will have a 35 per cent chance of dying on the operating table.
“The idea that I have a 35 percent chance of never waking up is terrifying,” she said.
“What I always remember is that there’s also a 65 per cent chance that I’ll wake up better, I’ll be able to take my daughter on holiday and we’ll be able to swim together.
“I want my quality of life back; I want to enjoy days out with my family just like everyone else.”
Without her family, Michelle says that she would have already given up.
“I’m risking this for them, for better or for worse.
“At the end of the day it’s only a matter of time before I could pass away, it just gets worse.
“My quality of life is so bad that I’m willing to gamble – half of my insides are being replaced.
“I want this gaping hole in my stomach to go, I can’t do anything, it has completely taken over my life.”
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust consultant transplant surgeon, Andrew Butler, says that such a massive op is rare and complex.
“We have carried out about 100 such procedures and internationally, there have been around 1,500 bowel containing transplants in adults since 1992.
“In the UK, Addenbrooke’s Hospital is the only centre that provides adult multivisceral transplants including a liver.”
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