Overview of Julie’s story

A full time career person, Julie’s life was turned around the day she got admitted to hospital and was told she had cirrhosis of the liver and was also pregnant.

Apart from feeling constantly tired over the past few years which she assumed was due to her busy job until her hypothyrodism was diagnosed, Julie had enjoyed good health all her life and had no idea she had liver disease.

In March she visited her GP with a racing pulse, feeling out of breath, was totally lethargic and looking deadly pale, which had come on over the weekend. Her GP reduced her thyroid medication and gave her a blood test in the morning.

In the afternoon, following the results being issued, she was contacted at work and instructed to go to hospital . There she was told that she had lost 6 pints of blood into her stomach and had an emergency blood transfusion. She later found out that this was due to her having oesophageal varices, caused by cirrhosis.

A nurse, new on the ward from A & E, had automatically undertaken a pregnancy test which proved positive, Julie had no idea she was 3 weeks pregnant.

Following her discharge from hospital 5 days later, she has had one further bleed in June where she was readmitted for 4 days, has had several endoscopies (including banding of varices on one occasion) and has been advised not to work during the remainder of her pregnancy

Since then, Julie has had to re-evaluate her life completely, coming to terms with her illness , having had a near death experience, being pregnant, together with not being able to work. She heavily praises the commitment and brilliance of the NHS staff and the support they have given her.. Julie is now on betablockers to help prevent further bleeds as her pregnancy progresses.

Julie says she feels and looks the healthiest she has been for years at the moment, mainly due to pregnancy hormones and her thyroid medication being stabilised, The betablockers do make her feel tired and restrict her activities though.

It is thought that if the disease is autoimmune, that it may be in recession whilst she is pregnant but will resume after the birth. The baby is due in November but the plan is to deliver by caesarean section before 36 weeks (mid October) at a hospital with a larger liver unit than her local one.

After that she will be able to undergo more tests to discover the cause of the cirrhosis and there is a possibility she may need a transplant in the future.

Julie is keen to tell her story to raise awareness of the rarity of women her age developing liver disease where alcohol is not the cause and especially becoming pregnant with it. She is also hoping that someone may read this who knows of a similar case and get in touch given that there is limited information available to her as her medical professionals have never come dealt with a case in these circumstances.

If you have been through a similar experience and would like to get in touch with Julie, please contact her via Sarah Matthews at the British Liver Trust by email: sarah.matthews@britishlivertrust.org.uk or call 01425 481320.