Bridget went to the emergency room the day before classes began. She was diagnosed with mononucleosis and a hernia. Instead of moving into a dorm room, she checked into the hospital, where she prepared for hernia surgery. Her fatigue continued, and the doctors remained puzzled. After a battery of tests that still left doctors in the dark, Bridget was moved to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where doctors discovered the underlying reason for her ill health—a rare disorder called Wilson's disease.

Wilson's disease had destroyed more than 85% of Bridget's liver, and the doctors told her she would need a transplant soon. Bridget was frightened. Due to the severity of her disease, she was placed on the UNOS waiting list immediately, and she went home to wait.

“I had a transplant within four days,” Bridget remembered. “I didn't have time to think about anything. I never thought it would happen to me—72 hours and everything's different.”

With the success of her transplant, Bridget was determined to get on with her life. The medical therapy Bridget received included Prograf, which helped her from rejecting her transplant. Bridget restarted classes at the University of Pittsburgh in January. Nevertheless, Bridget soon found herself feeling lost at the huge university.

“I think I was in complete shock for about a year or two,” she said. “I should have taken the time off to get completely healed. I believe that healing is spiritual and mental as well.”

Although her body was healed and her liver was doing well, Bridget suffered from spells of depression, and she felt alienated from other students. While accompanying her younger sister to a campus tour of Carlow College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Bridget discovered she preferred the environment of a smaller college and thus decided to enroll with her sister.

She credits three mentors at the college with helping her accept the turn her life had taken. Through therapy, she was able to cope with the anger she had buried—anger about being singled out by her illness and resentment for the lifestyle she would now have to maintain.

“Why do I have to have these scars? Why do I have to be different from everyone else?” Bridget wondered. “My whole life I've been trying to be like one of the crowd, but I'm not. Having this therapy and having five years go by has helped me get control and understand why I have these medicines and why I have these scars. And I feel really happily balanced.”

Now, Bridget works as a volunteer at the hospital where she received her transplant. She also serves on the speaker's bureau with the Center for Organ Recovery & Education, a not-for-profit organ procurement organization. Most of her speaking engagements involve college-aged students, with whom she discusses the transplant process and answers questions about common transplant-related myths.

At the transplant center, Bridget enjoys sharing her experience with other transplant recipients. “I love to go into people's rooms and go, ‘Hi, how are you this morning? I'm a transplantee, if you have any questions,'” Bridget said. “The despair that I felt, I don't want anyone else to feel. If I could answer somebody else's questions and not have to have them feel all those crazy feelings, I'm really happy that I can make somebody feel better about what's happening to them because it's really scary.”

Bridget and her mother both wrote thank you notes to the donor's family to express their gratitude. Now an adult, Bridget has a greater appreciation for the gift she received.

“I don't regret this happening to me at all,” she said. “It has given me so many opportunities and gifts and different viewpoints. I love each season change because I might never have seen that any more—especially spring, when all the flowers come.”

Prograf^® (tacrolimus capsules and injection) is approved for the prevention of rejection in patients who have received a liver or kidney transplant. Only physicians and facilities specializing in transplantation should manage patients taking Prograf. Anti-rejection medications may result in an increased possibility of developing an infection or lymphoma, a type of cancer.

In clinical studies, up to 20% of patients taking Prograf developed insulin dependent diabetes after transplant, but in some patients, after two years, insulin was no longer required. Black and Hispanic kidney transplant patients were at an increased risk.

Prograf has been associated with toxicity to the kidneys and nervous system. Common side effects are tremor, headache, high blood pressure, diarrhea, nausea and changes in kidney function.

Prograf should not be used in patients allergic to tacrolimus. Prograf injection should not be used in patients allergic to castor oil.

Prograf Prescribing Information
Prograf Patient Information
Prograf Safety Information

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