Megan McGillin diagnosed at age 10

A medical student who was told at the age of 10 that he had an alcoholic liver disease has said rowing has delayed his need for a liver transplant.

Megan McGillin, from Northern Ireland, was diagnosed with cirrhosis, or liver scarring disease, in which the liver no longer functions properly 11 years ago.

Liver disease in children is rare.

The liver specialist said staying healthy plays a “key role in keeping the liver in a stable condition”.

Cirrhosis cannot be cured or reversed, and many liver diseases that cause cirrhosis in children cannot be prevented.

In the case of the County Down woman, doctors said they do not know how she contracted the infection, but the damage could eventually become so severe that her liver shuts down and fails. are.

”[Doctors] When I was diagnosed, I was initially told I would have a transplant at 18, but I stayed healthy,” Megan said.

“Then, when I was 16 or 17, I was told explicitly that I would need a transplant by the age of 21.

“When I turned 21 in November, I didn’t get my transplant on my birthday.

“I just kept pushing through and now they're taking away all the timelines.”

Liver disease, such as cirrhosis, can also cause portal hypertension, which can cause an enlarged spleen.

For Megan, this meant having to give up contact sports, which were “important” to her.

She then became interested in rowing and rowed for several years on the Irish High Performance Team while in school.

The Bangor woman said it kept her healthy, saying: “I struggled, but it was a high-intensity sport, so I always trained and took care of myself on the inside, so here I am. I think I’ve been able to stay healthy for many years.”

She believes that by staying healthy, she has been able to maintain her liver's function over a long period of time.

Dr Girish Gupte, Consultant Pediatric Hepatologist at Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital, travels to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children six times a year.

“Children's liver disease is so rare that the majority of the population may have never heard of children suffering from chronic liver disease,” he said.

“The incidence of liver disease varies from 1 in 10,000 within the UK population to 1 in 1 million for other liver diseases.”

Dr. Gupte said that while cases of chronic liver disease have increased in recent decades due in part to advances in testing, he also feels that environmental factors and lifestyle are contributing to the rise in liver disease in children. Ta.

“Not all children with liver disease will need a liver transplant,” he says.

“Most of these symptoms can be managed with proper treatment and a healthy lifestyle,” he added.

“However, in some children, liver disease progresses to end-stage liver disease, and these children require a liver transplant during childhood and perhaps even into adulthood,” he said.

“Staying healthy, eating a healthy diet, and preventing fat accumulation in the liver with a healthy diet will help keep your liver stable in the long term and help delay or avoid liver problems.” I think it will play an important role in “transplantation.” ”

Cirrhosis is often thought of as a disease caused by long-term alcohol abuse.

Although this can be a factor in adults, cirrhosis in children is often caused by a variety of liver diseases.

Doctors explained the severity of Megan's symptoms and told her she had “alcoholic liver disease,” but at 10 years old that didn't make sense.

“My mother was appalled at the thought of a doctor telling me I had an alcoholic liver, as I had obviously never drank alcohol before,” she told BBC News NI. Ta.

“This just shows a correlation between people having liver disease and the belief that it comes from alcoholism,” she added.

The 21-year-old has never drank alcohol and has no intention of drinking because of the effects it has on his liver.

Megan said when she tells people she doesn't drink alcohol because she has liver disease, she gets mixed reactions.

One of the reactions she hates is when people say, “What the hell did you do? What did you do when you were younger? When did you start drinking? Or is there something wrong with alcohol or drugs?'' What happened to my liver?”

The medical student said this provides an “opportunity to educate some people that having liver disease does not necessarily correlate with drinking or alcohol abuse.”

She said it was “scary” to be diagnosed, but she knew she could live with the disease, albeit with limitations, as it causes extreme fatigue.

“On the outside, I look normal and do normal things,” she said.

“Now, what I call my normal is different from my colleagues' normal. I have to set limits for myself, about what I can and cannot do.

“It's mainly about managing your energy levels.”

Although she is optimistic about the future, she said that with liver disease, “you really can't make plans.”

“You could wake up tomorrow and your skin will be completely yellow and jaundiced. Then you'll know your liver is starting to fail,” she said.

“Ultimately, it will be a transplant.

“It could be tomorrow, it could be next week, it could be in five years, it could be in 10 years. I don't know,” she said.

Megan said she wouldn't hesitate if the time came: “It's really amazing to be allowed the opportunity to receive an organ from someone else.”

She added: 'Organ donation truly saves lives, but it can still be a scary decision to make because you don't know what will happen.

“It's a major surgery, so we don't know if you'll feel sick, if your body will accept it, or if you'll get any secondary illnesses or infections after the surgery.

“My liver itself is functioning.

“We’re not at full capacity, but whatever we’re doing, we’re doing the right thing.

“You have to wait until your liver functions reach a certain level, otherwise your condition will affect your lifestyle and make you very unwell. But my biological The longer the liver, the liver I was born with, stays in me, the better.”