Bre's Search for a Sliver of your Liver

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Bre's Search for a Sliver of your Liver

Searching for a type O (+/-) Live Liver Donor. Liver donation
Transplant

I have Primary Biliary Cholangitis or PBC a rare autoimmune disease that shrinks the bile duct’s in the liver eventually scarring it until cirrhosis. ❤️GoFundMe:: https://gofund.me/2b9d90e9 Thank You❤️

09/27/2025

⏳ Three Weeks in the Hospital

Time feels like a blur. I’ve now been in the hospital almost three weeks. Between trying to purchase healthier meals (since the hospital food isn’t enough), undergoing painful procedures like paracentesis to drain fluid, and the costs piling up... it’s overwhelming.

My mom has been driving back and forth from out of town to be here with me, spending money on gas and the ridiculously expensive parking at HSC (which honestly should be reimbursed automatically when someone is this sick). It all adds up so fast, and this is even before I head to Toronto for transplant care.

💚 If you’re able, our family could really use your support right now. Whether it’s through my GoFundMe or by ordering from the Christmas fundraiser, every bit helps more than you know. Your love and support keep me going through the hardest days.

Miigwech. 🙏

09/27/2025

The Unspoken Truth About Ascites

Most posts about ascites sound clinical: “fluid buildup in the abdomen” and “paracentesis to drain it.”
But here’s the truth no one talks about:

Three days ago, I had 4 liters of fluid drained from my abdomen. They call it paracentesis...I call it survival. And even now, days later, I’m still leaking about a liter a day into a colostomy bag. Nobody prepares you for this part. Nobody tells you what it feels like to see your own body’s fluid draining out, hour after hour, just so you can breathe, walk, or eat again.

🩸 The Reality of Paracentesis
A large needle goes into your swollen belly. You stay still while they drain bag after bag of fluid.

The relief is instant but temporary. In days or weeks, the fluid returns.

Even after the procedure, the puncture site can leak. Sometimes for days... leaving you tethered to bags you never imagined you’d wear.

Your skin aches, your dignity aches, your spirit aches.

🌿 My Life Right Now

My PICC line, the very line that’s supposed to deliver my meds and blood drawn, has stopped working. We don’t know why. We’re waiting on the head nurse to figure out the next plan. Life with end-stage liver disease is like that: constant waiting, constant changes, constant fear. But more like Disney where you get excomited ruin all the way to the ride u want to go on...then wait 3 5 hrs in line. Hah

I don’t wish this on anyone. Not even on myself. If the Creator is testing me, I feel like I’ve learned every lesson there is. I just want to move on, get healthy, and use my life to help someone else.

⚠️ Why This Matters

This isn’t just about me. This is what thousands of people with advanced liver disease live through. The swollen bellies, the needles, the leaking, the bags, the endless hospital visits, the fear. It’s a reality that most never see.

The only true way out of this cycle for people like me is a liver transplant. Every story told, every bit of awareness raised, every donor registered brings us closer to that miracle.

💚 If you’re reading this, please — learn about organ donation. Share this post. You never know who might be saved.

09/26/2025

Manitoba’s online donor registry now holds the donation decisions of more than 73,000 Manitobans. Be counted! If you are still carrying a paper donor card, it is time to upgrade. Registering online means your decision is recorded and can be accessed by the Gift of Life team and shared with loved ones if that information is ever needed.

Registering online using www.signupforlife.ca and talking with those close to you about your decision are the best ways to make your final wishes known. All it takes is two minutes online and three pieces of information – name, birthdate and nine-digit Manitoba Health card number.

09/25/2025

Apparently my abdomen thought it was a 5-liter storage tank.
Newsflash, body: you’re not a water cooler. 🙃💦

That’s called ascites, when fluid builds up in the peritoneal cavity (the space around your organs). It happens a lot with liver disease, cancer, or infection.

So they send me in for a paracentesis — basically, a giant needle + tube to drain the flood. And just like that, five liters gone. That’s more than an extra-large pop bottle! 🥤😂

Relief? Yes. Glamorous? Not even close.
But hey, it’s better than feeling like I’m smuggling a fish tank under my shirt. 🐠”

09/25/2025

🌿 Understanding Paracentesis: Why This Procedure Matters

When your abdomen swells due to ascites a buildup of fluid in the somach cavity it can cause severe discomfort, pressure, pain, and even shortness of breath. This fluid is often linked to serious health conditions such as liver cirrhosis, portal hypertension, infection, cancer, or organ failure.

👉 Without ascites: the abdomen has its natural contour, and organs function with ease.
👉 With ascites: the abdomen becomes distended, sometimes painfully so..like 9 months pregnant. This is when a procedure called paracentesis can bring both relief and answers.

🔬 What is Paracentesis?

Paracentesis is a safe, minimally invasive procedure where a healthcare provider uses a needle and catheter to drain fluid from your abdomen. This fluid can be:

🔹️Tested diagnostically (to identify infection, cancer, or organ failure).
🔹️Drained therapeutically (to relieve painful symptoms like bloating, constipation, or breathing difficulty).
🔹️Removing even 5 liters of fluid can drastically improve comfort and restore quality of life.

🩺 Why It’s Done

Paracentesis is performed when:
🔹️Diuretics (water pills) or a low-sodium diet no longer control fluid buildup
🔹️A provider needs to confirm the cause of ascites (such as liver disease, infection, or cancer).
🔹️Immediate relief is needed from abdominal pain, pressure, or shortness of breath.

💡 The Benefits

🔹️Relieves symptoms: Pressure, discomfort, and difficulty breathing are often eased right away.
🔹️Guides treatment: Lab tests on drained fluid can pinpoint infections or cancer.
🔹️Saves lives: Studies show that patients with cirrhosis and ascites live longer and receive life-saving antibiotics sooner when paracentesis is performed.

⚠️ Risks and Recovery
While complications are rare, risks include infection, bleeding, or fluid leakage. Most patients recover within 24–48 hours with proper wound care and dietary support. In recurrent cases, a tunneled peritoneal drainage catheter may be placed for long-term fluid management at home.

🌟 Why this matters:
Paracentesis is more than a procedure—it’s often a turning point for patients living with advanced illness

09/25/2025

⚠️ What End-Stage Liver Disease Really Looks Like

Most people don’t understand end-stage liver disease. They think it’s just “a bad liver.” They don’t see the exhaustion, the pain, or the way it steals joy out of life minute by minute.

Here’s the reality

👀 Signs & Symptoms

On the Outside:
🔹️Swollen belly full of fluid (ascites).
🔹️Yellow skin and eyes (jaundice).
🔹️Frail arms and legs, but bloated torso.
🔹️Itchy, cracked skin that never finds relief.

On the Inside:
🔹️Hepatic encephalopathy (HE): confusion, brain fog, changes in personality.
🔹️No appetite: food tastes like cardboard, nausea is constant.
🔹️Bone-deep fatigue: no energy to get out of bed, walk, or laugh.
🔹️Pain: from bloating, swelling, and procedures.
🔹️Isolation: missing birthdays, concerts, festivals, life itself.

🧠 The Emotional & Attitude Changes

This disease changes who you are:

🔹️Sharp, irritable, or withdrawn (not because we want to, but because our brain is poisoned by toxins our liver can’t clear).
🔹️Losing interest in once-loved things.

🔹️Fear and anxiety about “the call” that may never come.
🔹️Embarrassment about how different we look or how dependent we’ve become.

⚕️ Treatments (Temporary Relief)

🔹️Paracentesis: draining liters of fluid from the abdomen. Relief for days, then it comes back. Ive done 2 procedures so far this weeek)
🔹️Diuretics: “water pills” that reduce fluid but cause cramps, dehydration, kidney failure
🔹️Lactulose & rifaximin: flush toxins to keep the brain clearer, but bring their own side effects.
🔹️Low sodium diet: no flavor, no freedom in food.
🔹️Hospital visits: constant monitoring, bloodwork, emergencies.

These treatments don’t cure. They just keep you alive long enough to hopefully get a transplant.

💔 The Harshest Truth

What if there isn’t a liver for you?
This is the part no one wants to say out loud:

♦️You are tired of the ascites, the paracentesis needles, the yellow skin, the endless medications.
♦️You are tired of surviving instead of living.
♦️Because this middle place....too sick to live fully, not sick “enough” to be gone.. isn’t living. It’s surviving. Surviving alone.

For many, transplant is the only true way.

09/22/2025

DFS products are Canadian-based → support local 💚

Over 40 years of trusted fundraising 🎉

🛍️ Why It’s Good to Shop Local

❤️Keeps money in our community 💵.
❤️Supports real families, not just corporations.
❤️You get quality products and know your purchase is doing good.

Builds connection—you’re not just a customer, you’re a supporter.

www.dfscanada.com/shop-now/?participant_code=0045188

✨ I’m already excited for my holiday haul that i just purchased...who’s joining me? Let’s make this fundraiser unforgettable!

#

09/22/2025

🎄✨ Prepare for Christmas Fundraiser! ✨🎄
is officially LIVE! 🚀 yayy!!!

This year, you don’t even need to leave your couch to shop for Christmas 🎁. Thanks to DFS Fundraising, you can order high-quality gift wrap, treats, and holiday goodies right from your phone or laptop-YES, even from bed in your PJs.

And here’s the best part:
💝 Every single purchase directly supports my journey as I prepare for a second liver transplant. The funds raised will go towards critical travel costs, medications, accommodations, and transfers for myself and my family. These expenses add up quickly, and even the smallest purchase makes a huuuuge difference.

This isn’t just shopping, it’s shopping with PURPOSE.

Direct shipping to your house after 150$ spent

Think of it this way:
✔️ You save money & stress by getting your Christmas shopping done early.
✔️ You get beautiful, top-quality DFS products that make wrapping & gifting so much easier.
✔️ You’re giving my family the chance to keep fighting during this challenging time.

🌟 BONUS: You’ll even get to see me when you pick up your orders—so it’s truly a win-win!

🗓️ Deadline to order: November 8, 2025

💥💥💥💥📍 Shop here: 💥💥💥💥

www.dfscanada.com/shop-now/?participant_code=0045188
💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

📱 Or just scan the QR code in the poster

⚠️ For now, I don’t think it’s feasible to ship to the USA because of tariffs—but I’ll look into it tomorrow and update.

✨ I’m already excited for my holiday haul-who’s joining me? Let’s make this fundraiser unforgettable!

09/22/2025

💚 The Hidden Damage

Organ damage doesn’t always scream for attention. It doesn’t always show up in obvious ways, or in ways doctors are quick to believe.

For years, I begged for answers. I was exhausted, in pain, itchy, and foggy, but instead of investigating deeper, I was brushed off with the same line over and over: “Just lose some weight. Go for a walk.”
Imagine how that feels: to know something is wrong inside your body, but to be dismissed, minimized, even laughed off.

Here’s the reality: organ damage is often hidden until it’s advanced.

🧪 Why Organ Damage Hides

Liver disease (like PBC): Early stages often show only vague symptoms: fatigue, mild nausea, itchy skin. These overlap with dozens of “common” problems.

Kidney disease: May not cause noticeable symptoms until kidney function drops below 20%.

Heart disease: Can progress silently, only showing up as chest pain or shortness of breath later.
By the time many of us are taken seriously, irreversible damage has already been done.

⚠️ My Story

When I was finally diagnosed with Primary Biliary Cholangitis, I was already in stage 3. My liver had been slowly scarring for years while I was told to “just try harder” instead of being tested. That delay cost me precious time - time when medications might have slowed the progression.

🌿 The Cost of Being Ignored

🔹️Patients lose trust in the medical system.
🔹️Families watch their loved one deteriorate without answers.
🔹️People like me end up in transplant programs, not because it had to happen so fast, but because we weren’t listened to when it could have mattered most.

💚 Why Awareness Matters

Organ damage can be silent, but it isn’t invisible if you listen. Exhaustion, unexplained pain, brain fog...these are not “just stress” or “just weight.” They can be warning signs.

To patients: Advocate for yourself. Ask for the bloodwork. Push for the ultrasound. Don’t accept dismissal when you know your body.
To doctors and loved ones: Believe us the first time. Take fatigue seriously. Run the test. It could mean the difference between a manageable condition and a life-threatening one.

✨ My hope is that by sharing this, someone else won’t have to fight for years to be heard. That the next person begging for answers will get tested instead of told to go for a walk. Because sometimes, what’s hidden is what matters most.

09/22/2025

💚 PBC Awareness Month: Why Liver Transplants Are Vital

🧪 First, the Basics

What is PBC?
Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) is a rare, chronic autoimmune liver disease. The immune system attacks the bile ducts inside the liver. Over time, this causes inflammation, scarring (fibrosis), cirrhosis, and eventually total liver failure.

What is a liver transplant?
A liver transplant is a surgery where a diseased liver is replaced with a healthy one from either:

💥A deceased donor (someone who chose to donate organs after death), or
💥A living donor (someone who gives a portion of their liver which then regenerates).

🔄 Why Transplants Are Vital

🔹️Healthy Liver → performs 500+ vital jobs: filters toxins, makes bile, stores nutrients, regulates blood.
🔹️PBC Attacks Bile Ducts → bile can’t flow, toxins and acids build up.
🔹️Fibrosis (Scarring) → liver becomes stiff, struggles to do its jobs.
🔹️ Cirrhosis (Severe Scarring) → blood flow blocked, complications: ascites, bleeding varices, hepatic encephalopathy.
🔹️ Liver Failure → body can no longer survive without intervention.
🔹️ Transplant Needed → the only true “cure” for PBC once the liver is too far gone. However PBC will always still be in your blood the transplant is more buying you times with your friends family and pets.

💔 Why This Matters to Me
I was diagnosed young @30 years old. They told me medication would help, that I’d never need a transplant. Here I am. 4 years later, my liver is in full rejection. I’m dying a little more each day, waiting for the one call that could save me.

What does that look like?

⭕️My belly swollen with fluid (ascites) until it hurts to breathe.
⭕️My skin itching so badly I want to crawl out of it.
⭕️Brain fog and confusion from toxins reaching my brain.
⭕️Hospital stays, paracentesis drains, endless medications.
⭕️A phone on my nightstand, every night, in case “the call” comes.

And yet… I still wait. I miss music festivals. I miss freedom. I miss living like I used to. All because I can’t leave Winnipeg in case that call comes to rush me to Toronto or Edmonton — Canada’s only adult liver transplant centers.

🌿 The Emotional Truth

A transplant isn’t a choice for me. It’s not an “option.” It’s my only chance. Without it, my time runs out. For those with PBC, a transplant means:

⭕️A chance to see their kids grow up.
⭕️A chance to laugh without pain.
⭕️A chance to stop living on a clock and start dreaming again.

For me, it means maybe getting back to festivals, to music, to life. It means getting to write posts not about dying, but about surviving Its about gbeing able to work as Cpp Disabiliy barly covers rent met alone food meds and entertainment.

✨ Why Awareness Saves Lives

Most people don’t know what PBC is. Most don’t know that organ donation and living donation are the only reasons people like me get another tomorrow. By talking about this - by sharing - you might inspire someone to register as a donor, or even consider living donation.

💚 Because here’s the truth: awareness isn’t just education. It’s life. For me. For thousands. For tomorrow.

Healthy Liver → PBC → Cirrhosis → Failure → Transplant

Please support finically if you in the link in the bio. Or share this post which free to do and willmaybe help the next person.

09/22/2025

💚 Awareness Saves Lives

✨️In General:
Awareness is not just a hashtag. It’s how information spreads, how stigma breaks, how people learn the signs before it’s too late. Think about it: how many diseases did you only learn about because someone shared a story, a post, or a conversation? Awareness is the first medicine.

✨️In a Spiritual Sense:
When you speak a word, you give it life. When you carry knowledge, you carry light. Every time someone tells a friend, a coworker, or a stranger about organ donation, liver health, or rare diseases like PBC that light spreads. Awareness creates ripples. Those ripples become waves. And waves save lives.

✨️For PBC:
Primary Biliary Cholangitis is rare. Most people have never even heard of it. That’s the problem. People go undiagnosed for years because it’s mistaken for something else. By the time doctors realize, it’s too late. But if more people know the name, know the signs, and know the impact — then early diagnosis happens. Lives get longer. Transplants happen sooner.

✨️For Me:
Awareness is not abstract. It’s my lifeline. Every single share of my story might connect me to a donor. Every person who hears the word “PBC” might tell someone tomorrow. And maybe that “someone” becomes a living donor. Or maybe they register as an organ donor. Or maybe they simply stop scrolling when they see my name and remember: Bre’s still fighting.

✨ Here’s My Ask

Be that person. Share this. Tell one person tomorrow about PBC, liver disease, or organ donation. Point them to my page. Talk about what you learned.

Awareness doesn’t cost a cent. It doesn’t take more than a minute. But for me, it could mean the difference between life and death.

💚 Please — carry my story with you. Share it. Be the ripple. Save a life. Maybe mine.
If you’re reading this, you’re now part of my fight.

Please carry my story forward, most of the world dont know PBC exists. You do. Now tell someone else.
A stranger will save my life one day. You could be the reason we m

09/22/2025

💚 Living Donors: Real-Life Superheroes

Here’s the truth: living donors don’t just save lives… they completely rewrite someone’s future.

In 2021, my cousin became my hero. He quit every bad habit, started working out, and literally put his life on pause.. all for me😍. In surgery, he gave me 63% of his liver. Do you know how insane and miraculous that is? His liver grew back in 10 weeks. Ten. Weeks. He went back to living and creating a family, and I got the gift of more time. That “chunk” of him became the only reason I’m here writing this now.

And I thought that was it, that I was SAFE, that my transplant story was finished. But life doesn’t always follow the script. My liver is now in full rejection, and I am once again waiting, praying, and fighting.

🩺 How Living Donation Works

❤️The liver is the only organ that can regenerate
❤️ A donor gives up to 70%, and both livers regrow.
❤️Surgery is major, but donors are supported every step of the way.
❤️Recovery: usually 6–12 weeks before being back to normal routines.
❤️Donors don’t lose anything. They gain the knowledge that they saved someone’s life.

🇨🇦 How to Apply in Canada

In Toronto (UHN):
Visit: uhn.ca/transplant

Fill out the living donor questionnaire.
A coordinator contacts you for next steps.

In Edmonton (Alberta Health):
Visit: myhealth.alberta.ca → search living liver donation.
Complete the online form or call the University of Alberta Hospital Transplant Program.

Other countries:
USA: Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins.
UK: NHS Organ Donation.
Australia: donatelife.gov.au.

Wherever you are: Google “living liver donation program + your country”. Every application starts online.

⚠️ Risks & Reality

Don’t get me wrong — this is serious surgery. Donors face:

🔹️6–12 weeks off work.
🔹️Risks of infection, pain, and recovery challenges.
🔹️Emotional ups and downs.

But every program screens donors carefully to make sure they’re physically and emotionally ready. You’re never pushed, always protected.

💔 Why I’m Asking Again

I wouldn’t be here without my cousin’s sacrifice. I carry his gift with me EVERY SINGLE DAY. But rejection has left me back at square one... waiting for another miracle.

Address

Winnipeg, MB

Website

https://gofund.me/4efe15b2

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MY PLEA

I am currently searching for a Live Liver Donor. I have Primary Biliary Cholangitis or PBC. It’s a rare autoimmune disease that shrinks the bile duct’s in the liver, eventually scarring it and developing cirrhosis. The symptoms are debilitating, I suffer with pruritus which is relentless severe itching of the skin, hair loss, chronic fatigue, joint pain, muscle loss, dental issues, eye issues and blurred vision, severe dry skin, intolerant to many fabrics and also to water or moisture. Skin discoloration and jaundice. This illness destroyed my quality of life, it has robbed me of being a daughter, a sister, friend, a partner and a human.

Some good news was given Nov 18,2020 I was told that I still have the opportunity to find a live donor as I would benefit and have a much higher survival rate than waiting possibly many years for a cadaver liver. I am O+ blood type and would need any O blood type match. The transplant would take place in Toronto, Ontario.

How to apply and information are available here. Please apply to see if you are my hero! Thank you.