Moot learner living with rejected liver ‘doing well’
Nialize Pienaar (11), a Grade-6 learner at Laerskool Pierneef, was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis back in April 2016.
A Moot learner living with a rejected liver is doing well.
Nialize Pienaar (11), a grade 6 learner at Laerskool Pierneef, was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis and had a liver transplant in April 2016, but her body had rejected it.
The disease results in the immune system attacking the liver causing it to be inflamed.
Her mother, Susan told Rekord this week that, medically, her daughter was “doing well”.
“Last Thursday, Nialize had a Snoezelen session in Sandton,” she said.
She said a Snoezelen was a therapy session for people with autism and other developmental disabilities, dementia or brain injury.
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She said the patient was placed in a soothing and stimulating environment or “Snoezelen room”.
Susan said Nialize would return to the doctor early next month, for a medical check-up.
“During the check-up, the doctor would determine if her enlarged tonsils would have to be removed.”
The young girl also had to maintain a prescribed weight.
“We are hard at work keeping Nialize at the correct weight. Just the other day, we had a walk with her at the zoo.”
Susan said although the family was managing and that fundraisers were of help, finances remained a problem.
A walk was held at Farm Inn last week to raise funds for medical costs, and a Backabuddy fundraising page had also been opened in an to raise funds for the family.
“The medical aid does not cover all of her medical expenses, which places a heavy burden on the family,” she said.
Susan said Nialize needed to have a monthly medical check-up and blood tests, sometimes every two weeks.
“This will be a lifelong routine without the possibility of another transplant in future,” she said.
“According to the doctors she is doing really well and does not need a [another] liver transplant for now,” Susan said.
“We must just be very careful.”
Previously, Rekord reported that Nialize was taken to hospital in 2016 after her mother realised that there was something wrong with her.
Nialize started getting a “yellowish glow”.
“We could not figure out exactly what was wrong. She was first diagnosed with normal hepatitis,” Susan had said adding that she had then been referred to Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Johannesburg for a biopsy.
“It was then that we found out that she actually had autoimmune hepatitis.”
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