The life-changing decision that could transform Sarah Joyce’s life

SARAH Joyce had what she thought was a cold but her symptoms took a dramatic turn. Doctors said she’d be dead within 48 hours.

THE day Sarah Joyce got sick, she thought she just had a head cold.

But after the 32-year-old started vomiting and burning up with fever, she knew something wasn’t right.

“I kept saying to Mum and Dad, ‘I feel infected.’ It wasn’t like any other cold I’ve ever had. That feeling of infection, it’s so difficult to describe.”

Sarah was taken to Gosford Hospital with extreme flu symptoms in August 2016 and was diagnosed with one of the most deadly strains of meningococcal disease.

“I wasn’t expected to live. Within 12 hours, I was on life support and my family was told I wouldn’t make it through the next 48 hours,” she told news.com.au.

Sarah Joyce almost died of Meningococcal disease.

Just six months before, Sarah had started a new job, travelling around Australia and educating aged care facilities about government funding.

“It was my dream job and I was in it for six months and that’s when I got sick,” she said.

Her adventurous lifestyle was cut short as Sarah woke up in hospital to a very different reality — eight days after being put on life support.

“It changed my life. They had amputated fingers and toes, I lost my spleen, my gall bladder and 80 per cent of my bowel,” she said.

“I had complete kidney failure and I’ve had ongoing issues.

“I went from being an independent 30-year-old travelling around Australia for work, to being completely dependent and living with my parents.”

Sarah lost three fingers and six toes. She has an ileostomy bag to collect food waste that her body produces. It was originally expected to be temporary, may now be permanent because of complications.

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Sarah Joyce almost died of Meningococcal disease.

In total, Sarah was in intensive care for two months and was in hospital for a further three months.

“For pretty much the last two years I have been in and out of hospital for different reasons. I’ve had 21 operations,” she said.

The Central Coast woman was put on the waiting list for a kidney transplant last year but was taken off after a couple of months because she wasn’t healthy enough to undergo the procedure.

“For me it’s an uphill battle,” she said. “Every time I’m unwell I get taken off the list. I’m constantly testing to get on the list — for things like bone density, skin condition, blood vessels, diabetes and heart function.”

But Sarah is determined to get as well as possible so that she can have the transplant.

At the moment, Sarah has to have dialysis twice a week and each session takes five hours. She will continue to do this until she finds a kidney match.

“Both my parents went through all the testing to be possible live donors but they weren’t suitable,” she said.

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For now Sarah dreams of the day when she can regain some of her independence.

“It will give me a sense of normalcy back because — being my age, to be dependent on a machine, to sit there and be tied to a machine — it’s not a nice thing to go through,” she said.

“Other people go to work; I have to go to dialysis. If I got a kidney donation I could do more things, like travel overseas once I get better.

“Ultimately I would like to get a kidney transplant so I can get on with my life.”

In Australia, people generally wait between six months to four years for an organ transplant, in some cases it can take even longer.

More than 3000 Australians got placed on the list for a transplant in 2016, but just 48 per cent (1488 patients) received an organ. Sadly, 35 people died while waiting on the list.

Sarah said she thought more people would sign up to be an organ donor if they knew how simple it was.

“It literally takes a minute with your Medicare card to register,” she said.

“I don’t think people realise how simple it is to sign up and the amount of lives they can potentially save by doing that.”

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