Faces of the Games
BETH HOUSER, 32
Ridgefield, Washington
In the fall of 2002, while driving from her home in Washington State to California, Beth Houser picked up some herbal supplements to help her stay awake. "Since it said herbal, I thought it would be okay," recalls Beth. Within a week of taking the pills, she noticed that her urine had a dark orange tinge. After a few weeks, she began to feel tired and her skin and eyes turned yellow. Doctors first suspected hepatitis. However, tests came back negative. Beth eventually became so sick that she was admitted to the hospital. It was her 30th birthday and Beth was in liver failure.
Soon her lungs collapsed, her kidneys shut down and she was placed on life support. While doctors tried to save her life, they told her family to consider making funeral arrangements. Medications and constant monitoring helped to bring Beth's numbers into a range where she could be considered for a liver transplant, which she received just in time. After five weeks in the hospital, she returned home where she had to relearn basic tasks such as walking, writing and feeding herself. Today, Beth has fully recovered. Active and energetic, she works in the winery that she and her husband own. Looking at her darting about, talking to workers and customers, it's hard to believe she has survived a major medical crisis.
Last summer, Beth competed in the 5K Road Race for Organ and Tissue Donation and 1500 meter run at the National Kidney Foundation 2004 U.S. Transplant Games, a feat she never dreamed possible. There, alongside thousands of other transplant recipients and their families, she celebrated her recovery, renewed health and the gift of life. She is looking forward to experiencing that “high” once again at the 2006 Transplant Games this June in Louisville.
