After being told she only had a few days left to live, Zenta Kronitis received a call that would give her a second chance at life.
According to The Advertiser, Ms Kronitis was diagnosed with chronic liver failure in 2018. The 55-year-old ICU nurse was added to a transplant list in 2021, only to shortly be taken off it after being told she was too sick to receive a transplant.
“I was in shock,” Ms Kronitis told The Advertiser.
“If I’m not on the list why are they doing all of this? I was on crazy treatments and medications and dialysis… I probably had 30 blood transfusions.”
After being in hospital for weeks, Ms Kronitis developed critical illness weakness, lost muscle and was then left unable to move. The nurse said medical professionals “brought her back from the brink” several times.
She received extensive treatment at Flinders Medical Centre, and after three weeks, she was put back on the transplant list as she was told she may not survive otherwise.
Despite being back on the transplant waitlist, Ms Kronitis had to accept that she may not survive in the meantime and began to plan her own funeral.
Ms Kronitis received a call in mid 2021 at 10 pm on a Friday night which confirmed that a donor liver was available. She was booked into surgery the following morning.
“I was completely startled because… I spent (time) planning my funeral,” she told The Advertiser. “Waking up, I was just delighted to be alive.”
After having surgery, although the road to recovery was not easy, Ms Kronitis said she was thankful for her donor and her donor’s family which saved her.
Source: The Advertiser.
