Hannah Brooks patiently waited for a liver transplant for a year, but you would never know it by watching her. The rising seventh-grader at Westside Middle was too busy playing outside, fishing, cooking, drawing, playing Wii or any one of a number of things that kept her mind off of what was going on inside of her.
Hannah was born with low blood sugar, but it wasn’t until three months later when she started vomiting violently, she was transferred to Children’s at Egleston where she was diagnosed with glycogen storage disease. This genetic condition causes an enzyme deficiency that either makes a person’s body unable to produce enough glucose or not able to use it as a source of energy.
Over the years, Hannah kept her condition under control through a careful diet. Doctors first mentioned a liver transplant a year ago, not because Hannah’s condition was worsening, but because the procedure could be done more easily now for patients with her condition.
In June, the Brooks family got the call that a donor liver was available. After seven hours of surgery, the transplant was declared a success.