by Jane McCabe
Victoria Threshie of Truckee, California is about to celebrate her first year with a new liver. She is recovering beautifully after a transplant operation at Stanford University Hospital last May. "We were visiting my grandmother in Sacramento and I got sick and they had to airlift me in a helicopter," she reported recently. Since the operation, Victoria has gained nearly 30 pounds and has incredible energy, but she is still working on clearing up a post-op lung infection. "It’s gotten a lot better," she said.
This 13-year old likes to hang out with her friends and has lined up two summer jobs: filing for her dad’s office and helping out in a neighbor’s store. She starts high school in the fall. Her long-term life goals include going to college, getting married and having a family, learning five languages, climbing El Capitan, and visiting the site of the sunken Titanic. These goals are among a list of twenty-four life goals Victoria has set for herself.
Sue and Craig Threshie, Victoria’s mom and Dad, report that Victoria’s typical CF gastrointestinal symptoms—failure to thrive, distended belly, and diabetes—were actually liver disease symptoms. Sue would like people to know that there is a CF liver disease. "I would advise people to ask their specialist to monitor their liver enzymes on a yearly basis," she said in a recent interview. "We call her our miracle kid," Sue said. "Even these kids don’t know how strong they are." Victoria’s parents are CFRI members and Tea Senders.