Jenna Valle, a senior at Manheim Central High School at the Manheim Twp. Library in Lancaster on Friday, June 9, 2017.
Courtesy of Vinny Tennis, La Voz Lancaster.
When Jenna Valle was born, the doctors knew something was wrong. They just did not know what that something was.
After two weeks of tests, doctors discovered benign tumors on Jenna’s liver. Steroids minimized the tumors, but the resulting scar tissue altered the flow of her blood. A corrective surgery sent the newborn into complete liver failure.
“They only really gave her a week,” remembers Jenna’s mother, Tina. “She had very limited time to find an organ and was immediately bumped to the top of the waiting list.”
Tina and her husband, Mitch, of Manheim, whose family comes from Spain, could not donate because of their blood types. Fortunately, Jenna matched a liver 24 hours after being placed on the list, had the transplant surgery at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del., and returned home to Lancaster within three months.
“She never truly rejected the liver which is really a blessing and kind of unheard of,” explains Tina. “Her body accepted it phenomenally well.”
Aside from minimal medications and yearly checkups, Jenna leads a life unhindered by her childhood medical scare. The 17-year-old just finished her junior year at Manheim Central High School. She works at the Manheim Twin Kiss restaurant to save up for a car. Jenna likes to stay active and has competed in the Transplant Games of America alongside other recipients and donors for nearly 10 years.
Read more about Jenna’s transplant journey in the full article here.