Karen Hoyt is a blogger who has a story about hepatitis C, cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, liver cancer, and liver transplantation. This excerpt first appeared on Karen’s I Help C blog.

After my liver decompensated, I fixated on the death sentence. However down some back street of my mind, I kept thinking that life couldn’t be over. I was mad, and determined to make it. I didn’t know how that would look since I was uninsured, yellow, swollen, and brain fogged. Some called it denial. It was part of my attitude with Hep C, and when I got a liver tumor that turned out to be HCC liver cancer,  I looked in forums for friends and advice. My avatar was a ninja warrior with with liver disease and I share my Ninja Skills below.

I was too sick to walk around the block, but inside, I felt I could do anything.  In my mind, I was a Ninja. I’m not talking about the Teenage Mutant kind, although I did dress like Donatello one time. (story later) That story actually says about my personality. First, I love life. Second, using creativity  makes life worthwhile. Third, and most important, I don’t really care what others think when I’m pursuing of the joy of living.

Cowabunga Dude
After my diagnosis, I knew that if I were going to survive, life would be lived “all out no holds barred”. I would raise my head in a ninja-like pose standing on the oriental rug in the living room. Folding my body into yoga poses stirred me awake. The tension in my muscles matched the tension in my hepatic encephalopathy brain foggy mind.

Click here to read the rest of this blog and find out how Karen became a ninja warrior with liver disease.