‘She has a better chance’: Nebraska girl with two rare conditions gets liver transplant

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Lancaster County girl is recovering in the hospital on Friday after a critical liver transplant.

Jessie Roush, 11, of Martell said her family found out it was time for a transplant last weekend.

She grabbed her Mickey Mouse stuffed animal and “just started bawling my eyes out in his face.”

Roush was recently diagnosed with two rare conditions that were causing her liver to shut down.

She has autoimmune hepatitis, which is when the body attacks the liver.

And she has another disease that affects the bile ducts in and around her liver.

SEE ALSO: ‘It’s a lot of risk, and it’s scary’: 11-year-old Nebraska girl waits for liver transplant

But after a few weeks of waiting on the transplant list, the Roush family got the call about a potential match for Jessie.

Her family rushed her to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and by Sunday night, Jessie was recovering from surgery.

She has weeks of testing and close monitoring ahead of her.

“She’ll have to do blood draws every day for a couple weeks to make sure that everything is going to be OK,” said Julia Roush, Jessie’s mom. “Then, after that, we will be able to go home and do not as frequent blood draws, probably twice a week.”

Within the year, Jessie will be mostly able to go back to normal life.

She said she’s already feeling much better with her new liver.

And her mom got emotional as she thought back on the difficult past few months.

“She’ll always have to be careful, and there’s certain steps we’ll have to do for the rest of her life, but the fact that she has a better chance is wonderful,” Julia Roush said.

As her mother teared up, Jessie joked with her.

“You’re going to cry again?” she said.

One of the bright spots for the family has been the community support.

People in their area have rallied behind the Roushes.

“It’s just been a blessing to know there are so many people out there who are praying for us, and caring for us and are going above and beyond the call of duty,” Julia Roush said.