The Weird Side Effects by Cecilia Jo (@scars.and.stuff/)
Cecilia-Joy Adamo, from Surrey, UK, revealed to her TikTok followers the impact her multiple surgeries have had, including three side effects that can be seen right outside her body.
It was reported in unilad that Cecilia, only 22 years old, had brain cancer, underwent a heart transplant and a kidney transplant and is using her social networks to share her medical journey, after being born with a complex heart defect (Atrioventricular Septal Defect with Left Atrial Isomerism)
in a particularly viral video She revealed three "super weird" side effects of her surgeries - she started by discovering her heart could be seen beating through her chest, then showed the bald spot on her scalp where hair never grew back after brain surgery and ended the video by explaining that her feet Unfortunately not moving due to nerve damage.
@scars.and.stuff So yeh that's me lol ?
#disabilitytiktok #disability #learnontiktok #BOSSMoves #ohno #weirdtok #foodie #bekind ♬ Oh No - Kreepa
Cecilia was born with a heart defect that caused the chambers on both sides of her heart to have holes.
After undergoing life-saving surgery when she was six months old and another at two years old, she managed to live a relatively normal childhood for six years.
However, in April 2010, Cecilia had to undergo another operation after her heart deteriorated and she ended up going into cardiac arrest.
Her heart failed and she had to be put on CPR before undergoing a heart transplant.
"My parents would come home every night not knowing if I would be alive the next morning. Several times they received a call from the hospital telling them they had to come, because I was close to the end," Cecilia said.
In September 2010, she underwent a 12-hour operation, but experienced another cardiac arrest.
While on life support for three months, she went into kidney failure and had to have a kidney transplant (which her mother donated) and surgery on her feet to walk again after experiencing nerve damage.
In 2014, she was diagnosed with two brain tumors, and two other tumors were later found in her spine.
The tumors were discovered as side effects of the drugs to suppress the immune system that she received for the past transplant.
While the tumors are thankfully now under control, Cecilia is left with quite a few scars, which she raises awareness of in her TikTok videos (@scars.and.stuff).
Cecilia can even see her heart beating above her skin.
"I think it's because when they put my heart in I was a tiny 11-year-old malnourished girl with the heart of a middle-aged man," she explained.
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(@thececiliajoy)
@scars.and.stuff TikTok this is a normal body don't take it down?
#JDSummerDrip #disablity #disabilitypride #scarstoyourbeautiful #scars #chronicillness #paralysis #medicine #factsaboutme #rappers #fyp ♬ Afraid To Feel - LF SYSTEM
@scars.and.stuff Oh yeh I am ??
#iamwoman #VansCheckerboardDay #SportsDirectNaughtyList #organdonation #disability #chronicillness #cancersurvivor #dayinmylife ♬ I AM WOMAN - EMMY MELÍ
She also wrote a letter to the family of her heart donor, who was a 45-year-old man, and his father replied.
"I got attention from this being, this character - but I learned his name, I learned about his family. He liked to collect things - which is strange because I've always collected things too. He collected stamps and when I was little I collected dolls," she said.
Her beating heart is a constant positive reminder for her to be alive, said Cecilia who hopes that by raising awareness through her videos more people will become organ donors.
She concluded: "It's really important that you tell your family about your wishes to donate organs and have this conversation with them, because if your parents say no - it can't happen."
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heart implant
organ donation