One cannot imagine Modern Family without the loved character of Haley Dunphy, Sarah Hyland has made a space for herself in every millennial's heart. However, her life has not been how it looks like in the TV show. The 28-year-old has had 16 surgeries in 27 years and four of which she had before the age of four as revealed in an interview with SELF. He has been a chronic condition- kidney dysplasia. She also has endometriosis and the journey has been a rocky one ever since for her. She has undergone two kidney transplants and a laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis. She also underwent a surgery to correct an abdominal hernia later in life. Endometriosis and Diet: What You Should and Shouldn’t Eat To Keep Your Uterus Healthy.

She admits that she has been blessed with two of the best dogs, a loving boyfriend and an amazing and supportive family, it is also true that her physical health also took a toll on her mental and emotional health. She was suffering from depression, sometimes so much so that even suicidal thoughts crossed her mind.

In the interview with SELF she described how the year 2016, her body began to reject the kidney her father donated to her. She explained: "When you have an organ transplant, it's basically a foreign thing in your body." She further said, "Your immune system will want to attack it and be like, 'What is this? This is not supposed to be here.'" She experienced fatigue, fevers and infections.

Here's the complete interview of her describing her ordeal-

What is Kidney Dysplasia?

This chronic condition occurs when the internal structures of one or both of kidneys of a fetus do not develop normally. This occurs while the baby is in the womb and unlike in the normal development of a baby, two thin tubes of muscle called ureters grow into the kidneys. This branches out to form tubules, a network of tiny structures that collect urine as the fetus grows in the womb. However, in the case of kidney dysplasia, the development of the tubules is hindered and it fails to branch out completely. This causes them to have nowhere to go and the then gets collects inside the affected kidney and forms cysts. These cysts hinder the normal development of the kidney tissue and prevent the kidney from functioning.

Usually, babies with kidney dysplasia affecting both kidneys do not survive birth, however, the ones who do survive may need the following in their life-

  • A kidney transplant

  • Blood-filtering treatments called dialysis.

Also called renal dysplasia or multicystic dysplastic kidney, the children with dysplasia in only one kidney may have a normal kidney function.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2018 02:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).