Monday, July 18, 2016

Progress

It's been about a week and a half since Mom received her transplant. Her coloring has improved entirely, and much of her swelling has decreased. Day by day, we are watching the amazing things a new liver has made possible. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this time, Mom has been transferred from the surgical ICU back to the liver and transplant unit, where she has been met with many sentiments of congratulations. Her doctors have been monitoring her closely. They are very pleased with the progress being made. The other day, they operated again because her blood levels were not evening out quite like doctors wished. We were told the day of her transplant that this was common, and after this second operation things proceeded on track. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- People keep asking if I feel a big weight lifted off of my shoulders. I cannot speak for my family, but (weirdly enough) I say yes and no. The biggest weight is gone; Mom WILL make a full recovery from this terrible disease. But what people may not realize is that she is still very sick. The liver is functioning fully and will help as her body heals, but her body has suffered so much damage that it will not bounce back quickly. She is still suffering great pain and discomfort. She still has only a weak voice. She is still short of breath and unfocused. She is still experiencing confusing dreams and hallucinations (something doctors say is common when the body has gone through such severe trauma). Her skin is still paper thin. She is still incontinent. It will be a long road ahead of us with a light at the end of the tunnel though; You can all be sure to see more and more positive updates coming your way. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the rough things Mom is still experiencing, there are some personal victories and freedoms that she is thrilled to have back. After spending most of her disease on very strict fluid restriction, she can now consume however much fluid she desires--a freedom we all take for granted. The same goes for salt; She has been extremely restricted on this all-too-common ingredient, which has caused a great deal of frustration while her appetite has been limited throughout her disease. Yesterday, she recorded all of her calories and asked me to add them up for her. She ate OVER 2,000 calories. THIS IS A HUGE DEAL! Liver disease made her very malnourished between a low appetite and (at times) inability to hold things down. Proper nourishment is very important to her recovery, and for her to have consumed what most people do in a day is tremendous progress. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doctors are now talking about releasing Mom into another short-term rehab facility in the next couple of days. We are hoping to move her into a Yale-affiliated home where staff is accustomed to working with transplant recipients. Here, she will work with physical, occupational and speech therapists to relearn everything her body has forgotten how to do. From here, she will eventually get to go back home long-term. She will have bi-weekly appointments with the transplant team. They will make her strong, they will keep her safe. She will be a "normal person" again. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I cannot wait for the next exciting moment in her journey--There are sure to be many.

1 comment: