Hospital Visits and Outings

I have a confession to make: the past 3 weeks have been very, very challenging for me. I also really hate to complain: Dad's prognosis is very good with the shiny, new liver that is still working well, Dad seems to have overcome ARDS, and Dad is still Hepatitis C-free.  I tend to be more optimistic than my father, however, going through all of the challenges since Dad had his transplant have taken a toll on me.

Thankfully, I had my husband and a few family members out here for a bit of the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately, my husband went home last week and the rest of the family will be leaving soon. Like so many things, I take for granted how nice it is to have people around and am starting to get anxious about being alone with Dad once again in a couple of days. It makes me realize how tough Dad has had it while waiting for the liver transplant alone in a hotel room in Indianapolis while feeling sick and now having only a very short visit while actually conscious with anyone other than me. Again, how can I really complain?

Thankfully, I have had some moments that have provided some emotional relief for myself. I have been able to get a little gym and yoga time in lately and went out to a few restaurants for dinner the past week or so. Today, a few of us took Dad outdoors to get a break from the hospital room for a break and the weather was fabulous. To sit outdoors for a few minutes and enjoy the sunshine was great. We even snapped a few photos to mark the milestone:

Dad showing-off his adorable outfit

And We're Off!

Dad has determination, for sure, and it doesn't go unnoticed. Today, he was transferred from the TICU to the Organ Transplant Unit (OTU). After all that he has been through, including just getting off of the ventilator yesterday, he decided to combine his transfer with his physical therapy and walk there. It was pretty impressive!

As one physical therapist told him--this may be a new record!

Days 7-17: Just Breathe

I left you all at Day 2--not an intentional move, but this liver transplant has been quite an ordeal thus far. As Dad and I talked the past several years about a possibility of having a liver transplant, we both talked about what a large surgery it was and how there are so many potential complications. As one can expect with the luck of this family, this has been the case for Dad.  It has been quite a tough road since Dad came out of the second surgery (the fascia closure) on Wednesday, April 11 and there have been plenty of complications. The great news is that we have made it past quite a few big hurdles and I can try to catch my breath a little today.

I have had to remind myself several times to just breathe these past couple of weeks. Advocating for a close loved one experience significant medical problems, that in itself is not always easy. I suppose I knew that going into this, but you all can probably relate to how difficult to really know what something will be like until it actually happens. Watching my father rely on the ventilator to breathe for most of the past 17 days...wow...just breathe indeed.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/vent/printall-index.html

Day 2: The Comedian

Yesterday was the beginning of a new journey--Dad with his shiny, new liver. Well, Dad with a "very nice" liver from a donor that just provided Dad with a shiny, new future. It does not get more generous than that: giving someone--particularly a stranger--a second chance at life. Wow, pretty crazy to really let that one soak-in--I'm still processing that part of the past couple of days.

The last 30 hours or so have been a whirlwind for me, but I have spent the past 20 hours in a TICU room with Dad and watched him start the recovery process. Modern medicine is amazing and the staff at IU is great. Dad is also quite a patient {sarcasm}!

April 09, 2012

This morning was a normal Monday morning as far as I knew. I got up (late), drove to work with my husband, and set-up at work for the week ahead. That changed when I received a call around10:30am from Mom in a panic that she could not locate Dad. I'll save the details for later, but I was able to eventually figure-out that Dad had his transplant this morning.

YES. Dad had his transplant this morning!!!!

I am currently sitting with him in TICU (Transplant ICU) in Indiana. Pretty strange to be typing that after everything we have hoped for the past several months years. From what I have learned in talking to a couple of his surgeons today and his current nurse, everything went well. He has been slowly waking up right around when I walked into this room (~9pm tonight), but has a while to go. I even saw him looking me with open eyes and give me his frustrated look that he typically gives and pulled on his restraints, so I know he's coming around and it's great to see.

More updates to come, but had to share the good news. There are still a lot of hurdles to overcome, but the ridiculous wait for a new liver is over. Someone donated a liver last night that replaced my father's original liver--that his doctor here said looked 'like Afghanistan'. I am thankful for so many things right now, even though I am also very aware that my father has a lot to recover from and we don't know how that liver will ultimately 'take' in it's new home. I do know that Dad made it through of a lot of critical points so far in this process, including the surgery and the first 12 hours or so after.

It may finally be time to start changing the meaning of 'my mazel' in this family today.

Our mazel!

[Unlucky] Numbers: 02 06 13 19 32 Powerball: 22

Surprise! I didn't win the lottery last week! In fact, I bought $10 worth of lottery tickets and I literally had 1 number pulled. 1 number out of $10 worth of computer-selected numbers. I think that may be impressive in itself. Well, I lost $10 instead of the usual $5, but nothing new otherwise. In the meantime, last Friday was not a good day for the numbers for Dad at Indiana either.

Here are some very unlucky numbers to give a sense of what we're dealing with at the moment:
02 06 13 19 32 Powerball: 22