August 29- Mom update

I’m sorry it has taken me several days to post an update about Mom. We have all been very busy running back and forth to the hospital.
She’s doing good. Or as the doctors say, she’s doing as well as anyone can hope for after a transplant surgery. Her new liver is functioning just as it should so far. Her bilirubins level, which was at 40 before surgery has come down to 8, so her skin is returning to a normal color. She has stopped looking like a pumpkin, and now it just looks like she got a little carried away with the self-tanning lotion. The abdominal distension is receding, and in general her major organ functions are returning to normal.
That said, she’s still got a long road ahead of her. She’s in a pretty good bit of pain from the surgery, and she’s just weary and worn out. They haven’t allowed her to start eating again yet, and are exceedingly tight fisted with even ice chips. I think her doctors just want to give her GI system a chance to recover and acclimate to the new organ. It’s simply going to take time to recover from such a serious procedure. As we all keep saying, the doctors said she probably wouldn’t make it to see Monday if she didn’t get a new liver, and today is Tuesday and she’s still here! So truthfully, it’s a blessing that she is even here today recovering from the transplant surgery. We’re meeting with the transplant coordinator on Thursday to discuss her plan of care when she leaves the hospital, as well as when they think she may be discharged, so I should have another update by the end of the week.
Again, I can’t even begin to say thank you enough to everyone who prayed for Mom and helped bring her through this surgery.