Hello, all!
Lealonnie and her husband are traveling to AZ today, to begin their journey at Mayo.
Her husband will be receiving a liver transplant.
She has given me permission to begin a thread here.
Please pray for their safe travel, and for all to go well.
She’ll pop in as she’s able, and give us updates.
Admins, would you please move this to discussions? I can’t seem to figure out how to do that.
2:30 pm: Surgeon was here and gave DH two thumbs up. Said things can go south in a hurry but he's doing great right now. Still has the central line in his neck which hurts and is bruised with a hematoma due to a couple attempts to install it. It should be coming out soon but his nurse doesn't know when. He has an arm IV too, and needs 2 installation ports open at this point, so who knows.
DH was a champ walking around! So proud of him. He's been released from ICU so when there is a bed available on the transplant floor, he's off.
Fun fact: In ICU at Mayo, each nurse has ONE patient to care for!
Saturday 10:30am: DH looks GREAT! He's joking with the nurses and telling them his 🥓 wrapped onion recipe which has no longer been on the menu for ages now. A man can dream, right? His central line is still in his neck but expected to be removed today.
Physical and Occupational Therapy will be by later to get him up and moving.
Saturday morning update: Tommy, DH’s RN, is awesome. He provided me with a medical update. DH is quite a trooper! He was given 6 units of red blood, 4 units of platelets, and a couple units of plasma as he lost 3.5 L of blood. In layman's terms, they replaced about half of his blood supply. This is EXPECTED during a liver transplant!! NG tube will be removed today and his diet will be advanced to clear liquids...BRING ON THE JELLO! All 3 abdominal drains are expected to be removed in the next few days. DH should be leaving the ICU within the next day or so and transferred to a dedicated transplant unit. Stay tuned for more updates!
When my dh had his aorta and aortic valve replaced, I was in the CCU when he was still incubated (because the surgeon and nurses all said he'd be out for a couple of hours); he woke up, tried to pull the tube out, was restrained and then motioned for something to write with. We gave him paper and pen and he scribbled something unintelligible. At that point, I realized my presence was doing more harm than good.
Love and hugs to you!!
Sitting here with him now and he's doing well, thank God.
I think we get to meet and or express our gratitude to the donors family at some point later on, too, which would be nice. We certainly are thankful to them.
Yes, the waiting is incredibly hard, and sorry for the spiel the Anes. doc had to give you. My DIL is an anesthesioloist and she says that's the hardest part of the job--talking to the next of kin and the patient. They are required to tell you all the possible 'yucks' and so take it all with a grain of salt, OK?
I hope your DH gets to be extubated quickly, that was the 'worst' thing my hubby said, having a ventilator in and not being able to communicate.
You are in my prayers and thoughts today. Just one note of support from someone who has been in your shoes: take each day at a time, really. Chuck will be grouchy a lot (a LOT of prednisone) and may likely snap at YOU--don't take it personally. When you get home--make sure YOU get out every day for a break. I didn't do that and when DH was back to work--I crashed and burned. You will have a LOT on your hands. Charting, feeding, etc. But you can do this!!
Hugs!!
MidKid
Feeling very relieved right now and grateful to the donor, his/her family, and everyone who's been so supportive here. THANK YOU.
I'm on my way over to the Mayo hospital now.
I'll keep you all updated. We have a long road ahead of us, with potential complications and lots of ups & downs/ medications/doctors appointments and at least 4-6 weeks minimum here in North Scottsdale (without complications), so in many ways, the journey has just begun.
ps: The speech is a cya. They have to give worse case scenario just to make sure expectations are kept real. I hate that part of any surgery.
It’s happened so fast!
Praying for you guys!!
2:00 am: Surgery is over and Chuck did well! Will wait till 8am to call the ICU to check his status before heading over, as suggested by the surgeon. They have to watch for bleeding now from the new liver which is a potential problem. Next 12-24 hours are crucial.
I'll keep you updated
I haven’t waited through a transplant, only a 6 hour aorta repair. I can only imagine your angst right now. We're all here for you, honey. ((((((Hugs))))))) to you and Chuck.
Support is here. 👩👨👩🦳️👵👱♂️🧓👱♀️👩🦰️
Prayers for you, as it is difficult to be waiting, standing by. Prayers for your trust in god's plan.
There is no guilt if you need to doze off in-between the updates by the doctor.
The surgery can take anywhere from 6-15 hours; Chuck has a pacemaker and has had triple bypass which complicates things, so they have to take extra precautions which can extend the time. I'll be texted every 2 hours and then the surgeon will phone me when it's over. Probably sometime in the middle of the night. I'm back at the hotel (5 minutes away) with the dog and we're hunkering down (at the suggestion of the Mayo staff). They also suggested I wait here until he's extubated and free of the wires and hook-ups that will have me upset to see. I can call the ICU in the morning to get an update on his condition, and if he's been extubated yet, etc.
God give me strength; I'm not sure I realized how hard this would be, being in another state, away from home and friends/family, etc.
Thanks for your support everyone, I appreciate it.
Praying this is it...
4:15 PM: DH got a call at 4 PM to come to the Mayo hospital immediately; there is another liver for him from another DCD donor who's here. We are on our way and totally unprepared for this. Surgery will be at 6 pm local time IF this liver is viable; this MAY be another dry run though, who knows?
Instead let's ALL be respectful of them and only send them words of encouragement and your prayers. They really need both right now.