The Day After

Well, we are just over 24 hours post operation and both Mom and Ashley are doing wonderful. Much better then expected, actually! Surgery was completed around 12:30pm yesterday for Ashley, and was quickly followed up with mom's completion about an hour after.

Dr. Schmitt and team immediately began seeing benefits of Ashley's liver working its magic in Mom. Dr. Schmitt actually told us that this was the "most successful live liver transplant surgery that had ever done here at UVA." They have never had a liver be so responsive so quickly and fit so perfectly with zero complication's. I wondered if they told everyone that, but i honestly believe him. Mom looks so good, its really remarkable. Some of her jaundice coloring has started to deteriorate and her eyes have started to clear up. I was told her MELD score was 18 before surgery. This morning it was at 13, which is a dramatic drop in 24 hours, and we can only expect it to drop further as her new liver continues to adapt to her body. They have started removing some of her tubes and IV lines, slowly working her way off some of the monitors so they can get her out of ICU and into a room. They hope to move her tonight, if not first thing tomorrow morning! She is very alert and talkative today. She is a pro at surgery, so I expected nothing less.

Ashley has been doing wonderful and has been incredibly strong through out the entire procedure. As expected she is tired. Sleep is hard to come by with Drs coming in every 30 minutes to check on things. Not to mention the cleaning crew cleaning the bed space next to us. I don’t think they could be any louder. But i guess it comes with the territory. This morning Ashley had the chance to walk over and see Mom for the first time since they were separated yesterday morning before surgery. That was a warm and loving embrace. They were both very excited and relieved to see each other. After the visit she got some short periods of sleep then got up and walked again. All very good signs. Couple that with being able to drink liquids and eat some jello, I would say she is well on her way to a speedy recovery!

I have to say, I didn’t know what to expect going into this surgery. I had faith the procedure would be nothing but a total success, but I didn’t know what to expect as far as recovery. I mean, an every day human being and his team of surgeons took a perfectly good organ from a perfectly healthy young adult and placed it into the strongest person i have ever met and made it work instantly! That to me is just completely unimaginable. It is amazing what these surgeons can do. They really are miracle workers. And what makes it great is if you tell them that their response is always "well, its just all in a days work". They do what they do because they love to save lives. I was surprised to see how often the team come around to check up on Ash and Mom, but i have figure those moments are what they work for. I cant imagine there is a better feeling then to see and talk to the families they perform these miracle for. What a rewarding profession.

My rant for the day: I had the opportunity to see the annual salary our head surgeon made for 2009. I wasn’t being nosy looking for it, but I came across it as I was looking up his medical profession history (an amazing list of accomplishments for such a young Dr). Now, I am an avid sports fan, and understand the economics behind professional sports that allow teams to pay their prized athletes the multi-million dollar contracts the receive. But when a bench warmer who often times doesn’t get to see the playing field makes 3 times as much as our Drs do, it just strikes a nerve. Here is a man who has assembled a team of life savors who perform their jobs perfectly every time they "take to the operating table." While they still make a comfortable living that I would like to experience one day, to me, if anyone should be making top dollar, it should be these people. They bat for 1.000, they score 100 points each game, they throw 5 TDs and complete 40 out of 40 passes, and they pitch perfect games every time they take the field.

To read a quick Bio on our head surgeon, Dr Timothy Schmitt, click the link below.
http://uvahealth.com/doctors/physicians/541