Happy 8 week anniversary!

Today marks 8 weeks to the day of surgery! Happy Anniversary to mom's "new" liver!

Mom's blood work continues to come back just great! She is gaining more and more energy each day, and has been walking everyday as well. By walking, I mean that she is apparently walking the hills (read: mountains) at the lake. She is on day 3.

I am also doing well. Looking forward to getting back to work. I know it will be tiring at first, but it won't be exhausting for long. I'm back to my normal routines of staying busy. I walk at the park many days, and need to get back into the gym to gain back muscle I've lost.

Ashley's MRI and Lab Work

On Tuesday, I had an MRI and blood work at UVA. Here are the results.

Blood work:

* All levels have returned to normal except for the alkaline phosphatase (liver function test). Currently it is 183. Normal is 40-150. It was 400 in June. I believe it was 400 due to the bout of pancreatitis.

MRI:

* The MRI does show some fluid in my right side. My wonderful surgeon thinks that this is normal post surgery fluid, but he wants to rescan me in January. So, I'll take a trip up to UVA for another round of labs and and MRI (or CT scan) then. Until that time, I'm free!

Liver Stats:

The volume of my liver today is 1140 cc. Before donation, my whole liver was 1416.8 cc and the Right lobe was 936.2. I have regenerated all but 276 cc of my liver! According to these numbers, mom has 66.08% of my liver.

So, we are continuing to do very well! I do not have exact stats on mom's blood work, but she continues to have it drawn every Monday and Thursday. She usually calls on Thursdays to get the numbers for all the many different things that they check. As far as I know, her labs have been trending how they should be. I do know that her alkaline phosphatase level was (about) 64...so she is within NORMAL range for that particular liver function. Of course, they monitor much more with her, and have to carefully balance her medication to go along with her stats. She is gradually easing off the Prednisone.

I will continue to update as we hear news. Mom and Dad are still in Virginia. They are enjoying time at the lake house until her appointment at UVA in September. She also wants to stay there because the first three months are the most critical, and she wants to avoid germs as much as possible while her body is recovering.

Surgery Pictures

If you don't like to see blood or organs, just don't look any further!








Above is mom's liver. Note the discoloration, bumps, and general lack of smoothness.



My part of the liver that went to mom. You can see where it had been cut off the other part of the liver (right side).



This is my liver going to mom. I think this is mom's empty spot for the healthy liver.


This is my liver being sewn into mom.

Thankful

Ashley here...

We continue to be thankful everyday for mom's excellent health! When Bryan and I got to the lake last week, we found her looking awesome! She had gained some weight, and really looks about ten years (or more) younger. Her blood work continues to remain stable, and she is getting back to normal. No tennis yet...but I rarely saw her sit down this weekend!

We were blessed to have a visit from another transplant patient, Bill, and his wonderful family. They came up to the lake house for lunch this weekend. We had a great time with his two sweet children! We ate, played in the water, lounged on rafts, and did some fishing. Bill and mom talked about the transplant experience, and we are thrilled both are doing so well.

I had my last appointment at UVA (hopefully) yesterday. From the initial look at the MRI, our surgeon says that my liver appears to have grown back completely. He did say it grew back in a different shape. I wish I could see pictures of the MRI. I have some fluid build up somewhere in my abdomen, so the radiologist will look at that today, and let us know what s/he thinks. The doctor seems to think it is just left over from surgery. Since I'm not running a fever or feeling badly, he didn't seem concerned. I will know about the blood work later today.

Otherwise, we are just going on with life as usual! Two more weeks until I go back to work. I am looking forward to meeting my class, but a little nervous about the long days. I am considering myself fully recovered (minus heavy lifting and tennis), but my energy level isn't totally 100%. I feel myself gaining energy every day, so maybe in two weeks I'll be 100%.

Oh, the best part! We have pictures of the livers during surgery! As soon as I can reduce the size of the files, I will post!

We are so thankful that this process went smoothly!! :)

-ashley

Almost 6 weeks...

It's already been almost six weeks since surgery date. Everything is going so well!

Mom and Dad are still at the lake house. Mom says she is feeling great! Before I left, she was working on getting all her medicines ordered and regulated. All of that is going relatively smoothly, and from what I understand, her blood work continues to improve, so she hasn't had to adjust her medications. She is on Prednisone, but that is gradually being decreased. I'm sure she will be glad to be off that drug.

Mom has another appointment at UVA the first part of September, and then she will be back in Georgia. She will continue having blood drawn twice a week. It will be great to have them back here!

I'm doing great as well. I am walking at the park, trying to build back up endurance. They said I had clearance to exercise July 15th, and tennis September 3rd. I am not sure how ready I am for lots of exercise, but my days have pretty much gotten back to normal. The back pain is just minimal.

Bryan and I head back up to the lake later this week. We are looking forward to a last vacation of the summer! I have an appointment next week at UVA for an MRI (yuck), and hopefully my last doctors visit.

So, again...no news is good news! :)
Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Ashley is home!

** Dad did not want to pose. But, I'm sure mom has several on her camera of him!

I got back home last night, and it feels great to be back! However, I already miss mom and dad, as well as the lake. I am sure I overdid it today, but it really felt good to be productive. I'm sure my stomach will be sore tomorrow, but as long as I'm not lifting anything too heavy, it doesn't really matter.

Bryan was a huge help because he drove up to Virginia over the weekend to come get me! On the drive home, I got to drive for the first time in over a month, and it felt good. It's amazing how quickly I'm recovering. It seems like this past week I've made leaps and bounds. The back pain (hopefully) is over, and only minor stomach "pain," if you'd call it that.

Mom is continuing to do very well. Her blood work has come back "excellent" each time she's asked. As I said before, they will call her if there is a problem. She continues to look better and better each day!! Her skin is not jaundiced, her eyes are white, and she generally looks younger.

Dad is doing well too! He has been great taking mom back and forth to the blood work visits. He also runs all of the errands as well. I also know that he is making sure that mom is not lifting too much! However, I'm sure he can't keep her still...she is as busy as ever.

I just cannot thank the staff and surgeons at UVA enough for the wonderful experience we have had. One important note: We were the ONLY living liver transplant of 2010 so far. We didn't ask if there were any in 2009.... :)

So, I'm home and just getting myself reorganized. We go back to Virginia later this month for a little while for my doctors' visit and MRI.

So, again...no news is good news!

Thank you, everyone, for all your continued thoughts and prayers!

-ashley