friends.........
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 9,579
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From: West Deptford NJ
I spoke with Charlie yesterday in the morning. All seems to be going pretty well. Michelle is out of ICU and making good progress. There is even some talk that Michelle could be getting out of the hospital in the next 1-2 weeks.
They seem to have many of the complications under control and she's started eating.
I'll let Charlie give you the latest when he gets back on. He's spending even more time at the hospital now, so he might not be on-line as much as he was, but I am sure that he'll keep us up to date.
To all that have stayed involved here, I also know that he's glad to have the community show such interest.
Thank you all for your concern, it means a lot to him.
They seem to have many of the complications under control and she's started eating.
I'll let Charlie give you the latest when he gets back on. He's spending even more time at the hospital now, so he might not be on-line as much as he was, but I am sure that he'll keep us up to date.
To all that have stayed involved here, I also know that he's glad to have the community show such interest.
Thank you all for your concern, it means a lot to him.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,698
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From: Deptford, New Jersey
4/4/02 Thursday
10:40pm
Everything is going well so far. I was really tired last night and had not much info. Zippy is right, we speak several times a week and he and his wife were kind enough to offer me breakfast last weekend which I gladly accepted. He has become a good friend of mine and I know I can count on him and his wife Nancy if I needed anything at all.
OK.. so it's been 15 days since the surgery and Michele is moving forward. Yesterday Michele was feeling a bit of nausea and could not eat much. These things happen but she was feeling better today. She also had a ever so little increase in her liver levels in her blood test which indicated a bit of rebound rejection. The Doc's are treating this with meds and today her blood work showed improvement again.
The plan is on track to get her home some time next week. Well almost, she will be going to my parents house for a week or two after she gets out of the hospital for rehab there and some good home made Italian cooking(that should put some meat on her bones) and tons of attention. My parents live only a few miles from my business which is 40 miles from our home. While at my parents home she will get come PT there from an excellent rehab center which is up the road from them. Also this means I will be able to focus more on work and yet be close to my wife. I will prob stay there a few nights during the week and we will come back to our home on the weekends.
One of the things we enjoy is watching the TV show "Survivor" together and goofing on all the idiots who are on it. Tonight was the first time in a 3 weeks we were able to do that together and it was very nice. We laughed and yelled at the TV like we usually do on Thursdays'. It was great to have some normalcy back in our lives.
We did a lot of talking about what our life together will be like after she heals and is back to normal. Although we felt our life together was blessed b/c of her illness over the last few years and we thought we had a more appreciation for life, this experience has brought us to the next level.
Many things we thought were important seem silly now and we feel our lives have been changed forever after the events of the past two weeks. I have seen a tremendous change in my wife's attitude. This is not to say she was a b1tch or anything like that but my wife was a "go getter" in everything she did, a type "A" personality in her career and a very aggressive woman in every sense of the word. I see a more balanced person now and that's a good thing. We have set some goals for the next ten years and plan on enjoying life even more than we did before.
So even after all we have been thru we are grateful, it appears as though we are better people now and have grown spiritually together.
So that's it for tonight things are looking pretty good and let's hope they stay that way. Michele has a very difficult road ahead of her from a physical perspective but she will overcome it with time. I feel confident of that.
Kristen is doing well and remains at her parents house in Delaware. She was at the hospital earlier in the week for a check up and to have the drains removes from her sides. She also was able to spend some time with Michele. Kristen schedules her days around nap times now but this is normal for a person who has been thru such a big surgery. My wife and I flew her boyfriend in from California Tuesday for 2 weeks to spend some time with her and they plan on attending a Baltimore Oriole's game this weekend. I can't express it enough how special she is and what a gift she has given my wife. If it were not for her my wife would surly have died.
There are many unknown health risks for a living donor, this surgery is only a few years old and nobody really knows the long term side effects for the donor of such a surgery. She will be monitored closely for this year and every year after for the rest of her life she will have to have a MRI and blood tests to check on how her liver is doing.
Till tomorrow..
Charlie
10:40pm
Everything is going well so far. I was really tired last night and had not much info. Zippy is right, we speak several times a week and he and his wife were kind enough to offer me breakfast last weekend which I gladly accepted. He has become a good friend of mine and I know I can count on him and his wife Nancy if I needed anything at all.
OK.. so it's been 15 days since the surgery and Michele is moving forward. Yesterday Michele was feeling a bit of nausea and could not eat much. These things happen but she was feeling better today. She also had a ever so little increase in her liver levels in her blood test which indicated a bit of rebound rejection. The Doc's are treating this with meds and today her blood work showed improvement again.
The plan is on track to get her home some time next week. Well almost, she will be going to my parents house for a week or two after she gets out of the hospital for rehab there and some good home made Italian cooking(that should put some meat on her bones) and tons of attention. My parents live only a few miles from my business which is 40 miles from our home. While at my parents home she will get come PT there from an excellent rehab center which is up the road from them. Also this means I will be able to focus more on work and yet be close to my wife. I will prob stay there a few nights during the week and we will come back to our home on the weekends.
One of the things we enjoy is watching the TV show "Survivor" together and goofing on all the idiots who are on it. Tonight was the first time in a 3 weeks we were able to do that together and it was very nice. We laughed and yelled at the TV like we usually do on Thursdays'. It was great to have some normalcy back in our lives.
We did a lot of talking about what our life together will be like after she heals and is back to normal. Although we felt our life together was blessed b/c of her illness over the last few years and we thought we had a more appreciation for life, this experience has brought us to the next level.
Many things we thought were important seem silly now and we feel our lives have been changed forever after the events of the past two weeks. I have seen a tremendous change in my wife's attitude. This is not to say she was a b1tch or anything like that but my wife was a "go getter" in everything she did, a type "A" personality in her career and a very aggressive woman in every sense of the word. I see a more balanced person now and that's a good thing. We have set some goals for the next ten years and plan on enjoying life even more than we did before.
So even after all we have been thru we are grateful, it appears as though we are better people now and have grown spiritually together.
So that's it for tonight things are looking pretty good and let's hope they stay that way. Michele has a very difficult road ahead of her from a physical perspective but she will overcome it with time. I feel confident of that.
Kristen is doing well and remains at her parents house in Delaware. She was at the hospital earlier in the week for a check up and to have the drains removes from her sides. She also was able to spend some time with Michele. Kristen schedules her days around nap times now but this is normal for a person who has been thru such a big surgery. My wife and I flew her boyfriend in from California Tuesday for 2 weeks to spend some time with her and they plan on attending a Baltimore Oriole's game this weekend. I can't express it enough how special she is and what a gift she has given my wife. If it were not for her my wife would surly have died.
There are many unknown health risks for a living donor, this surgery is only a few years old and nobody really knows the long term side effects for the donor of such a surgery. She will be monitored closely for this year and every year after for the rest of her life she will have to have a MRI and blood tests to check on how her liver is doing.
Till tomorrow..
Charlie
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Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,698
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From: Deptford, New Jersey
4/05/02 Friday
9:45pm
Michele is doing fine and her liver is reacting well to the new formula of anti-rejection meds. There was more talk today about getting her out mid next week. She may go to a rehab center for a week or two for PT. She will be interviewed next week by them and they will make a determination as to whether it is needed for her to stay at there place or to have PT at my parents house. This center has an excellent rep and I hope she can get in there as a inpatient for a week at least. I feel it will do her much good.
Anyway it was brought to my attention by a friend that in the USA Today thursday edition there was an article on the living liver donor programs around the country. I am pasting it below for anyone who wishes to learn more about this new and exciting surgery alternative.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the USA Today 4/4/02
Livers in need as traditional donors are lacking
By Robert Davis and Jacqueline Chong, USA TODAY
Sharon Franz is dying.
Hepatitis C is attacking her liver, and without a transplant she has little chance of seeing her grandkids graduate from high school.
Franz is luckier, however, than thousands of others across the nation who face the same fate. Her son-in-law has heroic tendencies.
Bob Yenkel, a 36-year-old firefighter who lives in Berkley, Mich., is offering most of his liver to the in-law he calls "Mom." In the next few weeks
9:45pm
Michele is doing fine and her liver is reacting well to the new formula of anti-rejection meds. There was more talk today about getting her out mid next week. She may go to a rehab center for a week or two for PT. She will be interviewed next week by them and they will make a determination as to whether it is needed for her to stay at there place or to have PT at my parents house. This center has an excellent rep and I hope she can get in there as a inpatient for a week at least. I feel it will do her much good.
Anyway it was brought to my attention by a friend that in the USA Today thursday edition there was an article on the living liver donor programs around the country. I am pasting it below for anyone who wishes to learn more about this new and exciting surgery alternative.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the USA Today 4/4/02
Livers in need as traditional donors are lacking
By Robert Davis and Jacqueline Chong, USA TODAY
Sharon Franz is dying.
Hepatitis C is attacking her liver, and without a transplant she has little chance of seeing her grandkids graduate from high school.
Franz is luckier, however, than thousands of others across the nation who face the same fate. Her son-in-law has heroic tendencies.
Bob Yenkel, a 36-year-old firefighter who lives in Berkley, Mich., is offering most of his liver to the in-law he calls "Mom." In the next few weeks