friends.........
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From: Deptford, New Jersey
Thanks everyone for the kind words and prayers... the surgery has been moved up one day to wed. the 20th......... first her they will split Kristen's liver and remove 60% of it
then they will remove my wifes entire liver and begin to transplant it ...... so many emotions running thru my body it's hard to concentrate on anything else right now... Kristen's attitude and confidence is something to behold she is a very special person... it's making the whole situation much easier.
I'll keep everyone up to date as things progress.
Oh get this we were guessing that they would go into the hospital a day before the surgery but NO they go in the morning of it that freaked us out....
then they will remove my wifes entire liver and begin to transplant it ...... so many emotions running thru my body it's hard to concentrate on anything else right now... Kristen's attitude and confidence is something to behold she is a very special person... it's making the whole situation much easier.I'll keep everyone up to date as things progress.
Oh get this we were guessing that they would go into the hospital a day before the surgery but NO they go in the morning of it
that freaked us out....
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From: Deptford, New Jersey
3/20/02
It's 2:30pm and we arrived t the hospital 6 am. They took in Kristen in at 8:20am to begin her surgery. At 11:52am my wife was wisked into surgery. last word we have heard was Kristen's liver disection was successful and my wife is being prepared to receive the liver time was 1:50pm..... so we wait........ this is a great surgical waiting area with internet access so passing the time is a little easier...... get back to you all later......
It's 2:30pm and we arrived t the hospital 6 am. They took in Kristen in at 8:20am to begin her surgery. At 11:52am my wife was wisked into surgery. last word we have heard was Kristen's liver disection was successful and my wife is being prepared to receive the liver time was 1:50pm..... so we wait........ this is a great surgical waiting area with internet access so passing the time is a little easier...... get back to you all later......
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From: Deptford, New Jersey
3/20/02
It's 10:30pm and just got home from a long day. Kristen is doing fine and is awake and somewhat alert. My wife is in ICU. The surgery was successful with bile flow and blood flow going thru her new liver. The next 48 hours are very critical so many things can happen but we are trying to stay strong.
It's heart breaking seeing her in ICU as you can imagine there are various tubes coming out of her body and she is on a respirator. This was very difficult for me to see and I kind of lost it a bit.
They were planning on taking the breathing tube out tonight but she has accumulated some fluid in her lungs and are keeping her on it a bit longer perhaps sometime tomorrow they will remove it if all goes well.
I'm exhausted and and going to try to get some sleep will update you tomorrow.
It's 10:30pm and just got home from a long day. Kristen is doing fine and is awake and somewhat alert. My wife is in ICU. The surgery was successful with bile flow and blood flow going thru her new liver. The next 48 hours are very critical so many things can happen but we are trying to stay strong.
It's heart breaking seeing her in ICU as you can imagine there are various tubes coming out of her body and she is on a respirator. This was very difficult for me to see and I kind of lost it a bit.
They were planning on taking the breathing tube out tonight but she has accumulated some fluid in her lungs and are keeping her on it a bit longer perhaps sometime tomorrow they will remove it if all goes well.
I'm exhausted and and going to try to get some sleep will update you tomorrow.
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From: harrisburg
charlie, no one can blame you for losing it a little. the first step in a long process appears to have gone well. keep the faith, and remember there may be two steps forward and one step back, but its the long term goal that you have to remain focused on.
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From: Deptford, New Jersey
3/21/02
10:18pm
OK the day after...... well last night after the surgery was a difficult one. Michele in the middle of the night kept the ICU ver busy. She began to crash her b.p. dropped and her heart rate went up. It took a while to stabilize her but finally they did. Then one hour later same thing happened. We almost lost her twice.
Then at 7 am she made a remarkable turn around. And by noon they were able to take her off the respirator. Her new half liver is working perfectly(Doctors words) doing everything a normal liver is supposed to do. They did several tests to make sure their connections were not leaking and we got the thumbs up. A very encouraging day to say the least. As the Doctor said all is going as we expected with no surprises. She is alert and in good spirits. She is not out of the woods yet the next couple days a still very crucial, she has accumulated fluid on her right lung which is normal during transplant and if that goes as expected her body will take care of that now since her liver is operating well.
Kristen is just remarkable... her attitude is wonderful and she is expected to go home by monday
What can one possibly say to her... I am at a loss for words and just tell her how much we love her and give her a kiss. She expects nothing for her actions but says she will where her new scar (a very large one) with pride knowing she made a difference in Michele's life and all who are close to her.
I'll update everyone tommorow night again.....
10:18pm
OK the day after...... well last night after the surgery was a difficult one. Michele in the middle of the night kept the ICU ver busy. She began to crash her b.p. dropped and her heart rate went up. It took a while to stabilize her but finally they did. Then one hour later same thing happened. We almost lost her twice.
Then at 7 am she made a remarkable turn around. And by noon they were able to take her off the respirator. Her new half liver is working perfectly(Doctors words) doing everything a normal liver is supposed to do. They did several tests to make sure their connections were not leaking and we got the thumbs up. A very encouraging day to say the least. As the Doctor said all is going as we expected with no surprises. She is alert and in good spirits. She is not out of the woods yet the next couple days a still very crucial, she has accumulated fluid on her right lung which is normal during transplant and if that goes as expected her body will take care of that now since her liver is operating well.
Kristen is just remarkable... her attitude is wonderful and she is expected to go home by monday
What can one possibly say to her... I am at a loss for words and just tell her how much we love her and give her a kiss. She expects nothing for her actions but says she will where her new scar (a very large one) with pride knowing she made a difference in Michele's life and all who are close to her.I'll update everyone tommorow night again.....
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From: wilkes barre
Thats great news,Oh by the way your doing pretty well yourself. There are'nt too many of us with enough courage and poise to keep an e-community updated about something so personal and private,,amazing stuff.