Its less than 4 days since the transplant and Dan is back at the condo. We are very proud of him and of his determination to heal and get out of the hospital. Today was filled with meetings with just about every kind of specialist, doctor, dietitian, social worker, pharmacist, etc geared to prepare us for the next few weeks. Nice/Naughty nurse Nancy is ready to go with a huge bag of meds- it really is a ton of information and will be a full time job keeping up with his requirements at least for the next few weeks. He is doing awesome. If you were sitting at a table with him you would see no difference in him- he is completely back to normal mentally and looks fine. His energy level is low and he moves slowly but he can and does walk a lot. Pretty incredible although we are not at all surprised, I am very sure that a huge part of his success has to do with his positive thinking and incredible outlook on life.
There is a lot to be said about our experience as a whole at Northwestern that I hope my dad will start to write about tomorrow. The incredible staff as well as our experience meeting the other organ donors and recipients on the transplant floor was truly life changing and inspiring. There were 4-5 other families that we got to know a little bit this week, and it was so amazing getting to see people regaining their strength and then you would see someone walk for the first time and just feel this amazing happiness for them. When someone was discharged (including dad) it inspired the whole floor. I know we will all have a lot to say about this experience and about organ donation, but right now I am at a loss to even begin to start to describe what we experienced and what it feels like to be somebody who benefited from organ donation. We will never be the same and we feel compelled to give back to this circle of giving however we can, I think I can speak for my whole family when I say that.
One thing I have mentioned is that he has had a chronic case of hiccups since his surgery. His diaphragm is irritated which is why he has them. If you know the cure to hiccups please post them now- we have tried everything and standing on his head and drinking water is not an option today.
I’m really very happy for all of you. My dad underwent a liver transpland in June and in the few weeks prior to that I found this blog and spoke to Dan a couple of times. He was very willing to help and I appreciated that very much. Good luck to you guys and all my best wishes.
Ps.
My wife is a speech and languange pathologist and she swears that if you hold your hands high above you head, interlock your fingers,and hold your breath for a few seconds your hiccups will be gone. I’ve tried it and can confirm.
You are so right. The Dan we know & love and Nancy too have such beautiful positive outlooks on life. Positive attitude and true belief in the Lord and look…all is well! So happy for all of you, especially your dad…yes, he is amazing!
God Bless,Love
Louise & Jim
Well, Dan, leave it to you to have a weird side effect. Rarely have hiccups, so can’t help you there, but I do know I remember every sneeze I made for the first few weeks. Ouch!
So relieved you are out of the hospital and doing well. I am leaving for Florida on Wednesday for a week, but I’ll have my cell if you need anything.
Hang tough!
Your transplant buddy,
Janell
I agree with Ed and his wife. It works best sitting or standing, in my experience.