Monday, April 23, 2012

Life is complicated

(Past) Time for an update.
The doctors think Beaux may have CMV (Cytomegalovirus). Most of us carry it around with us by the time we’re 40, but dormant. In normal folks, it seldom needs treatment. It causes cold sores and strep, mono, etc. In people who’ve had a liver transplant, it can get into the muscle and become life-threatening. But they had his coumadin way too high and the only way to know for sure is to get a biopsy — which they can’t do until the blood level is down early next week. Tomorrow, they’ll call and let us know when they’ll scope him. At this stage, he’s not gaining ground. He's not deathly ill or anything, but whatever this is is certainly a set back and we need it solved.
He's still walking a mile a day, which is great. But it's harder than it should be right now. Hold good thoughts.
Lois

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Sorry I've been so slow to update

As you can see, updating someone else's blog is not my forte. I've been swamped. And, frankly, there hasn't been much to report. That, in a way, is good news.
Beaux continues to heal slowly. He's still plagued by soreness in his abdomen. I can't say anyone's surprised, given the magnitude of the incision. And the transplant coordinator said when they got in there, the surgeons found a lot of scar tissue that had to be dealt with from a bicycle accident and subsequent surgery when he was a little boy. The handlebar perforated his small bowel and apparently the scars from that clean-up operation left their mark. That's part of why he's hurting; it was more extensive cutting than one might have expected even from a wildly invasive operation like a liver transplant.
But the liver itself is wonderful. Works beautifully and we are so pleased.
They have reduced his anti-rejection meds to the stage where the tremors are much less of an issue. One side effect of all the drugs, though, has been quite odd. By evening, he's got a waxy glow about him. His oil glands are going nuts, so he's now on prescription to slow that down a bit.
I'll update again, soon. And I promise if something arises, I'll post right away. In this case, no news really is good news.
Lo