During the second week following surgery, my body and mind have undergone multiple transformations. I started the second week walking with a cane; I’ve ditched the cane and am now focused on mastering the stairs. Afterall, there are 20 stairs up to our first floor flat, and with the goal to leave this evening for a weekend trial, I’ve to get up there somehow!
I have about 200 staples in a “reverse Mercedes” surgical cut; today I’m due to get every other staple out, although the whole area is getting more sensitive and itchy as I have less pain medication; some skin has started to peel, and the water continues to seep out of the pours of my legs. I’m losing about a kilo of water weight a day, and for the first time I have a “pear-shaped” body. Who knows how I will end up?
Those who have seen me tend to comment the most on how white my eyes are, and how rosey my skin is. After ten years of jaundice, the body recovers incredibly quickly once the plumbing works. And it is working. A week after surgery, apparently I was in a risky situation, my body fighting to reject the organ in an unusually strong and premature reaction. A week on, and nearly all my liver tests have dropped into the normal range; something that has not occurred since I was diagnosed with PSC in 2004.
All of the cannulas and lines out of my body have been removed, and the side effects of the immunosuppressants are starting to show; namely, my once thick, curly hair is now thinned and flat.
Things on the floor also have also changed substantially. The woman across from me went into cardiac arrest. While salvaged, she remains in critical condition. The other transplant patient was moved to a different room due to a more ill patient needing to be in the bay across from the nurse’s station. Last night was a kind of three-way non-sensical conversation as they responded to each other’s cries with random statements.
I’m not sure I will go home this evening or not; something ultimately left up to the bloodwork and doctor’s discression. We shall see…