November 16

2:17pm

Just over 36 hours since Nathaniel’s transplant surgery completed. He’s off of the ventilator as of this morning and he’s talking, if mostly to say when something is uncomfortable or to answer doctors’ questions. The floor team, the transplant team, infectious disease, pulmonology, and nephrology have all been around and said that he’s on schedule if not recovering slightly faster than expected.

No food yet, and he’ll be on dialysis at least part time for a little while yet. His kidneys need time to heal up, and that’s much easier to make happen now that he’s got a working liver.

He’s coughing a lot, which is expected of anyone who had a liver transplant, but he’s also getting better at bringing things up. (His lungs have been so healthy that it’s been a while since he had a productive cough.) And of course his brain is still clearing of the anesthesia and the chemicals the liver let build up, so he’s still a bit fuzzy around the edges.

But the fact that they could get him off the ventilator already is huge, and everything else is proceeding well.

3 Replies to “November 16”

  1. So glad things are looking up! Continue to send up πŸ™πŸ™ and sending lots of love. Aunt Madge

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