Tuesday 26 April 2016

An honest confession...

This blog is not what I had hoped it would be...

I had this vision when I started writing that I would be able to give a blow by blow account of recovery post surgery. I wanted to get across exactly what it was like to recover from a liver transplant and to be able to provide something that would support those preparing for a similar situation and to educate those who are close to someone in such a situation. I also hoped that the blog would educate a wider circle of people... friends, extended family, employers so that they could have an understanding of what it is like to have to go through major surgery and the kind of support network that is required. 

The truth is, I could barely hold my phone for more than a minute within the first 10 days post surgery. I couldn't stay awake for more than a few hours let alone write about what I was experiencing. Once I was discharged, I expected to be able to write retrospectively about my time in hospital and the subsequent home recovery. In reality, I had to focus on actually recovering. And sleeping. 

I feel that the posts that I have written since being in hospital are not written how I wanted them to be. Because of this, I will now be writing as I did pre-transplant. Capturing moments and experiences as and when they take place.

Thank you once again for continuing to read and support me. I always welcome comments and suggestions and will work towards completing the outstanding pages on the site.

For now, here's a picture of me as Yoda...



Keep Smiling :)  xx

Saturday 23 April 2016

The Morning After the Night Before... (WARNING: SOME ICKY CONTENT)


Back to the Royal Free, November 2015...


The day after my first night of methyl-prednisolone was not the best I've ever had! Thankfully, there were signs of improvement given my condition the day before. I was apparently less yellow and was starting to feel a bit more energetic again. I even managed to get out of bed and move around again. 


At some point over the previous days, my catheter had been removed. Since then, myself and the nurses had noticed blood in my urine. No one was overly concerned about this until I noticed a very large bruise in my groin. When I say a bruise, I mean a lump close to the size of a tennis ball the whole area was purple. It was not a pretty sight and was rather uncomfortable. I informed the doctors and yet another ultrasound was requested to make sure that this was nothing sinister. Thankfully, the ultrasound showed nothing nasty going on and it was concluded that it was just a really nasty bruise probably caused by the catheter or removal of the catheter. This delightful bruise to a good couple of months to subside - oh the joys of not having a normal platelet count!

Luckily, my day was improved greatly by the visitors that came... 


With Abi on the day of yellow!


Abi was there for the second day. It was so good to see her and also to see her when I looked a little bit more normal (although having spoken to her since, she felt I looked even more yellow!). At least I as able to sit up and get out of bed this time. I was so grateful to Abi for being there and it reminded me what true friendship is. She had come down from York during the middle of her studies as a midwife to come and visit to make sure that I was OK. It meant the absolute world to me that someone would go to that much effort to come and see me when I was most certainly not at my best, especially as visiting was limited to after 2pm, meaning that she had to find ways to entertain herself before coming into the hospital. It turns out that Caius had some very important business to attend to that he needed Abi's help with...

One thing about being in hospital is that it is difficult to be completely presentable and so you need the people around you to be those that you are completely comfortable with. Luckily Abi is certainly one of those people and she didn't mind that I might dose off halfway through a conversation or that at times I was close to falling out of my very attractive hospital gown. She didn't even mind me talking about toilet humour! Laughter is of course the best medicine and this comes from having the best people around you during recovery. 

Phew! A much more normal colour!