6/3/2016 - The New Liver Orientation & The Juicebox

On Thursday the 2nd, during the early morning rounds, I was told that I might be discharged on Friday the 3rd of June.

Accomplishments to that point:
1) I had taken no blood during transplant (very rare occurrence given all the medical problems people have driving them to transplant)
2) I had been able to fart (which every woman who has delivered via C-section will tell you means you can now have solid foods... a hallelujah moment)
3) I had been able to get to my feet (although I was moving at the speed of an elderly person in a walker across a gravel road).

One more condition that would have to met for me to go home, Tessa and I would have to take a 1 hour class on new organ care.  They would discuss the copious new drugs I would be on, their side effects, their dosages. What to do if I missed a dose and was under or over 4 hours from the time I was supposed to take my meds.

Note this is only page 1, you get the idea

Additionally, I would learn what diet I should follow and specifically to avoid grapefruit (toxic to liver and interferes with any liver filtered meds).  I should stay away from shell-fish, raw-fish, and under cooked meats.

They told me they didn't have any rooms in the "Step down" unit in 6 BLES and that I was the best case they had seen in a long while.  Both Tessa and I felt very uneasy, after all, I could still barely walk (I was wheeled to my drug class), and I was still having my medicines changed daily after 5:00am bloodwork came back to fine tune my reaction to the meds.  Our concern was that, we didn't feel we know how to care for me at home yet and that we didn't have access to the daily labs.  I still had a Jackson-Pratt Drain in my right side that I dubbed "The Juicebox" which looked like one of those grenades full of Fruit Juice you would buy on Bourbon street in New Orleans.  Since we disagreed with the Friday discharge we formulated some talking points and were going to be talking to the doctors in the morning.

This was a pano of my room for the duration of my hospital recovery (Surgical Intensive Care Unit)

They wanted Friday, June 3rd, discharge and we were thinking Sunday / Monday.  When they made their next rounds, we agreed to split the difference.  We would both target a post 3pm Saturday June 4th discharge.

Over the next 24 hours, Tessa learned how to measure and empty fluid from my JP drain, how to dress it, and all about meds.  This would at least position us to be more comfortable if we had to head home in the current state (assuming no day to day improvement or drain removal).