Day Surgery

Hey all - Dad's doing fantastic.

He picked me up on Saturday for breakfast - just the boys. It was good. Actually - its the first time my dad and I have hung out since the surgery - just him and I. He was totally blues'd out - Harley Davidson hat, crazy sun glasses, jacket... and Stevie Ray Vaughan cranked. And I mean CRANKED. I think its hilarious. I'm so happy for him.

While dad is doing a ton better, he's still got two minor issues looming. His potassium levels are REALLY high. That's dangerous because your heart could stop beating. Not much my dad can do about that other than not eating bananas and drinking lots of water.

Also - some liver enzyme is totally out of whack. TOTALLY. Apparently there's a problem with his bile ducts. They are shrinking.

Your bile ducts are these big veiny things that leave flow bile to and from your liver. When a living donor is used, because of the anatomy of the liver (they're only using 70% of a liver), the procedure isn't as flawless as a cadaver liver (whole liver from a diseased patient). And this is one of the common issues... some of the bile ducts can shrink.

Easy fix though. Similar to an angioplasty, my dad will have a long wire shoved down his throat (I believe) all the way to his liver. Its actually twice as long as the angioplasty wire. Once the wire reaches the bile ducts, they'll install stints that will expand the ducts. Its day surgery. Pray that the procedure goes without a hitch.

The doctors seem to think that this procedure will help my dad recover even quicker.

Also - my dad's Hep C is still lurking. Its already started to act quickly on his new liver. He's not in any danger yet... but its possible that in the next few months, he may have to go on a heavy CHEMO treatment. My dad really really doesn't want to. Its pretty hardcore - he'll be very sick for many months again... and that's the last thing he wants right now. Pray that the Hep-C will disappear and be a non-issue.

Anyhow - there's an update. I should post pictures so y'all can see how he's doing. He's getting fat again!!! So awesome! He doesn't use his cane as much anymore. All very positive.