Tuesday, October 6, 2009

6 month follow up

I a lot of time off the blog, but I continue to think about the purpose of this blog and one of the purposes was to educate people about being a living liver donor. So, there's a lot of space (6 months worth) that needs to be filled in. Rather than give all the details, you should know that life for me right now is great. My body has recovered from the surgery and in September I went into Kaiser for an ultra sound. My doctor told me that my liver had grown back completely and that my blood counts looked great. I know my liver has grown back because my appetite has come full circle. In fact, I'm at my pre-surgery weight.

I have found that my trips to the gym are pretty much back to normal except for my ability to do a full sit-up. My lower abs didn't take as much of a cut as my uppers. So, I'm working on increasing my abdominal strength. I found jumping a little strange at first, but fine now. I can't quite explain it, but a new scar feels like a growth on my body. The skin around it is a little numb still and I imagine it will always be this way. The itching is still there at times, but the scar looks really good. Maybe I'll take a picture of it for you.

I appreciate all of you following up with me to see how I'm doing. I am grateful for a healthy recovery, but I never had any question things would be fine with me.

4 comments:

  1. I am so happy to read this update, Renee. You truly are an incredible person. I love you!

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  2. I am so happy to hear that you are doing well. I understand your description of the scarring and how it feels. I have the numbness around many of my transplant-related surgical scars. I count my numerous scars as badges of honor. I wear them proudly in my bikini. I am an almost 47-year-old nana of 3. I am so grateful to have a second chance at life after receiving six organs from an anonymous organ donor. May God bless his family. God bless your family.
    Jean Crawford

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  3. I read your story on the Transplant Cafe website, which led me to your blog. Thank you for sharing your story.

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  4. Thanks for visiting the site! I'm so excited to hear that you are an organ recipient and you are doing well. It's always great to share stories!

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