Greetings,
A lot has happened since our last update and things are progressing nicely. As is the norm with transplants there is some bumps in the road for the first three to six months but the big picture is a beautiful sun rise painted with the Master's brush.
I had two biopsies after an elevation in my liver enzymes. They showed I had some mild rejection which was handled through some extra treatments. I have progressed well enough to cut back to only having lab work checked once a week, and in a few weeks will be able to have this work done closer to home. This releves us from the early morning trips into the city traffic and staying into the afternoon. Some of the medication adjustments have greatly improved how I feel during the day, giving me more energy.
Today's labs have revealed another bump in our path to recovery, and no matter how it sounds it is believed by my doctor to still be a minor issue which can be easily treated. My liver enzymes and some of my stats have escalated above where they were when I had the other biopsies two weeks ago. They feel it has to do with a bile duct obstruction or the passage way from my liver to intestines (my passage way is different than normal due to an operation I had twenty years ago...I strive to be different). So in the morning starting at 6:30am I will have an ultrasound, liver biopsy, and a Percutaneous Transhepatic Cholangiogram (injecting dye into the liver's bile ducts to aid in looking for obstructions), along for any surgical procedures to correct what they find. We will be there all day and pray that we can come home at day's end rather than being admitted.
There are two minor surgical options they may use to correct the problem and I may need to go back on a medicine I was taking before the transplant for a while. The Lord has given me a very wise and caring transplant team to care for me and I thank Him for working through them. Every day I feel better and better and more grateful for that day's life and opportunities.
Thankful for His grace, Joseph Shore