There is NO CONVENIENT time to go to the hospital but this was not the weekend we had expected. We gathered in Durham for Heath's birthday (Chip's son). We catered with MAC'S BBQ and it was fabulous. Well, what we got to enjoy was. We sat down for lunch and Chip's phone rang. He had gone for blood work the day before and they said that the 'numbers' weren't there. OK so we took more of this drug and less of that and tweaked as we were told to do. Then they wanted him to come back on Saturday for more blood work. When the phone rang that afternoon it was the results of the early morning blood work. The lady said "I don't have good news, you need to return to the hospital. Your numbers are off the charts". She then told me (as Chip had to give me the phone since he was so upset) that we needed to get ready to bring him in. We were to expect a call within the hour to tell us that a bed was ready. Two hours later we get a call asking us when we will be there. I explained we were waiting for a call making sure there was a bed ready for him. So we head for Duke and we are there within 10 minutes. I take him in and they are waiting for him. I wheel him up to his room and it is the SAME room that he had before. IT WAS WEIRD!
We were told that the issue was unknown. It was either infection or rejection. So, our near perfect (if you can imagine that) journey so far has been disrupted. I am scared to death. It is Chip and I there by ourselves. Donna stayed back at the hotel since it was Heath's birthday. I fled the hotel so fast I didn't even think about leaving David and the kids there without any transportation since I was taking Chip in my car. We arrive at 4:20 pm and finally at 9:10 pm they take him for an ultrasound. They need to find out what is going on and why it looks like something is "WRONG" with Stewie. He gets back from the ultrasound around 11:10 pm. I know then that I am staying with him. I knew that we were going to have a slumber party. He was scared and so was I. Not knowing what was going on was the worst. He kept telling everyone how 'GREAT HE FELT". He continued to joke with the nurses and we just couldn't imagine what was going so wrong.
The next morning he is taken for a biopsy. He was NOT happy about that. His lead surgeon has said "Don't worry about this. You have a good liver now and we just need to figure out what is going on". We had already been told that rejection is better than infection as infection can be quite nasty to figure out. Since it was Labor Day weekend we were unsure of what we would find out. They called in a senior pathologist to do some emergency cultures on the liver. They start giving Chip STEROIDS again which makes him very emotional. I had to leave and come back home to Charlotte and felt so bad for doing so. Finally today (Tuesday) we get some news. We have been basically idle since Saturday. We did keep getting the words "YOUR LIVER IS GOOD and it is doing well". We could only measure that he felt so well and that things were moving along so great yet we were back in the hospital and noone knew why.
So to wrap up the many details that are interesting but maybe not needed Owner # 1 of the liver apparently at one point in time had a staff infection. Well Chip has had that too. From what I understand once you have had staff the infection is always present in your body to a certain extent. The liver was strong, there was no additional bacteria in it or infection. Apparently something was going on with the steroids, the prograph (a anti-rejection medication) and the liver being in a 'new body', So Stewie is not unhappy with Owner # 2.
Tonight Chip is at his hotel and resting peacefully. After his turmoil for 24 hours with his blood sugar being as high as 390 he is calm and getting things back on track. We have been informed that this may happen again. We have been told that 'over-reacting' due to the unknown is expected and will occur. These Doctors are NOT messing around and we are glad about that. We have had the best care that we could ever imagine at DUKE and not one waking moment goes by that we are not totally thankful for it.
The road to recovery is still long but it looks good. So to the bumps that will show up we will fasten our seat belts for you and we will be a little more prepared for you when you want to pop up. It's not that we weren't told that this wouldn't be a possibility it was just so down played. Our miracles keep on giving. The Angels are dancing and singing and sending many graces to us and we appreciate every single one of them.
Thank you to our family and friends who without fail coupled with faith keep us going. It is greatly appreciated!!
