Post Operative Disclaimer

Any statements or representations made by me during the immediate future should be considered even less reliable than usual due to my current medical condition. Combinations of factors make me suspect my own memories and interpretations of events. Any dialogues should be considered more or less paraphrased. I was trying to organize experiences into memories as they unfolded but sometimes why things were as they were wasn’t clear until later when I was better able to see what my situation was in context to the entire transplant procedure. So these realizations were incorporated later, as were others’ memories of what happened.

Currently my material body is trying to readjust into some semblance of balance after going through some major revisions. As I have been living for years with a liver that was barely functional, other organs have been compensating as much as possible to cover for it. Suddenly, they are relived of that duty, so they are a little confused. The liver produces more than 300 chemicals used by the body. The cirrhosed one I had was either not producing or under producing many or most of them. Thus, when the healthy liver from Marken started working, a lot of the biological regulators that are expressed to control production levels are miscalibrated. Added into all this are the drugs I am taking so my immune system doesn’t reject the transplant. I am taking an immunosuppressor to shut the immune system down. To cover for that, I am taking an antibiotic, an antiviral, an antifungal, and an antacid. All of which have their own set of side effects.

Add to this the whole issue of pain. Besides the 16 inch (40 cm) incision through both skin and muscle, in the process of removal and replacement they have bruised my ribs. If you’ve ever had a bruised rib, you know what I am talking about. What to speak of all the internal slicing and dicing that went on. I’ll get into all the other holes in a later post.

The bottom line is a roller coaster sort of ride where at times I can feel light headed and jittery, or totally fatigued, through a whole range of variants up to and including some moments where I feel better than I have in years. Like glimpses of what my life might be. At least it evokes memories of what normal used to be and how I used to take it for granted.

Anyway, the last week has been one series of benchmarks achieved after another. Setting upright in my desk chair and writing this blog entry has been one of them. Thanks for sharing the moment. Hare Krishna.