Thursday, August 24, 2017 – Mild Rejection

Well today we got the results of Annabelle’s liver biopsy and the doctors have concluded that Annabelle has “mild rejection.”  Although the word “rejection” sounds scary, it is very common in the first few months post-transplant. Luckily, since it is mild this means that the doctors treat the rejection with large doses of steriods over the next few days.  They will continue to check her liver numbers daily and adjust her medications accordingly.  Hopefully her liver numbers will return to where they were before the spike within a few days.

In other news, Annabelle got one of her two JP drains removed from her abdomen!  Yay for one less tube!  The remaining JP drain is still putting out more volume than the doctors want to see but the fluid is now clear and not “milky.”  The no-fat diet they have her on is really helping!  We’re hoping she can get this drain out soon, making it easier and more comfortable for her to roll on her right side.

Annabelle has still been happy, but she has been a little more uncomfortable the past two days.  The removed drain wound, the biopsy wound, the itchy surgery stiches, and a BAD case of diaper rash have made her cry more than usual.  However, she still gives away lots of smiles to all the medical staff…to say that most have fallen in love with her would be an understatement.  In fact, the geneticist on-call the week of her surgery pops in about every day just to see her!  She’s definitely stolen a lot of hearts!

Annabelle has been keeping herself busy playing with her toys, sitting up for long stretches in her crib, watching movies, getting daily visits from the therapy dogs (the highlight of her day!), and by working with the physical and occupational therapists.  Today we took her for another stroll in the wagon where we went to the outdoor healing garden and to the resource library.  She really enjoyed the fresh air and the change of scenery for a little while.  We love that this place still helps kids be kids while in the hospital!

Thank you for your continued prayers!  We may not update daily since Annabelle is stable, but we will try to update every couple of days.

Prayer Requests:

1.) Continued prayer for the donor’s family.

2.) Continued prayer for exceptional nurses.

3.) Continued prayer for no infections, no clotting, and no future rejections.

4.) Continued prayer for low ammonia and low lactate…ammonia was in the low 50s and lactate was 1.9 (both on the high end of the normal range and they have trended upward the past few days).  They added more protein to her diet this evening so we’re hoping her new liver processes the extra protein well.

5.) Continued prayer that her abdomen drainage would clear up soon so her JP drain could be removed.

6.) Pray that this episode of rejection would be short lived, that her body would respond well to the boost in steriods, and that her liver numbers would trend downward.

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