Isla officially has her new liver!
Typing those words doesn’t even feel real after everything that brought us to this moment.
Isla went for her weekly appointment at the Georgetown Hospital pediatric liver clinic on Monday, May 11 and they decided to admit her to keep an eye on her. We later learned that her levels were decreasing and the team wanted to keep her close just in case there was an emergency. In a stroke of God’s blessing, that week a living donor, Madison, was being tested for a possible match. We got the official approval on Friday, May 15 and the transplant was scheduled for Monday, May 18.
The surgery took over 10 hours and her new liver went to work immediately…shrinking her spleen by 20%!
The day after surgery (Tuesday, May 19) Isla was breathing on her own above the respirator. She was also fighting off sedation….she wanted to wake up!! The team felt she was hitting all the markers to be extubated and did so that evening. Her color also returned and she no longer looks like a highlighter.
Madison is also doing very well. She will stay in the hospital for a few days and then spend the next 10 weeks regenerating the liver portion she donated.
We truly cannot put into words the gratitude we feel for this incredible woman and her family. Because of her selflessness, Isla has a second chance at life. We love you and your family endlessly.
The scare of a lifetime
The following day (Wednesday, May 20) Isla was fine…until she wasn’t. That night, Alysia noticed Isla was struggling with excess mucus and the nurses on duty immediately called for help. Respiratory came, all the nurses on call came, and Alysia was told to leave the room. A Code Blue was called and a sudden swarm of people came in to work on Isla. She was in respiratory distress and they eventually made the decision to re-intubate her to stabilize her.
Today (Thursday, May 21), Isla is sedated and getting an EEG to check for any potential strokes. The cause of her distress last night is something called pulmonary edema. There was too much fluid between her lungs and her chest wall. They’ve had to put so much fluid in her from before the surgery, to after surgery, on top of all the medications she’s on…it was just too much. She is stable now and the nurse on call today is literally camped out in the doorway on her computer so she has eyes on Isla and her machines at all times.
The terror we all felt when Alysia notified us of what happened last night is not something we will forget. Isla is a fighter and we are fighting for her.