As a nurse, I have seen a lot…like A LOT!! Some stories are miracles and some stories are ones that I care not to remember. But, in each of them, I have been thankful to be a part of that family’s journey. At 4:30am when the OR nurse told us we could head up to the PICU to see Abby, my stomach went to knots. I had been that nurse bringing a family back to a loved one right after surgery and watched the looks of fear, of relief, of sadness, of confusion, and of just plain exhaustion. Now I was that mom.
When we walked into Abby’s room, I caught myself just staring. The tubes, the wires, the machines, the 10+ nurse and doctors, and my baby girl just laying there. The anesthesia was still very much present in her body and because of all the IV lines, drains, tubes, and wires she couldn’t be covered up as everyone needed to be able to assess her. Thankfully, she didn’t need the breathing tube after surgery and was breathing comfortably on her own. Dave and I stood off to the side as the team worked seamlessly to get all of her medications up and running and make sure she was okay.
Then, I held her hand. I whispered in her ear, “Mommy is right here. Your daddy and I are so proud of you. You are so strong. You are so brave. You’ve got this, baby girl. Mommy loves you.” And the tears flowed. Today, I was her mommy…not her nurse, not her caretaker, not the one worried about all her pumps and the million doctor’s orders…today, I was mommy. They say that sometimes knowing too much is a bad thing and I would agree. Being a medical professional and having a daughter with medical needs can be overwhelming- ignorance is bliss, right?! But, I am also so thankful for the knowledge I have in order to give our daughter the best care possible.
As the days went on, tubes and IV lines began to be removed. Abby was still dealing with pain and being super itchy. She was also on high doses of steroids and was having issues maintaining her blood sugars. We left the PICU on Wednesday afternoon, 3 days after surgery, but by Thursday night, she was back in the PICU for increased sugars. We stayed in the PICU until Sunday afternoon, and again, transferred back to the regular floor. Through all of this, Dave and I took turns staying with her. The nights brought no sleep and the days were filled with endless doctors, orders, pricks and pokes, and lab draws. But by God’s grace, we endured. She endured.
The plan was for us to be discharged on Tuesday, August 28th, 10 days after a major surgery. Abby was doing pretty well and we felt confident we could go. Then, her liver enzymes came back from her blood draw that Monday morning. They were elevated. This was indicative of possible rejection and so, Tuesday the team wanted to do a liver biopsy and more lab work in order to rule that out. Rejection can be common after transplant and the team follows closely to catch any signs of it early. The treatment is usually an increase in medications or a change in medications with continued blood work for monitoring. So, Tuesday morning, we headed off to her liver biopsy. And by 5pm that night, we had the results. NO REJECTION!! Her liver looked good, was functioning well, and was just trying to heal. We were blown away and so thankful.
Wednesday morning, 8/29/18, Abigail was able to go home. 11 days after a liver transplant we were bringing our baby girl home. We were shocked. Abby did amazingly well and the only person we could attribute that to was God. He has an amazing plan for this little one and watching Him work in her life every day is a complete miracle and gift. Dave and I are so humbled that God chose us to be this little MMA fighter’s mommy and daddy!
