Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and rejoicing over the past few days! We truly had a Thanksgiving miracle. It's still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that Greg has a new heart! A NEW HEART!! Good riddance old heart and all your issues... we are moving forward and not looking back!
As Greg's mother has mentioned in recent blog posts there have been some complications over the past few days. His first day post-transplant was incredible, but since then he's really been struggling. Yesterday was his worst day so far. Horrible pain being the biggest issue. The pain is not only from the surgery site but also from the extreme bloating he is dealing with because his kidneys are not functioning properly. It has gotten to be so bad that they are starting dialysis today to get the extra fluid off of him before it starts to affect his other organs.
The nurse just showed us the chest x-ray of Greg right before the transplant, right after the transplant, and this morning. The amount of fluid he has built up was staggering. And it's obvious just looking at him - his joints and extremities are extremely swollen. It's interesting because it shows that his new heart is working well - his old heart couldn't pump the fluid to the extremities which is why his liver and abdomen held all of the fluid. His new heart is successfully pumping the fluid everywhere, which is great! The downside though is that Greg hurts everywhere.
The docs are hopeful that once they remove a lot of the extra fluid that Greg's kidneys will "wake up" and start working effectively. There's no indicator at this point that he's experiencing any sort of kidney failure. Kidney issues are actually one of the major complications of heart transplants so while we are surprised and disheartened by this turn of events, the doctors are hopeful that this too will pass in time. Not sure if it'll be days or weeks, but he will probably have full kidney function again.
So, please pray with us for the dialysis to go well! It has been scary for Greg realizing that he needs dialysis. It's one of those scary medical words you hope you'll never have to experience. Thankfully the nurses and doctors have been excellent at explaining everything and making Greg as peaceful as possible. As I type this he is sleeping and his nurse is finishing all the prep needed to get the dialysis machine to work.
Please pray:
For the dialysis to be effective
For Greg's kidneys to work at 100% capacity again
For relief from pain and confusion for Greg
We are continually praising God for the miracle of Greg's heart. I still can't believe how incredible it is!
Love,
Elise
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