Prayers por favor

[Vertnut]

He made it through the operation. It took about 8 hours. He's in ICU now. He"s on a ventilator and they are keeping him sedated overnight. He is starting to run a slight fever so if that does not go away quickly they may open him up tomorrow morning and do an antibiotic "wash." Not out of the woods by any means but everything is in our favor so far.

Good deal, man. Thanks for the update.

[davbrucas]

He made it through the operation. It took about 8 hours. He's in ICU now. He"s on a ventilator and they are keeping him sedated overnight. He is starting to run a slight fever so if that does not go away quickly they may open him up tomorrow morning and do an antibiotic "wash." Not out of the woods by any means but everything is in our favor so far.

Yup...with all of the immunosuppressive medications he is on, any sign of infection they take it very seriously. I hope he makes a full and complete recovery.

[Shorty]

Update:

He is having some complications. His levels were off this morning so they took him into surgery again at 1 pm. Prior to the transplant he had a large abdominal hernia so they closed his abdomen pretty tightly after the transplant. He had some internal bleeding after the surgery, which combined with the tight abdomen, put pressure on the liver. The doctor described it as compartment syndrome, which I'm familiar with from my job as a worker's compensation adjuster.

They opened him up today and cleaned all the blood out (they said it was a moderate amount) and did an antibiotic wash. They took biopsies of the right and left lobes during the procedure. The left lobe showed very little damage but the right lobe was moderately damaged. After this surgery, they only closed the skin and left the muscles open in order to prevent any pressure on the liver. The question now is if the liver will be able to recover from the damage it sustained. It is a young liver, so the doctor thinks it's about 50/50. We will know in the next 24-48 hours. They are checking the levels every 6 hours for now. Tomorrow morning may be an indication of which way it is headed. If the liver is failing, he will be placed back on the transplant list as a "status 1" and go back to the top. They plan on another surgery on Wednesday to do another wash and biopsy.

[svtcobra03]

PM sent, Best wishes shorty

[yellowstang]

Best wishes on his speedy recovery.

[davbrucas]

The surgeon messed up by closing the abdomen up tightly like that. If this liver fails it's the surgeon's fault.

[Vertnut]

The surgeon messed up by closing the abdomen up tightly like that. If this liver fails it's the surgeon's fault.

Does he know that?

[ELVIS]

you and your fam are in my prayers.

god bless.

[01-GATOR]

Prayers sent, hope everything turns out well.

[davbrucas]

Does he know that?

It would be impossible to prove malpractice because it isnt necessarily against the standard of care, which is one of the things that needs to be present for malpractice to have occurred.
Many patients have to have delayed closure of their abdomen post liver transplantation. Some can get by with primary closure, but since your dad has had a previous abdominal surgery, he certainly had a lot of scar tissue which made the surgery much more difficult.

[Shorty]

The surgeon discussed the decision of keeping it open vs closing it with us and there were pros and cons to both. I don't really feel like getting into specifics right now.

We got a call from the hospital and we're back up here. The liver is dead/dying. His BP is unstable and they are doing everything they can to keep him alive. The doctor is trying to get him relisted but they don't know if they can get a liver in time. Looks like this is it.

[slow99]

Hoping for the best, praying for you dad.

[davbrucas]

The surgeon discussed the decision of keeping it open vs closing it with us and there were pros and cons to both. I don't really feel like getting into specifics right now.

We got a call from the hospital and we're back up here. The liver is dead/dying. His BP is unstable and they are doing everything they can to keep him alive. The doctor is trying to get him relisted but they don't know if they can get a liver in time. Looks like this is it.

Sorry man. I am sure he knew that you guys loved him before going under anesthesia.
With as much as surgeons worry about this complication post transplant, I am surprised that they would attempt to close an abdomen when it is very tight.

[GTChick01]

So sorry to hear about your father. I hope they can find him a liver in time. You and your family will be in my thoughts.

[onemeangixxer7502]

The surgeon discussed the decision of keeping it open vs closing it with us and there were pros and cons to both. I don't really feel like getting into specifics right now.

We got a call from the hospital and we're back up here. The liver is dead/dying. His BP is unstable and they are doing everything they can to keep him alive. The doctor is trying to get him relisted but they don't know if they can get a liver in time. Looks like this is it.

I hope it all goes well, prayers out for him.