11 year anniversary

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone!

Today is the 11th year anniversary of Randy and my surgery! Can hardly

believe it has been that long ago. We are both doing great and the only thing

that really reminds us he is a transplant survivor is the medication he

takes for antirejection. We have been blessed to not have had a single

problem post transplant which was related to the surgery or his AIH. Of course

we have had the usual stuff -- sinus junk, colds but what is really

interesting is if we both get sick, he gets well a few days before me -- lol.

So

much for him being immunosuppressed.

We live our lives as we want, do what we want, go where we want and are

thankful for the skilled surgeons at Cleveland Clinic and their staff and all

the people involved in our surgery. There were over 70 people in the

operating rooms we were told.

Cleveland is having a meeting on April 18th which the topic is Living

Donors and we are planning on attending.

As for Randy, lol, he has once again been involved in developing an

instrument which is being used to determine a lot of things about celestial

bodies -- pulsars, dwarf stars and all those fun things. The instrument is

letting scientists discover things which often times translates into logic

for new medical instruments ie: some of the older technology discovered was

used to make the MRI machines(was before his time but you get the drift).

So he has had his wish to be able to make a contribution to mankind by

surviving the surgery.

We empathize with those who are struggling and are having a rough time.

We so much remember those times. When the encephalopathy was so bad and

Randy was clueless to his surroundings, the hallucinations, Randy lost so much

weight, the itching, the muscle cramps, the sleep problems, the swelling

from the edema, the high blood pressure, the fatigue, the jaundice, the

depression, the drain on the finances, eating problems, loss of job, loss of

self worth, the feeling of just wanting to find a hole and crawl in it, and

the list goes on and on. I am sure many have experienced many of these

symptoms.

But we would want to tell you there is hope... may not seem like it but

there is. One of the things we would tell you is to exercise.... I know the

fatigue is awful. But for those who don't know us I will briefly say-- in

the beginning when he was so sick he could barely make it to the end of the

driveway (about 20 yards). Over the next 3 months leading up to the

surgery, we began a regime to get in the best physical condition we could (the

only request our medical team asked of us). By surgery time, Randy was

walking/running about 15 MILES a week and I was doing between 25 and 30 miles a

week. We walked several times a day/night to build stamina. Some times

it required us walking a ways and me jogging back to get the car to bring

him home but we stayed with it. He also ate on a weird schedule so many

times I was cooking at 3am. If he was hungry I made sure something was made.

We were able to put 50 pounds on him. The medical team told us the

better condition we were in going into the surgery, the shorter the recovery

time on the other side. They were so right on that. For someone who could

walk/jog 30 miles a week my legs were rubber post surgery. LOL

Feel free to email if you would like to chat.

Randy adopted my daughter , is stepfather to my two sons, has a

grandchild, and celebrated his 57th birthday-lol. We own a home on 48 acres in

the mountains of WV and enjoy the peace and tranquility of this beautiful

state.

Life is good.

Cheryl and Randy

Randy AIH tx Cleveland Clinic 12/14/99 Living Liver Donor Surgery #2 at

Cleveland Clinic

Cheryl is his Living Liver Donor

[Guest guest]

What a wonderful story.. Bless you both and happy holidays. And happy happy

anniversary!

Xxoo

Lesa in ma pbc stage 2 aih etc

>

> Hello Everyone!

>

> Today is the 11th year anniversary of Randy and my surgery! Can hardly

> believe it has been that long ago. We are both doing great and the only

thing

> that really reminds us he is a transplant survivor is the medication he

> takes for antirejection. We have been blessed to not have had a single

> problem post transplant which was related to the surgery or his AIH. Of

course

> we have had the usual stuff -- sinus junk, colds but what is really

> interesting is if we both get sick, he gets well a few days before me -- lol.

So

> much for him being immunosuppressed.

>

> We live our lives as we want, do what we want, go where we want and are

> thankful for the skilled surgeons at Cleveland Clinic and their staff and all

> the people involved in our surgery. There were over 70 people in the

> operating rooms we were told.

>

> Cleveland is having a meeting on April 18th which the topic is Living

> Donors and we are planning on attending.

>

> As for Randy, lol, he has once again been involved in developing an

> instrument which is being used to determine a lot of things about celestial

> bodies -- pulsars, dwarf stars and all those fun things. The instrument is

> letting scientists discover things which often times translates into logic

> for new medical instruments ie: some of the older technology discovered was

> used to make the MRI machines(was before his time but you get the drift).

> So he has had his wish to be able to make a contribution to mankind by

> surviving the surgery.

>

> We empathize with those who are struggling and are having a rough time.

> We so much remember those times. When the encephalopathy was so bad and

> Randy was clueless to his surroundings, the hallucinations, Randy lost so

much

> weight, the itching, the muscle cramps, the sleep problems, the swelling

> from the edema, the high blood pressure, the fatigue, the jaundice, the

> depression, the drain on the finances, eating problems, loss of job, loss of

> self worth, the feeling of just wanting to find a hole and crawl in it, and

> the list goes on and on. I am sure many have experienced many of these

> symptoms.

>

> But we would want to tell you there is hope... may not seem like it but

> there is. One of the things we would tell you is to exercise.... I know the

> fatigue is awful. But for those who don't know us I will briefly say-- in

> the beginning when he was so sick he could barely make it to the end of the

> driveway (about 20 yards). Over the next 3 months leading up to the

> surgery, we began a regime to get in the best physical condition we could

(the

> only request our medical team asked of us). By surgery time, Randy was

> walking/running about 15 MILES a week and I was doing between 25 and 30 miles

a

> week. We walked several times a day/night to build stamina. Some times

> it required us walking a ways and me jogging back to get the car to bring

> him home but we stayed with it. He also ate on a weird schedule so many

> times I was cooking at 3am. If he was hungry I made sure something was

made.

> We were able to put 50 pounds on him. The medical team told us the

> better condition we were in going into the surgery, the shorter the recovery

> time on the other side. They were so right on that. For someone who could

> walk/jog 30 miles a week my legs were rubber post surgery. LOL

>

> Feel free to email if you would like to chat.

>

> Randy adopted my daughter , is stepfather to my two sons, has a

> grandchild, and celebrated his 57th birthday-lol. We own a home on 48 acres in

> the mountains of WV and enjoy the peace and tranquility of this beautiful

> state.

>

> Life is good.

>

> Cheryl and Randy

> Randy AIH tx Cleveland Clinic 12/14/99 Living Liver Donor Surgery #2 at

> Cleveland Clinic

> Cheryl is his Living Liver Donor

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you Cheryl and Randy. Reading this gave me hope.

Cheryl and Randy

Randy AIH tx Cleveland Clinic 12/14/99 Living Liver Donor Surgery #2 at

Cleveland Clinic

Cheryl is his Living Liver Donor