Discharged

         Grace was discharged from the hospital yesterday evening. There has been a change in her medications which will solve some of the problems but not all of them; she is still experiencing nausea with any movement and still having pain. At this point most of her discomfort will not be relieved until she is able to have her hernia repair surgery. Jordans liver is working as it should in Graces body. Jordans recovery is going excellent and he will returning to work shortly.

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The Wiebe's

A small hiccup

       Grace was admitted back in to the Toronto general hospital at 2:30 last night. She was having severe abdominal pain with lots of nausea and unable to keep anything down, so she could not eat or swallow her pills. They did blood work and a ct scan and those came back all clear. She is now on fluids and working towards eating again. Her pain is more under control and she will be resting in the hospital for the next couple of days.
If there are any questions feel free to message Karlee

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The Wiebe's

Day by day

         After a doctors appointment on Tuesday, the transplant doctors are all very pleased with Grace's progress. Her numbers are excellent and her new liver is working as it should. Mobility is still painful  and she is having a difficult time swallowing her pills, but she has started to eat a little bit more each day. Grace still does not have very much strength because of all the weight that was lost, but she is working each day to gain it back.

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The Wiebe's

4 weeks post surgery

        Today it has been exactly 4 weeks since Jordan donated part of his liver to Grace. Jordan is continuing to recover quickly and well, there were some issues with his surgical incision but they have been taken care of and are healing nicely. Grace is continuing to recover in the apartment in downtown Toronto, she has good days and she has bad days. She is slowly trying to regain some strength but her appetite has still not fully returned. There is still a large amount of fluid build up in her legs which makes walking difficult and painful. Grace goes to the hospital several times a week for blood work and appointments, thus far her doctors are very happy with her blood work results. We continue to hope for continued recovery and increased strength for Grace.

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The Wiebe's

Discharge day

         This evening Grace was discharged from the hospital, she was very excited and ready to leave her hospital room. She is at the apartment now and will go to the hospital every few days for follow up appointments. The doctors will still keep a very close eye on her recovery for the next several weeks. She has lost a considerable amount of weight so she has lots of strength to make up. Walking and daily activities still come with pain but she feels better to be out of the hospital. Jordan's liver is working very well in Grace, her numbers are saying that it is working as it should. There is still lots of recovery to happen but it is on its way.
If you have any questions about anything at all that I have forgotten to include, feel free to contact me and ask.

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The Wiebe's

2 weeks post transplant

        Progress is slowly starting to become evident, Grace's test results are all positive, so now it's just a matter of pain control, mobility, and getting her appetite up so she can regain her strength. Her test results show that her new liver is working great. There were a few unplanned complications but they have been solved and now her recovery can hopefully progress more. Grace is still experiencing lots of pain, but hopefully with regained strength that can be resolved.
      Jordan had his first post surgery appointment with one of his surgeons, and he had nothing but good things to say. The doctor said that Jordan was way ahead of the recovery process for being only 2 weeks in to it. Jordan is flying home to Manitoba tomorrow morning.

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The Wiebe's

   

Recovery day 11

    Recovery continues to move slowly for Grace, at the moment it seems to be at a stand still with waiting for improvements. Her pain lately has been very extreme which slows the recovery process, but her doctors will soon be doing more tests in hopes of finding causes and solutions. Her pain medications are not working very well and her communication and eating has lessened due to the amount of pain she is in and her lack of appetite. We are hoping to soon be over this bump in the road so that improvements can start happening.
    Jordan continues to improve every day and will be heading home to Manitoba this Friday.
Thanks again for your prayers and concerns, they are especially apprecictiated during these difficult days.

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The Wiebe's

A Slow Recovery Continues

   It's been a rough couple of days for Grace as the recovery continues. Constant pain makes it very difficult for her to eat anything as well as move around which is crucial in the recovery process. The new liver is working well but is still having trouble with some crucial functions. They say this is normal after such a big transplant and are working on balancing out the medications and getting everything straightened out. Right now the biggest things are for her to start eating and feel well enough to go for regular assisted walks. It's a slow process taken day by day with very slow yet visible signs of improvement. Still no date given for her release but it should be in the near future. It's very up and down right now but once everything levels off it should be smooth sailing ahead.
Jordan is doing very well in his recovery, still taking things slow but visiting Grace daily and improving every day.
Thank you all for your prayers and concern, they are very much appreciated.
The Wiebe's

Recovery day 6

       The last couple days have been pretty rough for Grace and Jordan. They (especially Grace) have had a fair amount of pain. But after the more difficult days today brought some progress, this morning Jordan was discharged and he is very glad to be out of the hospital. He has to stay in the city for the next while for follow-up appointments but he is doing very well and improving daily. This afternoon Grace was moved from the step down unit to a different ward. She goes on short walks every day despite the pain she experiences and she has a very good attitude about this difficult recovery period, which plays a huge role in her speed of improvement.
The surgeon that operated on Grace came to Jordan and thanked him for what he had done for his mom. During the surgery they saw how damaged Graces old liver was, so it was a very good thing that they operated when they did because the disease was progressing quickly. With continued rest and care the recovery process should keep going smoothly.

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The Wiebe's

Recovery continues

       Jordan is recovering quite well, he is still quite uncomfortable but has been going for walks to visit Grace and can possibly be discharged in a few days. He has been moved from the step down unit to the ward. This morning Grace was transferred from ICU to step down, she is now just down the hall from Jordan. Today was quite a difficult day for Grace as she experienced much more pain than usual, but hopefully tomorrow there will be an improvement and she will be more comfortable.

Road to Recovery day 2

             Before the surgery even took place, Jordan was warned that the first few days of recovery would be the worst and that definitely showed today. He has pain and overall discomfort, but that is to be expected after such a major surgery. It will just be taken one day at a time.
Despite Jordan not feeling well, he was able to come up and visit Grace. She had been asking for quite a while now to see him and they finally allowed it today, so with some very helpful staff we took Jordan up in a wheel chair to visit Grace for a few minutes. She was very glad to see him and they were able to see how they are both in the same boat in terms of a difficult recovery.
            Grace is doing very well, she has lots of pain and discomfort but her nurses are very impressed with her rapid improvement which is very encouraging to hear. She does not feel the improvements they talk about but to look at her and talk to her compared to the last few days she is definitely coming along. Tomorrow they are planning to move her from ICU to step down as soon as a room opens up.
Everything appears to be progressing as it should be for both Jordan and Grace.

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The Wiebe's

Road to Recovery day 1

  It is the first day after surgery, Grace and Jordan are both doing well. Jordan went for a walk this morning and the nurses are very impressed with his speed of improvement. He is very tired but doing well, asking about Grace often and ready to come home.
Grace is now more awake and responsive in ICU, she is very tired but talking with us in short increments and asking questions. Her humour has returned which is wonderful to see, she is joking with us and the staff despite her pain and discomfort; example: She has very many tubes and machines attached to her, and as she is not allowed to eat or drink at the moment even though she wants to, she suggested putting some sauce on all her spaghetti(tubes) and eating that. She asks often about Jordan and wants to see him. Her road to recovery will be long but her attitude is already great about it. The staff here is wonderful and we are so thankful for all of their care.

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The Wiebe's

Surgeries complete

             At 6 am this morning Jordan was admitted in to the hospital to get ready to donate part of his liver to his mom (Grace). Grace was admitted in to the hospital the night before. My dad(Randy) and I(Karlee) waited with Jordan in pre op until 9am when he was taken in to surgery, we then waited in pre op with Grace. After the go ahead that everything was good with Jordans liver, Grace was then taken in to surgery at 12pm. The Toronto general hospital had a very nice surgical waiting room for families to wait in with very helpful staff and volunteers, which is where Randy and I spent much time today.
            At 6 pm after 9 hours in OR the surgeon came and told my dad and I that Jordan was out of surgery and everything went well. The surgery was estimated to take 6-8 hours, the surgeon explained the reason for a 9 hour surgery to be because Jordan was so well put together, his connective tissues were just so strong that it was difficult to cut through his liver. My dad and I were able to see him one at a time in recovery where he appeared to be doing very well, sleepy but responsive, the first thing he asked me was how mom was doing. Jordan then stayed in recovery until 10:15 when he was moved to his room on a ward called step-down, it is not an ICU ward. There my dad and I were able to visit him more, he was very sleepy and is doing very well.
          After a very long wait the surgeon came and told us that Grace was finally out surgery, In total she was in OR for 10 and a half hours. The surgeon said that it was a very challenging and difficult  surgery, he said on a scale of 0-10 in difficulty he would rate it a 9. Despite a difficult transplant everything ended well in surgery and everything looks good, the surgeons ended on a positive note. Grace was then moved to ICU and is recovering there at the moment. We have not been able to see her as of yet.
          After a long day in surgery Jordan and Grace are recovering and resting in their rooms.

   
   The Wiebe's
           

The call has come!

           This morning Grace and Jordan received the call from their teams that the surgery is a go for tomorrow morning. Grace was admitted at 2pm today for tests and meetings with her doctors. Jordan will go in at 6am tomorrow morning for prep and he should go in to surgery around 8:30am, Grace will then go in to surgery at approximately 10:30am. More updates will be coming, feel free to ask any questions if I have forgotten to include anything in the blog.

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The Wiebe's

The waiting continues

         
            We have been here in Toronto for a little over a week now, and Grace and Jordan are still waiting for 'the call.' The surgery will hopefully happen this week sometime as Grace and Jordan are getting quite anxious. They hear very little from their surgical teams so when they have more information we will be sure to share. We are very grateful for everyone's thoughtfulness and generosity up to this point.      

    The Wiebe's