So Here Is Where I Am At

It has been just over three weeks since my surgery, and I would have to say that overall I am pretty pleased with the pace of my recovery. Here is a quick snap shot of how I am doing overall;

Numbers

We went to see the doctor today and my billirubin is down to 2.05. Just to give an idea, 3 weeks ago it was 25. Normal levels are between .3 and 1.2. This is the lowest I have been since June and it's almost normal.

Pain

Surprisingly, I am not in that much pain. I am still very limited in my physical activities, but for the most part I get around fine with no pain. I am just about off the pain killers. They are limited to the occasional 4 AM wake up and can't fall back to sleep. Right now I am more concerned about a pain in my butt. (And no I am not talking about my wife.) Right now the main source of pain is from 2 intramuscular shots I had to get at the doctors today as a precautionary measure. If you are not familiar with these shots they are very large needles that need to be injected in the upper hip. They are also made up of a very thick liquid that takes at least 30 seconds each to be injected.

Concerns

At this point I have three major concerns.
1.) I am still on a very high dose of immunosuppressants which means I am at a high risk of infection. This means I have to be very careful in large groups and wash my hands like crazy.
2.) The wound from the transplant has healed very nicely and is all closed up. The wound from the second colon surgery on the other hand is wide open. The doctor said that it looks good even though I could hide a quarter in the wound it is so large. That is just the nature of the type and location of the wound. Again I just have to be careful and keep it clean and covered.
3.) My left hand is still not back to full capacity. It has gotten a little better, but is still ultra sensitive and I'm very limited in how I can use it. I have been doing OT on my own and trying to get into a rehab center, but insurance has been giving me problems.

My Life

Slowly I am beginning to get my life back. I am still very limited in how much I can do, but little by little I am getting back to my life. For example, Saturday night I was able to go out and hang out with some friends at their house for some snacks, but was not able to go with them to dinner and to check out the Super Bowl scene at Channelside. On Sunday, we went to another house to watch the Super Bowl, but I was limited to sitting in a chair the whole game and having people bring me food. I can get out for an hour or two at a time before I start to feel the effects, and have to call it in.