finishing touches
We met with several doctors and nurses on Thursday to review the itinerary for Monday and get a general glimpse of what to expect. Below is a very high level summary of what we're going to experience.
Hudson will be admitted to the hospital Sunday morning. Once in the hospital, doctors will give him an IV and will do final blood draws and tests (to check his liver levels, possible blood transfusions, etc...)
Hudson and Trevor will go into surgery first thing on Monday morning. Surgeons at the University of Washington Medical Center will start with Trevor's surgery and as soon as they have located and confirmed where they want to sever the arteries, veins and bile ducts of Trevor's liver, they will call Children's and have them start operating on Hudson. Surgeons are expecting Hudson's surgery to take around 12 hours and will call us every couple of hours to check in and provide progress reports.
There are two main concerns that we will have to watch for post transplant. The first is blood flow to/from the liver. Blood clots and scar tissue are the two biggest disruptors of blood flow in transplant patients. They will monitor the blood flow by frequent ultrasounds and blood draws. In the event that blood flow is compromised to the liver, doctors will either have to go to the OR immediately or it is even possible that Hudson ends up being re-listed and prioritized at the top of the donor list. The second concern is infection. This will be minimized by antibiotics and monitored by frequent blood draws.
For the few days following his transplant, Hudson will be on narcotics (the good stuff) to manage his pain. While the best way for Hudson's body to heal is to sleep, he needs to be awake as soon as possible so we can monitor and force him to breathe and move on his own. Although he will experience discomfort, it is best thing for his recovery.
#freehudson shirt challenge
Word on the street is that round 2 shirts won't be delivered to folks in time for Monday. Bummer. It would still mean the world to us to post a picture of you wearing your shirt as soon as you do get it.
To those that have already received your shirt: Please remember that we are encouraging people to take pictures of themselves wearing their shirts on Monday and either post to social media or email us the pictures. We are collecting all the pictures to show Hudson how much love and support he (and we) have all around the world. Below is a list of options to send us your pictures:
Facebook - Tag either Morgan Hill or Jordan Sarbaugh Hill (or both!)
Instagram - Tag @hudson.with.the.good.hair
Email - Email pictures to sarbaughj@gmail.com
Thank you to everyone who has tagged or sent us pictures already! They have truly made our days and weeks brighter.
updates
We are going to do our best to update everyone as frequently as we can. I promise that when I am able, I will provide as much detail as possible.
gentlemen's bet
Whoever had the over on me beginning my continuous crying on Saturday at noon....you won yourself the bet.