Mission: Life Saving; Status: Completed!

This is Lee An Qi and I. 60% or about 500grams of my liver is in her body now. Dying of cancer, this 13-year old girl must get her whole liver removed and replaced with a new one. So after tests and more tests, it was found that my liver matches hers. So surgery was done on the 14th January 2009.


Next to me is An Qi's mother and father. We are now like family and I am grateful to have a new family in life. It was so touching when her mom repeatedly say thank you to me and how my mom said that An Qi's mother always say 'We are lucky we have your daughter willing to donate her liver'.


After surgery, I had tubes all over me. Note something colourful hanging over my neck - tubes for the drips, medicines, pain-killers and others. In ICU for the first 2 days I also had my left wrist with wires for measurement of blood pressure. I also had a tube through my nose going all the way to the stomach for removal of gas and acids from stomach. Oxygen for breathing also introduced tubes to my nose. On my left hand was provided a Nurse Call button and on the right, the pain-killer release button - to release pain-killers when I am in pain.

I also had another tube to remove fluids from my body - note the picture above - the tube was then removed and replaced with a small bag at the right of the lower abdomen. Hmmm.... another tube for removal of urine! Tubes everywhere!

I also thought that having a surgery = reduction in weight. Seems like I was wrong because the tummy stays and the fats content stays. No lipsuction involved, I sleep and sleep and sleep... and eat and sleep and eat and sleep... so expect my weight to grow steadily!


Nurses removed bandages to change the dressings and I took the opportunity to take this picture quickly. I never expected the scar to be this big and long.

The menu - hey this is like a hotel - I get to choose what I want to eat - breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea and supper.

This is the tube removed from my neck. I asked the nurse to hold it up for my camera pleasure.

When the tube to remove fluid from my body was slowly being pulled out from my body, I still remember the excrutiating pain! About 10 cm of tube was in my body and by the time nurses removed it, I think the intestines or tissues have grown around it. It was so painful but not at this hole, but inside the body! Phew... it took about 15 minutes for the nurse to remove the tube - lots of deep breath, 3 releases of the pain-killers and almost tears rolling off my cheeks. No stitches needed, and the wound will heal by itself.