However, there were more setbacks before Wilson went home for good at the end of January 2008. She has been hospitalized a few times since then to make sure fevers were not a sign of organ rejection.
She has had surgeries to graft skin and to connect the transplanted bowel to what remains of her colon so she would no longer need to wear a bag to collect waste. The last of these operations, everyone hopes, was in February.
Wilson estimates that her care cost about US$5 million, paid at first by the couple’s insurance plans and then by Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security disability.
She must take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of her life.
Her belly is a crazy quilt of scars that her son loves to fling his arms around. He challenges her to Star Wars light saber duels. He begs her to take him to his favorite park, where she threw the ultimate Star Wars-themed party for his fifth birthday in April.
“My life now is pretty normal. I am enjoying spending every moment I can at home with my son,” Wilson said.
She has a bold goal: to return to work, possibly to the hospital where she went from nurse to patient and, hopefully, to nurse again.
“I would like to be able to help someone else who has gone through this,” she said.
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