As he continues what doctors describe as an amazing recovery since his marathon surgery on Monday, liver transplant boy Louie Adrielle Perez yesterday enjoyed his first drink of milk and today will be allowed to eat his first soft food.
His father, Ernanie, who had to slim dramatically before his 'fatty' liver was in good enough condition for him to donate part of it to his son, said he would be watching his own diet carefully to prevent the return of the condition.
'Both are doing well. [They are] still under close observation, especially the kid, but so far so good,' said Vanessa De Villa, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Hong Kong.
Seven-year-old Louie's drink of milk yesterday came a day after his first drink of water. He is fed nutrients and medicines intravenously.
Since waking on Tuesday and having his ventilator switched off because he could breathe on his own, he had been pleading to be given 'Coke, Yakult, water', his mother, Mary Jean Perez, said.
Lo Chung-mau, professor and chair of hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery at the University of Hong Kong, had said on Tuesday it would be weeks before a child recovering from a liver transplant could be allowed to eat food.
Louie's parents were amazed by their eldest son's recovery. Supported by his wife, Mr Perez walked slowly to the intensive care unit on another floor of the hospital on Thursday to visit his son and could hardly breathe from the pain.
