After 50,000 hours hooked to an intravenous drip that fed him, Tim Boyle is going to eat out for dinner.
The father-of-two, Australia's first recipient of a small bowel and kidney transplant, is most looking forward to celebrating his daughter's birthday like a normal dad - by going to a restaurant.
Until last month, Boyle, 47, had only 25 centimetres of small intestine.
A severely twisted bowel 12 years ago meant doctors removed 90 per cent of his small intestine and consigned him to an IV drip 12 hours a day, every day.
Kidney failure 18 months ago - and the resultant appointments for dialysis - only increased his hospital visits.
But five weeks after his transplant at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Boyle walked out free on Wednesday.
"He's not hooked to any machines, he's not hooked to any IVs and he's going to go out for dinner with his daughter and eat," surgeon Bob Jones told AAP.
"It's extraordinarily normal and it's very moving, really."
Professor Jones said the outlook was optimistic for Boyle after the 15-hour procedure that took a team of 12 to complete.
"The first five or six weeks are the most treacherous so we're starting to relax," Prof Jones said.
"We're very optimistic it'll be easier from now on."
But the surgeon is most in awe of Boyle's mental fortitude over the past 12 years.
"You have to admire his strength," he said.
"I'm not sure I'd have the courage to go through what he's been through."
Boyle is only the fourth person in Australia to have a small intestine transplant.
Fewer than 100 have had the small bowel and kidney transplant worldwide.
