Friday, December 23, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
#28 It's Been a Long Week
Well mom has been in the hospital since last Sunday (almost a week). She has about a foot of her intestines removed this time due to a twisting. Because it was twisted for so long, a section of her intestines actually died and was on it's way to become septic. She's been on a cocktail of all types of drugs and meds. However as of today she is only receiving one thing thru her IV and that is a nourishment solution. She had to have a tube thru her nose that was draining the bile from her stomach, however two days ago at midnight she became barbaric and pulled the tube out of her nose while she was half asleep. The doctors were going to put it back in, but her nurses convinced him not to.
Her intestines are starting to wake up, make gurgling sounds, and function the way they are suppose to. Once that started to happen, she was permitted a liquid diet, but as of this morning she is on a full normal diet. But that does not mean she is allowed to just start eating though. This morning she had 1 egg white, 2 bites of rice cereal, and about 4 bites of yogurt.
Because of all the meds she has developed Diabetes. We are told this is just temporary, fingers crossed.
They are thinking of sending her home tomorrow, but we all feel (and so does she) that it might be too soon.
Her intestines are starting to wake up, make gurgling sounds, and function the way they are suppose to. Once that started to happen, she was permitted a liquid diet, but as of this morning she is on a full normal diet. But that does not mean she is allowed to just start eating though. This morning she had 1 egg white, 2 bites of rice cereal, and about 4 bites of yogurt.
Because of all the meds she has developed Diabetes. We are told this is just temporary, fingers crossed.
They are thinking of sending her home tomorrow, but we all feel (and so does she) that it might be too soon.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
#27 O Crap (or lack there of)
Ok so mom was admitted into the hospital last night and upon results, found out she had an impacted bowel. At 2312 she was wheeled into emergency surgery to correct the problem. I was babysitting so I could not be here before she went into surgery, but I got to the hospital a little bit after midnight. I wanted to keep my dad company. At around 0300 the doctor came out to talk to us. The first words out of his mouth were "She is very very sick" which scared the hell out of dad and I. Usually this doctor follows up with some positive affirmations, but however this time he did not. She had 2 twists in her small intestines, which caused an entrapment of bowel and fiberous foods, which was backing up. This is what was causing her the intense stomach cramps. The doctor told us she had waited too long to come to the hospital, and as a result part of her intestines died. During Surgery they completely removes 2 feet of intestine and sewed her back up.
I am sitting in her room as we speak. I have been sick for the past week so I have been wearing a mask. She is laying in her hospital bed. She has a tube down her nose to remove the bile from her stomach. She also has a catheter. She is restricted from eating, and she really shouldnt be drinking as much as she is, but she keeps making me go get her more ice. As she drinks it, it just comes right back up the tube. She can't get the tube out until it stops draining. She doesn't seem to grasp the concept that she should stop drinking.
She is feeling much much better than she was, but she's very very weak, and keeps dozing in and out. The surgery was quite invasive, and she has a HUGE incision that is about 14 inches long. They used her previous scare from her hysterectomy in June 1974.
Why did this happen? Well in 2006 she has surgery for Colon Cancer in which they removed 18 inch inches of her small intestine. They said this does not directly cause a kinkage of the bowel, but it could have helped caused it.
Doctors say she will probably be here for 5 days at least. We are very lucky we caught this (even though a bit late), the outcome would have been much worse if she had waited any longer.
I will keep you updated.
I am sitting in her room as we speak. I have been sick for the past week so I have been wearing a mask. She is laying in her hospital bed. She has a tube down her nose to remove the bile from her stomach. She also has a catheter. She is restricted from eating, and she really shouldnt be drinking as much as she is, but she keeps making me go get her more ice. As she drinks it, it just comes right back up the tube. She can't get the tube out until it stops draining. She doesn't seem to grasp the concept that she should stop drinking.
She is feeling much much better than she was, but she's very very weak, and keeps dozing in and out. The surgery was quite invasive, and she has a HUGE incision that is about 14 inches long. They used her previous scare from her hysterectomy in June 1974.
Why did this happen? Well in 2006 she has surgery for Colon Cancer in which they removed 18 inch inches of her small intestine. They said this does not directly cause a kinkage of the bowel, but it could have helped caused it.
Doctors say she will probably be here for 5 days at least. We are very lucky we caught this (even though a bit late), the outcome would have been much worse if she had waited any longer.
I will keep you updated.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
#26 2 Month Anniversary
Mom's 2 month anniversary was yesterday. Everything has been quite amazing, however myself and my mom both have been super sick for the past week. Today is the first day I actually feel human again. Unfortunately, my mother does not, and as we speak she is being checked into the hospital. Symptoms - vomiting, diarrhea, and horrible stomach pains. Never had a fever though. They want to observe her and fear she is dehydrated. I will definitely be posting more as detail develop.
Friday, February 11, 2011
#25 One Month Anniversary
Today is the one month anniversary of Fred's arrival into our family. Wow it's amazing to see what all has transpired over the last two months. I am happy to report that everyone is doing pretty good. There is still healing going on on both sides. The Donor, is doing pretty well, but still isn't back to 100% presurgery. He still gets tired a bit easily, and just doesn't quite have all him oommppfff back yet.
Mom is doing miraculous and already has her first trip planned for the end of April. She still is urinating every 45 minutes, which bugs her at night. But she is not complaining about it. Her incision still is quite tender and still healing. She says it feeling better but still very sore. She is doing quite a lot around the house. She's back to cooking and cleaning, stuff she enjoys doing. It's not like my dad is being a jerk and backing off or anything like that lol. He helps too, (not the cooking part, he'd likely accidentally poison mom if he did that).
We are all looking forward to visiting my brother, sister and kids. I also am looking forward to this gourmet meal my mom is going to cook her donor one of these days. mmmmm I hope I am invited.
Mom is doing miraculous and already has her first trip planned for the end of April. She still is urinating every 45 minutes, which bugs her at night. But she is not complaining about it. Her incision still is quite tender and still healing. She says it feeling better but still very sore. She is doing quite a lot around the house. She's back to cooking and cleaning, stuff she enjoys doing. It's not like my dad is being a jerk and backing off or anything like that lol. He helps too, (not the cooking part, he'd likely accidentally poison mom if he did that).
We are all looking forward to visiting my brother, sister and kids. I also am looking forward to this gourmet meal my mom is going to cook her donor one of these days. mmmmm I hope I am invited.
Monday, February 7, 2011
#24 Self Sufficient
Well today was a great day! Why might you ask? Because mom had her stent removed today!!! Which means her body is functioning on it's own fully and completely!!!!! Yeaya!! Besides her daily medication (which she will have to take for the rest of her life), she has no other instruments, gadgets, etc helping her survive. They have decided to leave her fistula in for good. When they went to install her fistula, they had a hard time, because mom does not have very god veins, and they actually had to remove a vein from her leg I believe, to construct the one she has. So instead of surgically removing it, and having to reconstruct one if by chance her kidney fails, they are just going to leave it there. However she is gaining weight so it does not look as dramatic as it did before.
That's right folks, I said she is gaining weight!!! She's always been skinny-minny in her adult life, but she was at that TOO SKINNY point during dialysis. She also has ENERGY!!!!! She gets worn out easily, but at least she has it in her to do stuff, which is why she gets worn out. She hasn't been able to really leave the house yet, she still isn't allowed to drive, and being around the public isn't good for her because her system is still vulnerable. The last thing she needs is to get sick.
Her only complaint, and she doesn't even complain about it, is since she didn't have to urinate for 2 years, her bladder atrophied a bit. So she has to use the bathroom about every 45 minutes. This doesn't pose a problem during the day, but it has been interrupting her sleep. But she is also on order to be drinking 3 liters of liquids a day, so I think that also contributes to the frequency.
The thing she is looking forward to the most is traveling across many many states to visit my brother and his family at the end of April. I have volunteered to go with them on this nearly cross country drive. I also have volunteered to do most of the driving. I wonder how that will go with mom's frequent bathroom requirement. Maybe we should pursue this in a Nasa girl, murderous cross country getaway fashion..........
That's right folks, I said she is gaining weight!!! She's always been skinny-minny in her adult life, but she was at that TOO SKINNY point during dialysis. She also has ENERGY!!!!! She gets worn out easily, but at least she has it in her to do stuff, which is why she gets worn out. She hasn't been able to really leave the house yet, she still isn't allowed to drive, and being around the public isn't good for her because her system is still vulnerable. The last thing she needs is to get sick.
Her only complaint, and she doesn't even complain about it, is since she didn't have to urinate for 2 years, her bladder atrophied a bit. So she has to use the bathroom about every 45 minutes. This doesn't pose a problem during the day, but it has been interrupting her sleep. But she is also on order to be drinking 3 liters of liquids a day, so I think that also contributes to the frequency.
The thing she is looking forward to the most is traveling across many many states to visit my brother and his family at the end of April. I have volunteered to go with them on this nearly cross country drive. I also have volunteered to do most of the driving. I wonder how that will go with mom's frequent bathroom requirement. Maybe we should pursue this in a Nasa girl, murderous cross country getaway fashion..........
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Starting a Second Blog
I have started a new blog about my process of becoming a Living Altruistic Kidney Donor and my ongoing process.
You can view it by clicking here:
Vesper's Quest to be a Living Donor
You can view it by clicking here:
Vesper's Quest to be a Living Donor
Friday, January 28, 2011
#23 ups and downs
I just received a call from mom, who was at the hospital getting her normal tests done. Her creatine level is still too high right now, so they have ordered another Kidney Biopsy. On average, biopsies are done every 3 months in a transplant patient. This will be mom's second in a week. She should be getting her biopsy as I type this, and then she will let me know if she is being admitted or not. All of this could be the result of her medications that they haven't found the perfect level yet, or (knock on wood it's the first possibility) that it is a sign of rejection. Most transplant patients have at least one bout of rejection. However even if a kidney starts to reject, it does not mean the patient will lose the Kidney.
This back and forth thing is stressful. Sigh.
On a lighter note, mom's donor is doing great. He had his 2 week follow up just the other day. The doctors say everything looks great. He has minimal discomfort in the incision sites. The only hinderance thus far is he doesn't have all of his stamina back yet. He gets tired easy. Normally he works on multiple projects at once, but now he just has to nap. This will eventually restore itself.
I talked to the transplant coordinators at the hospital and removed myself from the Paired Donation Network, and switched to being an altruistic donor. They are currently testing my blood against everyone at the same hospital. They did not have to draw any blood from me, as Hoxworth still had my blood at their lab from about a year ago. I've read articles about how most hospitals get wary about altruistic donors, as they are afraid people with psychological problems are donating for the wrong reasons, or there is monetary exchange going on, which in the States is Illegal. There are plenty of organizations that can help a donor. Some people's jobs will still pay wages, and the National Kidney Foundation has programs for financial support for those who qualify. I guess they are afraid someone who has low self esteem problems will think donating will cure their esteem, and often they are in the same mentality after surgery. However, the coordinators understand why I want to donate, and have cleared me. I should hear on Tuesday (give a few days) if my blood matches anyone at the hospital. Fingers crossed!!!
This back and forth thing is stressful. Sigh.
On a lighter note, mom's donor is doing great. He had his 2 week follow up just the other day. The doctors say everything looks great. He has minimal discomfort in the incision sites. The only hinderance thus far is he doesn't have all of his stamina back yet. He gets tired easy. Normally he works on multiple projects at once, but now he just has to nap. This will eventually restore itself.
I talked to the transplant coordinators at the hospital and removed myself from the Paired Donation Network, and switched to being an altruistic donor. They are currently testing my blood against everyone at the same hospital. They did not have to draw any blood from me, as Hoxworth still had my blood at their lab from about a year ago. I've read articles about how most hospitals get wary about altruistic donors, as they are afraid people with psychological problems are donating for the wrong reasons, or there is monetary exchange going on, which in the States is Illegal. There are plenty of organizations that can help a donor. Some people's jobs will still pay wages, and the National Kidney Foundation has programs for financial support for those who qualify. I guess they are afraid someone who has low self esteem problems will think donating will cure their esteem, and often they are in the same mentality after surgery. However, the coordinators understand why I want to donate, and have cleared me. I should hear on Tuesday (give a few days) if my blood matches anyone at the hospital. Fingers crossed!!!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
#22 A Bit of a Scare
Deep breath and a sigh of relief. Ok, yesterday (Saturday) mom went to the hospital for her routine blood draw and check up which is common after a transplant. I was at Music Hall watching a kiddy concert with the little girl I watch. I randomly run into my cousin and one of his daughters. They ask how mom is doing and I report she is doing great, and how amazing this whole thing has been, yadda yadda yadda. I return the little girl I watch back to her father (he plays in the orchestra and was also playing in the kiddy show). I walk outside, and call my father while walking to the car. He informed me that mom just called and that she was still at the hospital. There was a problem and they have admitted her. I could hear the tremble in dad's voice and it immediately made my heart sank and all the what ifs set in. I knew it wasn't an emergency, like she's going to the OR or ER, or anything like that. But it immediately made me think gasp.....rejection.
She had a mini-unltrasound and a kidney biopsy. They normally go thru the back, but since Fred (her kidney) is in the front, they stuck the needle thru her stomach (she didn't feel it) and grabbed a sample of the kidney. Results........Her Creatine level was waaaayyy too high. And that was due to the amount of Prograf she was taking.
Ok so apparently immunosuppressant drugs are kind of like anti-depressants. There is no way to know what and how much to give someone that will yield the best results. Growing up, my best friend had all these problems with hyper-activity and attention problems, etc. Turns out all the meds they gave her where what was causing her behavior because it wasn't the right stuff. So that's what happened to mom, She started out being prescribed Prograf and was instructed to take 7 pills at 8am and 7 more at 8pm. They then dropped it to six after her first blood draw. Well turns out that it was still too much. It was by no means anyones fault. The doctors didn't do anything wrong. She is not rejecting her kidney and everything is doing great, she's great, Fred's great. This is why they monitor so frequently after transplant.
I'm happy to report she is back home!!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
#21 Fever
Mom wasn't feeling too well last night, and into this morning. She has a temperature of 100.1 and if it reaches 100.5 she must go to the hospital right away. To run a bit of a fever at times is normal after transplant, the body is working hard to restore itself. But this is scary to me as the typical over-analytical Virgo I am. It is snowing snowing snowing outside and none of us have a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Mom and dad should be able to get there no problem, but it's me who lives on top of the big giant mountain. I might had to slide down 2 miles on a garbage bag to the bottom of it if worse becomes worst. Which would be really fun normally, but not under the circumstances.
I will keep you posted as I figure out whats going on.
I will keep you posted as I figure out whats going on.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
#20 "There's no place like home"
That's 32 pills a day, for basically the next year. She's on antibiotics, immunosuppressants, and the list goes on and on. She's agreed to do a drug study with the drug Velcade. So today she had to go to the hospital at 6am. She must go to the hospital multiple times for the next couple weeks for them to monitor how the new kidney is doing. They draw blood, take vitals, amongst other tests. And figured if she'd be there anyway she might as well help out and try a new use for a drug that might help pave way for future successful transplants. This drug takes about 4 hours to administer. Somehow though she was there for over 10 hours today. She is happy to be back home.
If the donor and his wife hadn't done enough already. they brought my mom some soup, fresh fruit and muffins!!!! She's addicted to fruit right now. There are so many foods that she hasn't been able to eat for so long she's rummaging through everything like she was on a munchie attack. Her other craving is for beans.
This has been such a crazy and emotional week that has just blown me away in every aspect. It's fascinating how mom seems to have been shocked to life. I had read about how the recipients feel so much better almost right away, but this is absolutely a-ma-zing!!! And the donor is also up and about almost like nothing happened. This has been such a cool experience to be involved in. I want to give someone my kidney (I always have through this whole thing). Though I know there are risks with all surgeries, the success is far greater than the failure.
I go to school for entertainment business, and soon will be moving to Florida to finish up my school, and one of the things I want to do with that degree is fuse it with my passions, and work on a Living Donor awareness campaign.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
#19 Down the Tubes
Sitting at the hospital, did I mention they have good food here?, with mom again. She still is looking great!!! She's been walking at least a mile every day. 10 laps around the floor = 1 mile. Usually she makes about 17 or 18. Now this is not at one time, mind you. It is more like 1 lap an hour. She has been taken off the IVs, which is good because her pole was really really squeaky and annoying when she walked. She still has a catheter in, but the Dr said it will probably be removed sometime today. Mom's bladder has shrunk, since she hadn't used it in 2 years, but it should bounce back to normal pretty soon. Until then, short distance to the bathroom is a must. The port that is in her neck will probably be removed tomorrow right before she is released.
So, mom is doing a drug study, with Velcade and Thymogolulin. Those are two short term immunosuppressants to give the kidney an extra boost. Each drug is administered 3 times, on opposite days. Then she will have to return to the hospital Tuesday, wednesday, and friday to have her blood drawn and see the doctors. They just want to monitor everything and make sure there are no signs of rejection.
Mr R is doing great. He and his wife came to visit mom yesterday afternoon, and he walked all the way from the parkinglot to her room. Impressive. They brought mom flowers, which was sweet but mom said "Wait I should be bringing you flowers, you've already done the unimaginable".
Its amazing how well mom is. I guess I didn't realize how sick she looked before, until how GREAT she looks now. Its like someone shocked her to life. I had read about how the recipients will immediately feel better, but I didn't know it would be like this. Watch out folks, she is back and soon will be the Queen of the FRONT AND BACK nine.
So, mom is doing a drug study, with Velcade and Thymogolulin. Those are two short term immunosuppressants to give the kidney an extra boost. Each drug is administered 3 times, on opposite days. Then she will have to return to the hospital Tuesday, wednesday, and friday to have her blood drawn and see the doctors. They just want to monitor everything and make sure there are no signs of rejection.
Mr R is doing great. He and his wife came to visit mom yesterday afternoon, and he walked all the way from the parkinglot to her room. Impressive. They brought mom flowers, which was sweet but mom said "Wait I should be bringing you flowers, you've already done the unimaginable".
Its amazing how well mom is. I guess I didn't realize how sick she looked before, until how GREAT she looks now. Its like someone shocked her to life. I had read about how the recipients will immediately feel better, but I didn't know it would be like this. Watch out folks, she is back and soon will be the Queen of the FRONT AND BACK nine.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
#18 Guess what I saw?
This is what a Hero looks like. This is a photo of Mr R as he is being wheeled out of prep and into surgery!!!!! And his lovely supporting wife. He was full of Happy Juice. Yesterday he has a lot of shoulder pain based on the way they laid him on the table to remove his left kidney. However, upon his release from the hospital today (YES HE WENT HOME TODAY!!) he was feeling much much better, and looked great!!!!! Dad is going to bring them dinner tonight!!
This is mom after her shot of happy juice before the surgery!!!! They kept asking her all these questions, to which she responded funny out there answers. I think it was the dope she was on.
SO when I got to the hospital today this is what I saw!! Look who's up and at 'em. I hope she isn't over doing it.
then shortly after she had her first liquid to drink in over 18 months!!!
This made her really happy. And since she has had tons of water, her favorite Coke Zero, V8 juice, and her least favorite Sierra Mist 0 Cal. She's eating like a horse, (ok not probably to you, but after monitoring her intake over the past 18 months, she's on a roll)!!! The food here is actually really good.
We are sitting here in ICU, waiting for a bed to upon up on the Renal floor. She should be moved at any time now. The Liquid Gold is still flowing. She's even felt good enough to help me with my homework.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Channel 5 WLWT Coverage
Cincinnati's Channel 5 WLWT's Lisa Cooney donated one of her Kidneys to a stranger 10 years ago today (1-11-01). This lucky gentleman, Andrew Theilan, happens to be the son of friends of my parents. In order to help get the word out about living donations, Lisa came over to my parents house and featured mom and Mr R in a touching story. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
#17 Under the Knife
It was soooooo hard to get to the hospital today. Living on top of a 3 mile HUGE hill doesn't help when there is 2 inches of snow and a torrential downpour of snow still coming. It took me about 1 hour to go 2 miles, and I cried in the car when I got stuck on a tiny hill. But I did make it, and with plenty of time. Surgery got started late, Mr R got started around 10am, and they started my mother around 11:30. After about 4 hours, the surgery was completed. So, I guess you'd like a report. Mom and donor are both doing well, and mom has already started to produce that "Yellow Gold" known as urine!!!
The first 24 hours are the most important, then followed by a week, and then a year!! This is when the Kidney might be rejected, but each day that goes by, the better the chances. I have not had the chance to see mom, and Mrs R is visiting her husband. I think I shall walk back soon to see how they are doing, but wanted to wait so they can have some privacy.
Everyone is so excited and happy that everything is looking great. I will be posting more soon.
The first 24 hours are the most important, then followed by a week, and then a year!! This is when the Kidney might be rejected, but each day that goes by, the better the chances. I have not had the chance to see mom, and Mrs R is visiting her husband. I think I shall walk back soon to see how they are doing, but wanted to wait so they can have some privacy.
Everyone is so excited and happy that everything is looking great. I will be posting more soon.
#16 It's Almost Time
NOTE : tomorrow technically means today, as I didn't finish writing this on the 10th, it technically is the 11th now.
Well the time is almost here. Mom will be waking up in 4 hours to start to get herself ready to go to the hospital for her KIDNEY TRANSPLANT!!!!!!!! Wow has it been an emotional day. We had a chain reaction of crying which was initiated by Mr R (the donor). But he made up for it by proposing to my mom after all these years after joking he's her boyfriend. It was funning, and it was caught on film!!!
So mom has to be at the hospital by 5:30, as she is going to undergo a Plasmaphresis treatment to knock out the few antibodies she has against Mr R. This will be about a 3 hours process. Mr R on the other hand gets to sleep in (and I think he deserves it) and doesn't have to report to the hospital until 7:30am. They will start with the donor first around 10am, and shortly after they will start getting mom ready to receive the Kidney. They are removing Mr R's Left Kidney, as his atrial artery is longer and my mom needs not only his Kidney, but also his artery. She's getting demanding isn't she? ;-) It takes about 1 hour to prep each patient and 1 hour to close each patient. I am told the surgery will last about 5 hours.
Mr R might get to come home on Wednesday (wow only 1 day in the hospital!!) but more than likely be sent home on Thursday. Mom is projected to come home on Monday. Steve will not be allowed to drive for 2 weeks, he is not allowed to lift anything over 7lbs for about 6 weeks. (a gallon of milk = 7 lbs)
Mom will not have her fistula removed after surgery. They want to keep it in in case something happens further down the road. He veins aren't very good anymore, so to take it out, and then later put it a new one might not work. She is considered a high risk transplant 1) because of her age - she is 66 2) this is her second transplant and 3) the few antibodies she does have against the donor. But they wouldn't go thru with this surgery if they felt the risks outweighed the success.
Sorry this entry was not as quirky or personable. I am so nervous. I forgot to eat all day until about 10 pm because of all the thoughts running thru my head. I have a long list of people to call, and I am to call them all because my father thought he'd be too emotional to make the phone calls. I don't know if I will be much better, and I might be a sobbing idiot on the phone. I know tomorrow will be super emotional and there will be many times that my eyes will produce tears. Some happy, some scared. I am having a SERIOUS case of "what ifs" right now, and I do not know if I will be able to get any real sleep tonight. Mom expressed that she probably will not be getting much sleep tonight either!! Tomorrow is a day thats going to change all of our lives in my family and in the donors. I will update as I can and if I can tomorrow.
There might be a story running tomorrow on Channel 5 WLWT . And I do believe Channel 12 WKRC is going to be at the hospital and actually in the Operating Room.!! I made sure to set my DVR as I might miss these while at the Hospital.
Now the big big big worry at the moment. Is it's suppose to snow tonight, and during the morning tomorrow. I hope mom and her donor are able to get to the hospital and on time. How horrid would that be. Though I did express that I do believe that it would be considered an emergency and that I think they could call 911 and get an ambulance sent over to transport them. Plus a lot of family friends have offered to get up at the crack before dawn and drive them in their 4 wheel drive vehicles. I live on top of a huge hill, so I am not sure what time I am leaving for the hospital tomorrow, it really depends on the snow situation.
Well the time is almost here. Mom will be waking up in 4 hours to start to get herself ready to go to the hospital for her KIDNEY TRANSPLANT!!!!!!!! Wow has it been an emotional day. We had a chain reaction of crying which was initiated by Mr R (the donor). But he made up for it by proposing to my mom after all these years after joking he's her boyfriend. It was funning, and it was caught on film!!!
So mom has to be at the hospital by 5:30, as she is going to undergo a Plasmaphresis treatment to knock out the few antibodies she has against Mr R. This will be about a 3 hours process. Mr R on the other hand gets to sleep in (and I think he deserves it) and doesn't have to report to the hospital until 7:30am. They will start with the donor first around 10am, and shortly after they will start getting mom ready to receive the Kidney. They are removing Mr R's Left Kidney, as his atrial artery is longer and my mom needs not only his Kidney, but also his artery. She's getting demanding isn't she? ;-) It takes about 1 hour to prep each patient and 1 hour to close each patient. I am told the surgery will last about 5 hours.
Mr R might get to come home on Wednesday (wow only 1 day in the hospital!!) but more than likely be sent home on Thursday. Mom is projected to come home on Monday. Steve will not be allowed to drive for 2 weeks, he is not allowed to lift anything over 7lbs for about 6 weeks. (a gallon of milk = 7 lbs)
Mom will not have her fistula removed after surgery. They want to keep it in in case something happens further down the road. He veins aren't very good anymore, so to take it out, and then later put it a new one might not work. She is considered a high risk transplant 1) because of her age - she is 66 2) this is her second transplant and 3) the few antibodies she does have against the donor. But they wouldn't go thru with this surgery if they felt the risks outweighed the success.
Sorry this entry was not as quirky or personable. I am so nervous. I forgot to eat all day until about 10 pm because of all the thoughts running thru my head. I have a long list of people to call, and I am to call them all because my father thought he'd be too emotional to make the phone calls. I don't know if I will be much better, and I might be a sobbing idiot on the phone. I know tomorrow will be super emotional and there will be many times that my eyes will produce tears. Some happy, some scared. I am having a SERIOUS case of "what ifs" right now, and I do not know if I will be able to get any real sleep tonight. Mom expressed that she probably will not be getting much sleep tonight either!! Tomorrow is a day thats going to change all of our lives in my family and in the donors. I will update as I can and if I can tomorrow.
There might be a story running tomorrow on Channel 5 WLWT . And I do believe Channel 12 WKRC is going to be at the hospital and actually in the Operating Room.!! I made sure to set my DVR as I might miss these while at the Hospital.
Now the big big big worry at the moment. Is it's suppose to snow tonight, and during the morning tomorrow. I hope mom and her donor are able to get to the hospital and on time. How horrid would that be. Though I did express that I do believe that it would be considered an emergency and that I think they could call 911 and get an ambulance sent over to transport them. Plus a lot of family friends have offered to get up at the crack before dawn and drive them in their 4 wheel drive vehicles. I live on top of a huge hill, so I am not sure what time I am leaving for the hospital tomorrow, it really depends on the snow situation.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Channel 12 News Coverage
Thank you so much to Channel 12 for doing the story on my mom today. Thank you to everyone who has come to this page because of this news story. People don't realize how IMPORTANT this gift can be. Did you know that if you donate a Kidney, you can still live a full healthy life with no problems (just don't get into bar fights and get stabbed) Did you know that there are over 110,234 people waiting for a Kidney Transplant as of 5:41pm EST today? (http://www.unos.org/)
In case you missed it,
I started this blog (as I mentioned in one of my first posts) because I didn't know what to expect when we found out that mom's Kidneys were failing again. I was only 6 during the last transplant and even if I did remember, medicine and technology has come so far..... I looked online for a blog of someone who was going thru this process and being brutally honest about it. I could only find blogs people wrote AFTER the transplants, and they usually were not that detailed. I hope this helps anyone out there who might have just found out that they, themselves, or a loved one is going to need a transplant. Thank you
In case you missed it,
I started this blog (as I mentioned in one of my first posts) because I didn't know what to expect when we found out that mom's Kidneys were failing again. I was only 6 during the last transplant and even if I did remember, medicine and technology has come so far..... I looked online for a blog of someone who was going thru this process and being brutally honest about it. I could only find blogs people wrote AFTER the transplants, and they usually were not that detailed. I hope this helps anyone out there who might have just found out that they, themselves, or a loved one is going to need a transplant. Thank you
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