Kidney transplant!!!

Today I celebrated my 2 week anniversary of my kidney transplant. I will try to backtrack and recreate the story as it developed. Friday, May 11,2012 Ramiro and I decided to go to Dallas to visit his family and to deliver a baby quilt that I had made for Felece Vida Caballero, the infant daughter of Eddie and Freedom Caballero. Eddie is the son of Connie and Eduardo Caballero, Ramiro's sister and brother in law. I had made the baby quilt and mailed it, but for unknown reasons the package was returned as undeliverable. We decided that hand delivery was safer. We left Arkansas Friday morning, with plans to return on Sunday, and got a hotel room at Country Inn and Suites in Lewisville. Having gotten two calls as backup for transplant the weekend before, we decided to take our hospital bags with us as well, just in case we got another call. We took Preston to the kennel, again on the theory that if we had to stay longer, or had to travel to Little Rock, at least we would not have to worry about him. We left Grace at home, but she does well on her own for a week at a time. Friday Ramiro, Connie, Eduardo (Guero), and I went to dinner at Aw Shucks, a seafood restaurant. I had a platter of steamed snow crab claws. They were delicious! Id been wanting to try them ever since I first went to Big Shucks restaurant in November of last year. Saturday, May 12 Ramiro and I were at our hotel in the Vista Ridge mall area of Carrollton, getting ready for breakfast when my cell phone rang. It was Bettina Herrera-Go, with Baylor All Saints Hospital in Ft. Worth, calling to say that they had a standard criteria kidney that would be available later that day. She said that she knew we lived far away, and wanted to know how soon we could travel to Ft worth. I told her that we were in the Dallas area, and could be in Ft. Worth within the hour. She was excited about that, and directed us to go to Baylor Hospital,in east Dallas first, for the blood work needed for tissue typing. Knowing I might be having surgery later that day, I asked her if I could have breakfast before going for blood work! She asked that I have a light breakfast, so we went down to the hotel's complimentary breakfast. I got some fruit, a banana nut muffin, and coffee. I ate some fruit, but the muffin was too much for me. I was starting to stress out about whether this was to be the day. We went to Baylor,Dallas, where theytook 21 vials of blood. Ramiro had waited for me in the car, and he said I looked dazed when I got back. I did feel a little dazed, partly from seeing them extract so many vials, especially when the nurse told me that when they take so many tubes, it is not uncommon for the vein to collapse. But mine held up, and she did not need to re-stick me. The nurse was very kind, telling me "we're going to take care of you". When I first got the lab as Bettina had directed, the nurse first had to take me to register (the eternal paperwork)and I appreciated that she took me rather than just directing me, especially since I was not familiar with the hospital. Once all the blood had been drawn, we started out for Baylor in Ft. Worth, which we had never been too. Fortunately, we had the foresight to put into our suitcase the maps and directions that the hospital had mailed to us. We found it without any problem, the only traffic delay that we encountered was a baseball game going on at the Ranger stadium. We reached the hospital around noon, and went to the emergency room as directed. As soon as I said I was a transplant patient who had gotten a call from Bettina, I was whisked away to a small office where all the paperwork was ready. Then we were sent up to the 8th floor. She asked whether I needed a wheelchair. I declined, knowing that once you check in, they hardly let you walk on your own. Once in our room (Room 16) on the 8th floor, I was asked to get into a gown, and they would start all the lab work needed for prep. The parade of nurses began in earnest then. I was told that I could not eat anything because the surgery could be scheduled for that evening. I began to think about the blueberry muffin that I had not been able to eat at breakfast. I was told at one point that the the organ harvest was about to begin, but that the kidneys would be harvested last, because those could be put on a pump to keep them alive. I believe the kidneys were harvested around 3 p.m. At that time, I had no information about the donor, although I did know that it was a standard criteria donor, which is the best. Sometime after 3 p.m., I was told that the surgery was scheduled for early the next morning, so it would be all right for me to have lunch. Ramiro went to the cafeteria and got me a grilled chicken sandwich, which I found very tasty and ate in its entirety, two slices of bread and all, something I never do because of blood sugar concerns. The rest of the afternoon involved getting IVs in my arms, I was given some soap to wash my belly with both that evening and again the morning before being taken to surgery. I was just glad to be able to take a shower, since hospital stays typically mean you don't get to shower. One of the nurses (an Asian male) kept coming in to tell me that they were waiting for the results of the tissue typing, which was the blood work that was being done at Baylor Dallas. I knew that if the tissue typing was not good, the transplant would be cancelled. I prayed that the donor and I would match. Finally he told me that they had gotten the results back, and everything looked good. Ramiro went back to the hotel in Dallas; I wanted him to be sure to get a good night's sleep, and he would not be able to do that sitting in a recliner in the hospital room. I was given the option of going back to the hotel room, too, so long as we were back "first thing in the morning." I asked what time that would be, and they said about 4 a.m., so I declined, saying I don't do 4 a.m. Besides, staying in the hospital I would be in their care and control, so there would be no questions about what I had eaten, whether I took the shower, etc. And I wouldn't have to worry about traffic snarls that could delay us. I had a bunch of phone calls, from people I had called earlier, including Debbie, my sister, and Mother Pam, our rector. At this point, all I could say was that the surgery was scheduled for 8 a.m. I stayed up until about 11 p.m., and then slept until 4 a.m., when they woke me up for the shower and other last minute preps. Ramiro showed up around 6:15, so I knew he had not slept any more than I had. Sunday, May 13, 2012. Mother's Day Not a day I usually celebrate, but today was different. This is the first day of the rest of my life. How trite that saying is, and yet how true. No matter the outcome, the rest of my life will be different. If the transplant takes place, I will forever be on antirejection meds, and have a whole new set of health concerns. If the transplant doesn't take place, I will be extremely let down, and it will be hard to leave here after all this hoopla. I refuse to contemplate that the transplant could take place and then be rejected or fail to work. Dr. Rice, a nephrologist, came to talk to me. She told me what would happen in the operating room, and asked if I had any questions. I asked what I would feel once I came out of surgery. She said I would be extremely bloated and swollen from the waist down. She said this was done on purpose, by pumping IV fluids into me at a fast rate, so that the new kidney would be well flushed as it started to establish itself in my body. Because the toxin concentrations (creatine, Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN)) and other waste products are in large concentrations in my blood stream right now, the extra fluids help to dilute them so that they don't overwhelm the kidney. She said the bloating would be very uncomfortable, and my skin would feel tight and I wouldnt feel right. Also, she said that they would insert a lage IV in my neck once I was sedated, and that would be the line through which the large volume of fluid would be introduced. Also, that line would serve as the access port for any medications and blood draws, so it would stay in my neck the whole time I was in the hospital. They kept referring to the neck IV as being large, and I had visions of a hose sticking out of my neck. She said something that made me think that although the surgery was scheduled, that it might not take place, and so I asked her when I would know that it was a "GO." She said "it's not a go until the kidney is attached to you and you get sewn up. If the surgeon opens you up, and your anatomy doesn't look like right to him, he an cancel. If he starts to place the kidney in you, and something doesn't look right, he can cancel, if there's anything he doesn't like about what's going on, he can cancel." Great, I might be sedated, wake up thinking I have a new kidney, and find out it was all for nothing! Around 6:45, I was wheeled to the operating room, Ramiro was with me when I met Dr. Nicholas Onaca, the transplant surgeon.