back in augusta

Well I'm back. Tomorrow I actually head back to work. I can barely tell these days that I've had surgery. I apologize for being so lax the past couple weeks about keeping y'all informed. But there really wasn't anything new to report.

It seems all of my internal organs that I have left have finally found a new spot inside after slightly shifting from extra space. My laproscopic scares on my torso are starting to fade away and my incision scar is itchy, so that's a sign that it's healing. I feel like I've gotten most of my energy back even though I feel lazy and out of shape. My four-week restriction of not being able to lift more than 10 pounds will be up Wednesday so I want to resume my yoga classes as soon as possible.

iowa

We made it back to Iowa early and safe and sound. We were supposed to get on the noon flight to Omaha, but we managed to squeeze onto the 9 a.m. My parents were very happy to be home, and I'm just glad I can FINALLY relax and do nothing. But I do still wish I was still back in Arizona.

Annie called yesterday and said her doctors felt everything was working just fine, so that's great news! :)

60 seconds

I requested my medical records today at the Mayo Clinic Hospital and I absolutely loved reading over them! They had notes on my visit in May and my stay last week. They even had a summary of my surgery and it was so cool! :) I read that to get ready for the actual transplant, I was in surgery for an hour. The time to actually remove the kidney: 60 seconds. Can you believe that???!!! That is so amazing. I tell ya, these guys really know what they're doing. :)

excitement

Annie completely turned around Tuesday and today, she was released from the hospital. My parents and I were able to be with her when we walked out. It was quite an event: Annie had my mom manning the video camera and I had people take pictures. She was so excited to be outside and away from the hospital, and I was excited for her. I started to tear up as well, just knowing that it was all over and all was well.

amazing stories

It is so amazing to hear the stories that the people here at the transplant house tell. Their transplants have transformed their lives and letting them live longer than they had ever dreamed. One man here said his wife was so sick before her liver transplant that life was just miserable. Now she's bustling about in her turquoise green outfit and big pink hat to block out the Arizona sun. He told me today that when they knew she was nearing the top of the transplant list, she had packed a bag to be ready just in case; kind of like what they had went through for her pregnancies, he said. They had to be ready at a moment's notice to rush to the hospital. Another man had his liver transplant about three weeks ago and he's walking more than a mile every day early in the morning. His wife dotes on him and I can tell that she's incredibly happy to see him up and walking around again. We joke around because it seems every time I see them, they're at the dining room table eating in the same exact spot. :)

letting it hang out

Aw man, my stomach is so bloated right now. But I'm doing what the nurses told me yesterday: eat lots of ruffage, so that means leafy greens, veggies. For dinner I had vegetable soup and half of a salad .... and then some cherry cheesecake. I couldn't resist. We spent our evening at the hospital in Annie's room. She was in some pain again this evening, but there's a nurse that's going to be watching over her tonight who seems very experienced with transplant patients. She recommended warm prune juice to get the bowels moving for her. Maybe I should take up that nurse's advice for myself.

tough days

Saturday was a rough day for Annie and I. After all of the good news and advances, we were bound to have our setbacks. Don't get alarmed though. Both kidneys are still working a-OK.

I got up early Saturday morning after taking my dose of vicodin and had breakfast. I sat with three other house visitors and Sheri, the house coordinator, and we talked while my dad made my family french toast. It's fun to hear the visitors' stories and how they made it hear. From what they've told me, they've been through plenty of health battles but their transplants have made a world of difference and "they're ready to start living again" as one of them told me. I think I'm the only donor here out of the bunch so they kind of look at me with this bright, shiny light. It definitely warms my heart.

officially a member

So now I'm a member of the one-kidney club and it feels pretty good. It feels even better being out of the hospital. I got up this morning at 6 a.m. because I wanted to be up and moving around for my doctors. I also went and visited Annie in her room while she was eating her early breakfast. She's on a more restricted eating routine because for some of her meds she has to have an empty stomach.

all is well (pt. 2)

I forgot to include something in the last blog. Annie was up and walking the night of the surgery. It was just amazing to see her up and at it. She was pretty hunched over and medicated, but she just looked so proud. I was very proud of her as well. The nurses weren't too sure about her getting up but she wasn't hearing any of it. She was getting up and that was final.

The first night didn't go so well. Drew stayed with me so that helped. I was so tired, but I woke up about every hour. I was hoked up to an IV and plus they came in every hour or so to check my body temperature, heartbeat, and blood pressure. They were giving me Toradol (sp?) and about 4 mg. of morphine. The morphine felt reeeeeally good but the Toradol wasn't doing anything. At 1 a.m., they gave me just some more toradol but during the next hour I just felt like I was getting worse. I stayed up and my mind just wandered. I'd get teary-eyed when I thought of Annie, and everytime I'd close my eyes I'd see people standing over me. I don't know if that was the drugs, or what ... it probably was. I think I eventually pushed the nurses button, the best nurse in the whole wide world, Steven, came in. He was my night shift nurse for the two nights I was there. I told him that I was feeling worse and asked him if I could have some more morphine. He checked the doctor's orders and I was cleared for another 2 mg. of morphine.

all is well (pt. 1)

I'm back!! :) I just got back to the transplant house about 1 1/2 hours ago. Just had lunch and took some vicodin. So if I misspell anything or if something doesn't make any sense, I blame the drugs.

Where do I begin? Well, I guess I'll start from the beginning:

Wednesday morning I woke up feeling really nervous. We got up at about 4:30 a.m. and I got my "luxiurious" brown terry sweatsuit on from Old Navy. After showering and getting a bag packed for the hospital, we were on our way. I held Drew's hand in the back seat as we drove to the hospital. Things were tense.

11 more hours to go

As I write this, I have 11 more hours until my surgery. It was moved up to 7:30 a.m., so I'll have to report to the Mayo Clinic Hospital at 5:45 a.m. (yikes, that's early!) The time change has made me more nervous, but I will survive. I'm so tired, I'm going to go to sleep here in a little bit.

So the trip was interesting. Drew and I woke up at 5 a.m. in Atlanta to make it to the nearest MARTA station in time. We got to the airport at about 6:45, and we checked in right away. Since Drew's flight left so early, I was going to follow him to his terminal and see him off. I was behind him going through security, BUT I was one of the lucky people to be herded off to a special part of the airport to wait in line for 30 minutes to be searched and frisked. Lucky me. So I never got to say good-bye to Drew and he had to run to catch his flight.

I'm off!

Well, it's that time that I must go. I don't have much time because I'm packing and getting everything ready for our departure. I'm still not nervous, which is absolutely crazy, but I'm sure it'll hit me eventually. My friends Amy and Jill were wonderful and brought me over a ton of stuff to keep me preoccupied during these next couple weeks. All I can say is that they're awesome people and I'm so lucky to count them as friends.

looking inward

Today I put on a necklace that once belonged to Annie and I's grandmother. I also added a cross that a friend of mine from Brazil gave me. I plan on wearing it until I am fully recovered. During the last few weeks I've been thinking about her, my Grandma Jeanne, and what she would think about what I'm doing. She died so long ago from a heart attack; I was in sixth grade. I know that she would be proud of me and would want to be there in Arizona for both of her granddaughters, making sure that we were both OK.

only a few more days

I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to this living will stuff. I really don't have anything important. I'm renting a house, I'm still paying on my car and I'm saddled with huge student debt ... which actually increased by $20 this month! :P I suppose the form detailing my last directives that the Mayo Clinic gave me will do. But maybe should I still type up what I have and bring it with me? I don't know. I'm going to have a discussion with my dad tomorrow about what I should do. Drew's mom has also been really helpful and she might help me if I need any by Monday.

starting to say good-bye

Today at work I started to say good-bye to people. My last day at work is Sunday but there are a few copy editors who have the privilege of having the weekend off. :) Anyway, I hate saying good-bye because it just makes me shaky.

One of my co-workers gave me two "drawings" her 2-year-old twins did for me today. It was very, very sweet. Thank you, Mary Francis! :)

People are starting to be more emotional about all of this. As you can see, my mom recently left a reply to one of my recent blog entries. I understand where she is coming from. Annie's husband is starting to really get nervous and is kind of withdrawing from people. My heart really goes out to him because I know that he is worried that something may happen to the love of his life.

rumors

OK, my grandma just e-mailed me and she says there's a rumor circulating small Pocahontas, Iowa, that I'm donating my kidney to her.

haha

For the record, this is not true. And no, she doesn't need a kidney. My grandma is in fine shape. :)

So people were asking me today if I'm nervous about next week. Surprisingly, no, I'm not. At least right now. Annie told me that if I start to have trouble sleeping, Mayo will give me a one-time-only prescription for a sleeping pill. That's very nice, but so far I'm sleeping pretty good!

confirmation

I just got an e-mail from my transplant coordinator. The crossmatch came back negative, which means a week from today I'll be under the knife.

It is such a relief to know my fate! :)

it's a go

As of right now, Annie and I are treating this situation as a go; that the surgery next week is going to happen. Tomorrow, it'll be one week when I'll go under the knife. The jitters haven't hit me yet but keep reading ... I'm sure to freak out eventually. :)

I did hear exciting and fun news today. Annie got a call from the Mayo Clinic and the representative told her that she and I, and our caregivers, have been selected to receive a makeover by a local Phoenix TV station the Saturday after our surgery. How funny is that???!! :) So we might be on TV. Plus we're going to be featured in the Mayo Clinic's in-house newspaper. The representative told Annie we were picked because we've done a lot to bring attention to organ donation. (Full disclosure: Annie and I are also going to be featured in a Labor Day weekend series of articles in Annie's hometown paper, the Yuma Star, which will be written by my former Iowa State University colleague, Michelle Volkmann. Michelle and a photographer will also be at Mayo for our surgeries.)

no news is good news

Annie called me today and said she talked to her transplant coordinator about the crossmatch. The coordinator said she hadn't heard anything either, but to be heartened because no news is good news.

This makes me feel infinately better. I'm keeping the faith! :)

mother knows best

So of all people who were totally freaked out about me doing this, my mom tells me today that she is absolutely positive this is going to happen and that I have nothing to worry about.

Moms: gotta love 'em.

I was just so surprised when she said that. And because she's my mom, she has to know what she's talking about, right? :) haha Well, maybe not all of the time.