Brooke’s Donation and Blog Link

i was tested in nashville in february and approved a couple of weeks later.  the transplant was scheduled for april 16th (didn’t know this prior to scheduling the date, but april is donor awareness month).  i had to go to nashville on sunday, april 13th, for repeat testing on monday.  we hung with my cousin and his wife on monday and ate with them monday night.  we  went shopping on tuesday at opry mills mall and i received two massages.  one was an oriental accupuncture massage (hurt a little) and the other was a hydration massage.  my surgeon and resident were very cool. he’s not only affiliated with vanderbilt, he’s the director of surgery there. they said that i had an exquisite kidney and that i was the most proactive patient they’ve had.

wednesday we had to be at the hospital at 6am for pre-op and the surgery was supposed to be at 730am.  i don’t remember being put to sleep. we were in pre-op next to each other, and, the next thing i knew i was awake and very dizzy, nauseous, and the most thirsty that i’ve ever been in my life. the first night wasn’t too bad, except that i was cold and didn’t sleep much. i walked the day of surgery, only around my room, but, it was rough.  i later found out that jon had briefly stopped breathing when they intubated him.

the next day, thursday, my iv had infiltrated and my hand was swollen from the fluid getting into the tissue.  so, overnight i hadn’t received any pain meds or hydration.  about three people tried to restick me, but they ended up blowing three veins. i lost it after the last one. my mom, aunt, and cousin’s wife were monitoring things. my cousin’s wife even offered to do it (she’s a nurse). my mom came to hug me after the last one and i just broke down from the frustration. i questioned if i even had to had the iv. finally, they said i didn’t.

i hadn’t urinated yet, and, i was informed that if i didn’t within the next hour, they would have to put the cathater back in, which, i wasn’t down with. so, i drank about 2 liters of water, which made me sick, and still couldn’t. i was dehydrated because my iv hadn’t been working. when i was finally able to, i had bladder spasms from the catheter. i was miserable. i just stayed on the toilet, and, every few minutes, a little would come out. i didn’t want to get back in bed because it i knew that i’d be up constantly. about three hours later, i received some meds for that. that was a terrible day, but the pain from the surgery wasn’t really that bad. my blood pressure had skyrocketed because of the stress. it’s normally 90/60, but it went up to 127/71. i walked some and called it a night.

friday was uneventful and i rested most of the day.  they were pushing for me to have a bm, but i had mainly been eating jello and applesauce. their food made me nauseous. i didn’t eat their food until this day. they were saying that i could possibly go home on this day, but i wanted to stay one more just to make sure i was ready. i walked a around the ward a couple of times and called it a night.

and, i was discharged on saturday. everyone said from the night of surgery that we both did well and looked great considering. jon’s having to take 12 pills twice a day. we were a very good match, though, either 5 or 6 out of 6. i told him that he better take care of it.  last i heard his creatinine was 1.23 and mine was 1. our urine output was great and i had a bm when i got home. so, i suppose everything is going well now. i’m just real sore. i drove 4 days post-op and worked just 6 days after.  jon had to stay in the hospital to be monitored for another week or so, to make sure everything was going smoothly.