What an awesome journey this has been since February 1st when I found out that my best friend's father needed a kidney. I knew instantly without hesitation that I wanted to be his donor. I prayed and put it in the Lord's hands, no matter the outcome, I knew ultimately he was in control. I never had one ounce of doubt that I didn't want to do this, if anything, I was so excited inside that I could shout from the mountain tops. My friend's family was in awe of my positive attitude and passion to do this but to me I was wondering why all the fuse.. Why not do this if you are healthy and can help someone else have a better quality of life? So I did the blood work to confirm that I was his blood type, it was like one test after another and to me it couldn't get here fast enough. Daddy Chuck, who is my best friend's father was shocked on how fast this all took place. I think it helped that I also was in constant contact with my transplant coordinator, who by the ways AWESOME! Once I went through the two days of testing and it was approved from the transplant team, we decided on June 9th as the day the Lord would use me to breath life into my kidney so that Chuck could live again..
So on June 8th, I had to go for my pre-op test and get my red band that I had to wear all night and for the remainder of my stay while I was in the hospital. I do believe that I repeated my name and birthday more than I chose to remember, especially since next year, I will be 50 :-) I did get a chance that day to go see Daddy Chuck since he had to be admitted the day before. So that time was very special for us as we both were alone and I was able to reassure him that it was going to be ok. He was so worried about me but with my smile and my big hugs, I believe when I left him that day he knew that I was trusting in the All Mighty Physician and we both would be in good hands!
To say the least, I was so excited not Anxious or worried, just excited because I knew that this meant that Daddy Chuck would no longer need to be on dialysis and he could be the husband, father and granddaddy that he so desired to be.
My husband and I arrived at Piedmont in Atlanta at 5:30 am and my surgery was to begin at 7:30. I am blessed to be 30 minutes away from the hospital, so the drive in was a breeze. They took my husband and I back to get me into my pretty hospital gown and put my IV in for surgery. My husband was having way too much fun with the camera watching me get ready for surgery. So it was great to be able to laugh and cut up with the nurses. My main nurse looked just like Dr. Bailey on Grey's Anatomy, so I pretended I was a movie star for a brief moment :-) Well, I kissed my husband of 32 years good bye and told him I would see him on the other side, which meant the other recovery room. He didn't like that comment, so I had to rephrase my wording. I have to share this real quick, my best friend, Kim who I am donating to her father is the one that introduced me to my husband 32 years ago. We only dated 10 days and got married, so I knew she gave me my gift who was able to give me a son, daughter and now 2 grandbabies. My gift from her will live on forever and I pray my gift to her daddy will live on through him for a long time... So this "Gift of Life" has come full circle...
The next thing I remember is waking up, yes, on the other side extremely groggy. I wasn't in pain, if anything, I was enjoying the feeling that I had of total relaxation. I remember the nurse checking my vitals and asking me if I was in pain and if so just hit the little pump that was in my hand. I was in surgery almost 3 hours and recovery for 2. My husband said that the doctor said that everything went great and he didn't have to cut me in the main incision as big as he thought he was going to have to. So I have a small incision on the left side, one in my navel and a 3 1/2 inch cut above my navel. Once I went to my room, they moved me from the stretcher to my bed and surprisingly it didn't hurt. My husband and friends all came in to check on me and I had already made sure that my husband gave me my earrings and lip gloss. I had to look pretty for the adoption celebration of my little kidney bean!!! Poor daddy Chuck's surgery had to be delayed for 3 hours because of an emergency that took place, so they had to wait on me to get out so he could use the operating room I was in. So I was already in my room while Chuck was still be operating on, but the outcome was great. My kidney started working immediately. To say the least there was a celebration going on at Piedmont hospital, lot's of happy tears!
I was able to start walking that afternoon, only after I got extremely sick to my stomach with dry heaves and me feeling like my insides were coming unglued. My husband said that he saw veins in my head that he didn't know I had. But once I recovered from that episode, I walked down the hall and back with my pole full of wires going here and there. Once I got back to the bed, I felt a little sick again but it went away. I didn't use the pain pump like I should because I wanted to be Superwoman and I think a couple times when I wasn't looking my husband pushed the pain pump :-) To be honest, I was more worried about constipation that I was my pain, so I stopped my pain pump and pain pills by 3pm the next day and switched to tylenol. The highlight of my day the next day was the moment that I walked into Daddy Chuck's room for the first time and our eyes locked. He broke out in a huge smile and we embraced as tight as tight can be for two people with incisions in their bellies.. To me it was like a kiss from Heaven when I was able to see Daddy Chuck, it was like the Lord confirming to me, you were faithful to my whisper and now you are seeing what I promised to you.. a moment that will be embedded in my heart forever!!! I would so do this again if I had another kidney..
I was able to leave the hospital on Saturday morning, 2 days after surgery. I do believe it was because I insisted on walking up and down the halls and of course with my lip gloss and earrings. I had a couple people ask me are you sure you are a patient here. My main purpose to doing this was to show the doctors and nurses that I was ready to go home, I do so much better at home and can sleep with no interruptions. Love the nurses but love my husband better who knows how to take care of me!!! Now Daddy Chuck couldn't leave until that Monday, but he said that he felt great already. It was amazing to the color in his face, almost instantly. His creatine levels dropped to 1.2 before he left. He told me that he has never urinated this much in his life, so I took that as a compliment. As I am a runner and love to drink my water, so I knew he was getting a healthy kidney. I told him, don't be surprised if you get the urge to run a marathon! So for Daddy Chuck, the only issue he is really having right now besides getting all his med's right, is his incision. He will get his staples out this Wednesday, so I know he will feel so much better. Other than that he says that he feels so much better already.
Now as for me, the only complaint that I have is that my main incision is so swollen in one area. This one area bled a lot in the hospital, so much so, they had to change my pad almost every 2 to 4 hours. The surgeons did look at it before I left and instructed that I change the pad as much as possible and not to wear a shirt I like in case it bled through. It is almost 3 weeks and finally stopped bleeding the first week but literally finally stopped oozing while/yellowish drainage this past Wed. The doctor who I met with last friday for my 2 week check up said that if it doesn't go down and I continue to have pain/bulging in that area, they would see me back in a week or two do a CT scan. I just pray the swelling goes down and that hard knot behind it, otherwise, I am going to have one lumpy belly... No more flat belly for me but I am ok with that... Beside the incision problem, my blood work came back all normal and my creatine level is now 0.87. I know that my post is long but I type like the way I talk. I hope you all can see in my post how happy that I am and so blessed to be apart of this journey called "Life"! Anyone want to share with me how long it took for your swelling to go down, then I will take a deep breath and relax... I am counting down the days that I can run again but in the meantime I am enjoying my long walks and taking the time to smell the roses. Dr. said no running for 6 weeks or picking up anything more than 10lbs for 10weeks. ( is this normal time or did you have different guidelines on lifting/running?)
I want to thank you all who have spoken truth into me on this amazing website. So many wonderful people and one in particular Angela Stimpson... what an inspiration to me... Ok, I will stop now.. thank you and God Bless you wonderful and generous people! Hugs..
Topic: June 9th almost 3 weeks post op (very long) (Read 5851 times)