Update
About a month ago I got a call from Vanderbilt Hospital letting me know that they had a kidney for me. I decided to pass that one up for a couple of reasons. The first being I already had a donor and we were set to have it done on August 22nd of this year. The other reason being I was out of town and would not have been able to make it to the hospital in time. I told them to give it to someone else.
On Wednesday July 19th I got a call from Vanderbilt Hospital notifying me that they have a kidney for me. I was shocked to here from them. The doctor that called told me that the kidney was from an 18 year that was in a car accident and that it was an excellent match. I reminded him that I had a donor already and he said that this would save my cousin from having to go through surgery. I asked him to compare the two matches and let me know how close they are. He said he would call me back in 10 minutes. As soon as I hung up with him I started trying to get a hold of my family. As it would happen no one was answering their phone. My dad called me back and I told him what was going on, he told me it was my decision and only I could make the choice. I was a wreck.
The doctor called me back and told me that the 18 year old kidney was very close to my cousins and suggest I take it. He told me that no one gets a second chance like this, two calls within a month. He reminded me that I would have my cousin as a back up. I decided to take it. The doctor told me to be at Vanderbilt by 6:30 PM that night. I hung up with him; pack my things and left to go home. I told Brian (my coworker) what was going on and that I was leaving. I called my boss and left a message to call me back. Then it was phone craziness. My mom called me back, told her what was going on and told her I would pick her up on after I went home. Went home changed, packed, made a post on LJ and Myspace, and left to pick my mom up. My boss called me back, wish me luck and told me not worry about work. I tired to get a hold of as many people I could before I got to the hospital.
We got to Vanderbilt around 6:00 PM went to three different places in the hospital before finding the right place; I was such a nervous wreck that I couldn’t remember where the doctor told me to go. The nurse checked me and got me into the ER. They took all my vitals and then one by one all the doctors that were going to work on me came in to talk to me. They let me know what was going to happen which help calm me down. The nurses then had to draw a lot of a lot blood for the final cross match and tests. I got my IV lines in and was taken up to the 10th floor for the night. The surgery was set for 7:30AM. I got to spend sometime with my family before going to sleep.
When I woke up it was all over. I was laying in recovery with nurses asking me how I feel. I couldn’t fill a thing, I was so drugged up. I don’t remember a lot from most of the day. My mom, dad, brother, aunt and uncle where there, so was my long time and best friend Jay. I was surprised to see him since he lives so far away. Julie, Kat, Brian, Micah, Sue, Gina and my family called to check up on me. Lauren came up that afternoon and stayed until around 11:00 PM. She is such a great friend and roomie. Julie wanted to be there so bad, but she had strep again, :(.
On Friday I was filling so much better. The doctors told me that the kidney was working great and for the first time in 9 years my numbers were within a normal range. The told me that I would most likely be going home soon. I had to learn all the drugs that I would be taking and had to read want I can and can’t eat. By the end of day they had me up and walking around the 10th floor.
On Sunday, they told me that I was going to get discharged and took out all the lines but one that were in me. Only the removal of one the lines hurt and I never want to go through that again. I got discharged and left for home around 2:00 and got home a little after 4:30 PM. Kat called and asked if she could come by and see me. If was so good to see her and the flowers she brought brighten my day. My mom and Lauren took care of me and made sure I was comfortable.
I rested the rest of the week, followed all of the doctor’s instructions and mainly watched a lot of TV and took plenty of pain meds. I am so thankful for my friends; they checked up on me all week and wanted to make sure I didn’t need anything. I think my mom loves spending all this time with me; she has been taking such good care of me.
I went back to Vanderbilt yesterday for my first follow-up visit. They removed my drain line and told me that the staples should be out within a couple of weeks. So far everything is going very well. I am walking, feeling stronger and getting better and better everyday. I will not be back to work for about 6 weeks. I’ll be watching a lot of DVD’s and playing on the computer.
Thank you to everyone that left me get well wishes. Love you all!