T - 0 to T + 3 (Waking Up)

When I woke up I noticed that the clock was a little after 2:00pm. I was disoriented, but the pain in my gut quickly brought me to the reality that I was now a kidney donor. I asked to see Barbara and she was brought in almost instantly. (Please be reminded that things were pretty hazy at this point, but she confirmed seeing me shortly after 2pm).

(Snopes says that the story on the internet about going to sleep with a pretty nurse and waking up missing a kidney is a hoax -- I need to write to them!)

The next thing I remember was being told that I would be brought to my room. The thought of being moved was very painful. I felt every little bump, like getting on and off an elevator. Sliding from the gurney to the bed was actually worse in anticipation than the actual move.

The nurse, Steve, put some morphine in the IV and that put me in la la land and took the sharp edge off the pain. My vital signs showed that I was still alive, although my assessment was, just barely. MY BP was about 100 over 55. I may have discovered a cure for high blood pressure, but I don't recommend it.

The next time that I needed pain medication, Steve said that he was going to switch me to Percocet because I need to be on oral medication before I could be discharged. A BIG MISTAKE!! After some time I told Steve that the Percocet was not taking the sharp edge off the pain. He said that I would have to wait a little bit and he would be able to give me some more morphine. When the time came, Steve put some more in the IV and things got better.

I had no pain at the incision, it was all related to my core muscles and the bloating putting pressure on things. Actually, most of the pain was where the kidney was. Having to turn in bed was the worst part. I never thought that I would be happy to have a catheter, but not having to get up to urinate was wonderful.

I had a complete team of people attending to me and somehow they would know when I got sleep and send in the next team member.

Dr Delpizzio's Team -- They were concerned with the incision and would give me the big picture about what was going to happen.

Nurse: She answered any questions and took care of pain medications.

Nurse Assistant: She took my vital signs (BP, Heart Rate, temperature and Oxygen level) every time that I managed to get to sleep.

Nurse Practitioner: I never figured out what she did. She asked if I had any questions and every time that asked one, she told me that the nurse would answer that. I tried five or six questions, but never hit on one that was within her purview, but she was cute.

Norman came in some time early evening. It was wonderful to see him. That brightened my day.

Barbara was checking with Fran (Kate's husband) on a regular basis. Kate did well and the kidney was functioning, but she had other issues like nausea and a rash. She stayed in the recovery room until the next day (Friday )-- more due to room availability than medical reasons.

My room was great. It was quite large and the staff immediately brought in a bed for Barbara. We were treated very well.

Thursday night was pretty tough -- the percocet wasn't cutting the pain all that well.

An aside: We have learned a lot about the Civil War because of living near Manassas, VA and numerous hiking trips to battle ground area. These soldiers were in make shift hospitals with limited supplies and freezing weather and I was in one of the best transplant hospital in the nation, if not the world -- I decided that I was going to live.