Yesterday, I did a couple of computer repair jobs and drove for the first time. I am feeling better every day and my systems are getting back to normal. I am varying my diet more, and without any adverse effects. My appetite is not back to where it was, but I enjoy eating small meals and have cravings for different foods -- we think this means something and usually go with them.
I make it a point to sit and read and snooze between activities. Really enjoying reading with my new Kindle that the kids got for me. It is so easy and convenient.
We walked about two miles before dinner.
This morning I discovered that I had lost another 1.5 pounds (a total of 10 pounds since we left for NY on March 28th). Would all the people who have decided to donate a kidney please form a double line!
I suspect that my weight will pick up once I am able to go back to biking and weight lifting.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
12 April - Monday
I seem to be inching back a little each day. My GI system is heading in the right direction and I am sleeping better because the gas pains are not keeping me awake.
I also feel like my temperature regulation system is getting better -- I was very chilled when I had to get up during the night. That didn't seem to be an issue last night.
BP: 105/70, pulse: 55 this morning. I lost another 1/4 pound (total 8.5 pounds).
I feel like my energy level is better this morning -- maybe due to sleeping better.
I got a funny note from Kate yesterday. Before the transplant, I was kidding her about how active my kidneys were. She said that yesterday was the first time in 25 years of 24 hour urine collections that she needed a second jug.
I also feel like my temperature regulation system is getting better -- I was very chilled when I had to get up during the night. That didn't seem to be an issue last night.
BP: 105/70, pulse: 55 this morning. I lost another 1/4 pound (total 8.5 pounds).
I feel like my energy level is better this morning -- maybe due to sleeping better.
I got a funny note from Kate yesterday. Before the transplant, I was kidding her about how active my kidneys were. She said that yesterday was the first time in 25 years of 24 hour urine collections that she needed a second jug.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
11 April. - Sunday
Thought I would go to church this morning, but eating breakfast consumed all my energy
Back to resting. Guess you can't rush mother nature.
Back to resting. Guess you can't rush mother nature.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
10 April - Saturday
First day home in VA. I still have to be careful about what I eat. However, I went on the BRAT Diet (Banana, Rice, Apple Sauce, Toast) to slow things going through my system. Actually, BRAT with pizza supplements. My stomach seems to be doing better.
The weather was beautiful and we did three nice walks. I am very tired and resting a lot. The good news is that I lost eight pounds from when we left for NY. I have a feeling that I will find it when I am able to eat properly again.
The weather was beautiful and we did three nice walks. I am very tired and resting a lot. The good news is that I lost eight pounds from when we left for NY. I have a feeling that I will find it when I am able to eat properly again.
T - 0 to T-2: Saturday: Calling Mother and Going Home
I wanted to catchup on this last day in the hospital while I can still remember.
Friday night to Saturday morning seemed like I had a much better night's rest with fewer interruptions. They seemed like they were being merciful and letting me sleep. However, I think I missed one of my four hour percocet fixes.
I woke up about 5am and it seemed like my GI system was showing some activity -- at least a little bit. I also felt chills and was a bit nauseous. I was able to go back to sleep.
When I woke up later, I felt terrible and could not imagine that I would go home that day. When I reported my GI activity, the food service person came right in and offered me this huge variety of food for breakfast and lunch. I thought I was on a cruise -- I expected the Viennese table for dessert. None of it really appealed to me -- I got dry toast and yogurt for breakfast and hummus and pita bread for lunch. I kept thinking of Jackie Gleason and the "Loud Mouth", where Art Carney would order a piece of toast floating in a bowl of prune juice.
I got back on the percocet. I also found that Joanne was back, something that I didn't expect because of the weekend -- things were looking up. We talked about discharge and I opted for 3pm.
Barbara and I called Kate and decided on 12:30pm to call mother and break the news. I also called my brother, Keith, and asked that he go over and be with my mother. Kate and I made the call. It was quite a shock to my mother, but she did well. At 90 years old, she has been through a lot of things. I told her that I would be home later that day and fill her in on all the details.
Barbara and I walked back to my room. Joanne came in and asked about going home (Barbara had everything packed and laid out on her bed). We said that we were ready whenever it would be good for her. She came back shortly with all of the paperwork and carefully explained everything. A couple of signatures and we were ready to go.
Fran's sister-in-law, Kay, drove us home. She was wonderful to us throughout this whole thing and I, especially, appreciated her gentile driving.
We got to my mother's in Farmingdale by mid-afternoon. I spent a lot of time talking to my mother and Barbara went to town and filled my prescriptions.
Friday night to Saturday morning seemed like I had a much better night's rest with fewer interruptions. They seemed like they were being merciful and letting me sleep. However, I think I missed one of my four hour percocet fixes.
I woke up about 5am and it seemed like my GI system was showing some activity -- at least a little bit. I also felt chills and was a bit nauseous. I was able to go back to sleep.
When I woke up later, I felt terrible and could not imagine that I would go home that day. When I reported my GI activity, the food service person came right in and offered me this huge variety of food for breakfast and lunch. I thought I was on a cruise -- I expected the Viennese table for dessert. None of it really appealed to me -- I got dry toast and yogurt for breakfast and hummus and pita bread for lunch. I kept thinking of Jackie Gleason and the "Loud Mouth", where Art Carney would order a piece of toast floating in a bowl of prune juice.
I got back on the percocet. I also found that Joanne was back, something that I didn't expect because of the weekend -- things were looking up. We talked about discharge and I opted for 3pm.
Barbara and I called Kate and decided on 12:30pm to call mother and break the news. I also called my brother, Keith, and asked that he go over and be with my mother. Kate and I made the call. It was quite a shock to my mother, but she did well. At 90 years old, she has been through a lot of things. I told her that I would be home later that day and fill her in on all the details.
Barbara and I walked back to my room. Joanne came in and asked about going home (Barbara had everything packed and laid out on her bed). We said that we were ready whenever it would be good for her. She came back shortly with all of the paperwork and carefully explained everything. A couple of signatures and we were ready to go.
Fran's sister-in-law, Kay, drove us home. She was wonderful to us throughout this whole thing and I, especially, appreciated her gentile driving.
We got to my mother's in Farmingdale by mid-afternoon. I spent a lot of time talking to my mother and Barbara went to town and filled my prescriptions.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
T + 6 Wednesday, 7 April - Turnaround
When I woke up, I was still having terrible gas pains. Anything that I tried to eat or drink immediately made this worse. Suddenly the logjam broke and all of my systems were working fine. I had no problem eating or drinking and walked about four miles (not all at once). I was like a new person. It was six days after my kidney donation and I was almost back to normal -- except for being tired.
Kate came home from the hospital. We had a long talk on the phone. She is doing well and so happy that she can sleep through the night and no longer has terrible "night sweats" requiring her to change the sheets.
Life is good. Tomorrow (Thursday) is my one week checkup at the hospital.
Kate came home from the hospital. We had a long talk on the phone. She is doing well and so happy that she can sleep through the night and no longer has terrible "night sweats" requiring her to change the sheets.
Life is good. Tomorrow (Thursday) is my one week checkup at the hospital.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
T - 0 to T + 2 The Next Day - Nurse Joanne
Surgery was Thursday, Thursday night/Friday morning was a lot of monitoring and nursing care throughout the night. I did not get much sleep.
The nurse's aide took my vital signs every 4 hours. I remember BP about 105 over 65, or something close to that. My oxygen was 91. This was always an issue and I had to suck on a device to get it up. With hard work and much pain, I could usually manage to get it up to 94.
I was constantly reminded that I would have to get up and walk. At that point, it hurt to LOOK up, I could not imagine that I would GET up.
At 8am the shifts changes and shortly after that I met my day nurse, Joanne Ramoutar. I know that so many of you have been praying for me, but I didn't know that God sends a special nurse. Joanne was wonderful. She asked how I was doing and about getting up and walking. I told her that I felt terrible and the thought of getting up was painful. She said, "OK" and came back in a few minutes with two Percocet and told me to rest. I went into a deep, uninterrupted sleep. When I woke up, Joanne was there and asked if I felt like walking -- I said, "Sure". She adjusted the tubes attached to me, adjusted the bed, and I got up with no problem at all. The next thing I knew, I was walking up and down the hall with the other pole pushers. It was easy and I felt great!
The next time that my vitals were being taken by the aide, Joanne came in. The aide told her about my low oxygen level. Joanne said that she would try it. First she switched the oxygen sensor to the opposite side from the BP cuff and then she said that I need to sit up straighter so that my diaphragm was not compressed. She gently helped me do that and my oxygen went from 91 to 99.
After I was able to get up and walk, Joanne said that she could remove the catheter for my urine. I asked if she was good at it, she said yes and got up and walk to the other side of the bed. It was out and I never felt a thing.
Joanne kept a close watch on my pain medications and also started me on stool softeners -- something I would appreciate later.
Later that day, Barbara and I were going to visit Kate. We asked for the "Escort Service". Someone came to disconnect the IV, but he got flustered because he didn't know how to disconnect the fittings that were used. He said that I needed to wait for a wheel chair to take me down. We never got a wheel chair, but Kate was sleeping anyway. The next time Kate was available, we asked Joanne. She fixed my IV tube, disconnected it and said that we could walk down. It was so easy and so nice to be free of the pole.
I had my first visit with Kate. She looked good. She said that she had no pain -- I was amazed.
Our son, Norman, visited for a while on Friday morning and then left to catch a plane for CA. It was so good to see him.
The rest of Friday went well and I got more rest on Friday night. The next challenge was to get some output from my digestive system. It was a criteria for going home on Saturday. I, actually, did not care if I had to stay until Sunday. The atmosphere was pleasant and the care was good.
The nurse's aide took my vital signs every 4 hours. I remember BP about 105 over 65, or something close to that. My oxygen was 91. This was always an issue and I had to suck on a device to get it up. With hard work and much pain, I could usually manage to get it up to 94.
I was constantly reminded that I would have to get up and walk. At that point, it hurt to LOOK up, I could not imagine that I would GET up.
At 8am the shifts changes and shortly after that I met my day nurse, Joanne Ramoutar. I know that so many of you have been praying for me, but I didn't know that God sends a special nurse. Joanne was wonderful. She asked how I was doing and about getting up and walking. I told her that I felt terrible and the thought of getting up was painful. She said, "OK" and came back in a few minutes with two Percocet and told me to rest. I went into a deep, uninterrupted sleep. When I woke up, Joanne was there and asked if I felt like walking -- I said, "Sure". She adjusted the tubes attached to me, adjusted the bed, and I got up with no problem at all. The next thing I knew, I was walking up and down the hall with the other pole pushers. It was easy and I felt great!
The next time that my vitals were being taken by the aide, Joanne came in. The aide told her about my low oxygen level. Joanne said that she would try it. First she switched the oxygen sensor to the opposite side from the BP cuff and then she said that I need to sit up straighter so that my diaphragm was not compressed. She gently helped me do that and my oxygen went from 91 to 99.
After I was able to get up and walk, Joanne said that she could remove the catheter for my urine. I asked if she was good at it, she said yes and got up and walk to the other side of the bed. It was out and I never felt a thing.
Joanne kept a close watch on my pain medications and also started me on stool softeners -- something I would appreciate later.
Later that day, Barbara and I were going to visit Kate. We asked for the "Escort Service". Someone came to disconnect the IV, but he got flustered because he didn't know how to disconnect the fittings that were used. He said that I needed to wait for a wheel chair to take me down. We never got a wheel chair, but Kate was sleeping anyway. The next time Kate was available, we asked Joanne. She fixed my IV tube, disconnected it and said that we could walk down. It was so easy and so nice to be free of the pole.
I had my first visit with Kate. She looked good. She said that she had no pain -- I was amazed.
Our son, Norman, visited for a while on Friday morning and then left to catch a plane for CA. It was so good to see him.
The rest of Friday went well and I got more rest on Friday night. The next challenge was to get some output from my digestive system. It was a criteria for going home on Saturday. I, actually, did not care if I had to stay until Sunday. The atmosphere was pleasant and the care was good.
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