Leaving the Hospital

As I write this, my Dad is going through his After Care Binder with the most conscientious Post-Transplant Coordinator anyone could want.  It will take a great deal of time for them to sort through all of his medications, post-surgical appointments, and blood tests.  This is excruciatingly important information, and cannot be taken lightly.  My Dad and his body will need to work hard to keep his brand new kidney happy and healthy for the long haul.

As for his new kidney (the one that I gave to him,) it is performing admirably.  As of yesterday, his creatinine was that of a healthy person.  He cannot remember the last time he had seen his numbers so low.  He says that it has to have been a few decades ago.  I am beyond pleased and proud.  It feels like this was one of the reasons that I have worked so hard to be healthy all of these years—I just didn’t know it.

There is almost too much to tell as I wait for my Dad to return to our temporary hotel home…and the truth is that I do not yet have the energy to tell it.  I want to do it justice—for it was a life changing experience and one for which a few pithy sentences will not work.  Let me simply say that my Dad and I are healthy and healing. 

Healing is very hard business and anyone who tells you differently has never had surgery or ever been sick.  I am working hard to take breaks when I can, move when I should, stay ahead of the pain with medication, and eat what my body craves.  Right now, that is protein.  For a 20+ year Vegetarian, this is no easy task.  Fortunately, New Mexico is more than up to the challenge.

Check back for a narrative about my surgical experience and my time in the hospital.  I will try to give it the true weight that a story like this deserves.  And I’ll give you a hint—there were a few bumps in the road (as with any good story) but it ends happily.