…And Bells on Her Toes

Post Op – Day Two

Alex was weighed today.  He’s 8 Kilos (17.6 pounds) heavier than he was pre-op.  It’s all the fluids they pumped into him.  He’s getting rid of it though, his face almost looked normal and he had a bit more colour.

He sat in a chair and went for a walk today.  He made it all the way down to his Dad’s room (about 4 doors down) and back.  He was able to get rid of some of the gas in his belly so the nurse brought him some Swedish Meatballs for dinner.  He didn’t eat a lot of it, sticking mostly to the Jello and Juice.  He said he wanted to take it easy because he knew vomiting would be extremely painful.  He fell asleep very quickly after walking and eating.  I’m sure he was exhausted.  I left to let him get some rest, besides I had to pick up the girls.  My Sister-in-Law is watching them again tomorrow.

Alex’s stats were pretty good today.  His Creatinine levels, although still in the 700′s were down about 40 points – a move in the right direction.  His Potassium was still high (5.1 I think).  His blood pressure kept rising during the day, he started off in the 120′s/90′s and ended up in the 160′s/90′s.  The Doctor’s weren’t overly worried about it, saying it’s probably due to the amount of fluid he still has in his body.  They’re hesitant to give him any High Blood Pressure medication, because they want to give his new kidney a chance to do what it’s supposed to do. He’s peeing very well, although there’s a large amount of blood in it – it’s tinged very red.  Again, the Doctor’s are not concerned because he’s a) had two difficult surgeries and b) is currently on blood thinners (Heparin).  He’ll likely be peeing red for another day or so.

The one Transplant Doctor did make me a bit nervous though.  He kept talking about the new Kidney as though it wasn’t working yet.  He said because of the second surgery and the issues they had initially, they expect a 90% chance of success.  That’s still a 10% chance of failure.  He said something about over the next two to three weeks his Creatinine levels should fall below 300 and they would expect them to be in the two hundred range after that.  This is optimistic.  They’re taking away his pain reliever pump tomorrow and will likely start giving him something like Percocet.

I’m so frigging tired.

I had a T-shirt made for Marc that says “I donated a kidney and all I got was this lousy T-shirt”.  It was probably the most expensive T-shirt I’ve ever paid for but it was so worth it.  He laughed when he saw it.  I had to find a custom T-shirt place to make it and it was a bit of a hike from the hospital, but I was glad I found it.  I just wish there was more I could do.  I hope Marc knows just how grateful I am for helping Alex.  I know Gina (his wife) says that he did it because Alex is his son, but it’s still incredible.  I am still in awe.  Marc is my hero.  I can picture Alex rolling his eyes at me right now …

Marc’s roommate needs a transplant and his family apparently refuses to even get tested, let alone make the donation.  He’s been on Dialysis for 7 years I believe he told me.  He’s a nice guy and I hope it works out for him.