I am Free!

I’m Free!

They released me Thursday afternoon, late. The picture above was taken Friday morning about 6:30 in front of the Kirklin Clinic at UAB. I have my freedom back (for a couple of weeks at least…. More about that later..)

I woke up from surgery and was placed in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) where they kept me overnight for observation and some serious IV fluids. In the course of 24 hours, I received, and passed 22 liters of fluid. The kidney worked immediately, and flushed all of the toxins out of my body that had been accumulating and causing me to be tired, lethargic, and “uremic.” As I mentioned before, my creatinine level went from 5.8 to 1.6 virtually overnight. All of the other numbers that we track are inline, and the doctors could not be more excited with how my body has taken in the new kidney thus far.

Science aside, I feel so much better! I have enough energy to make it through the day. Looking back, I used to yawn about 80-90 times a day and look for a nap mid-afternoon, but so far, I haven’t yawned during the daylight hours yet!

Since discharge on Thursday, Jennifer are staying at a hotel near the hospital, and we will be here for about another week or so. UAB offers a room at their Townhome for patient use, but one of Jennifer’s longest and dearest friends offered up some “frequent flyer” points and booked us in for the first week. We are much more comfortable here, and grateful that we have so many people looking out for us.

Post-surgical methodology calls for a strict regimen of anti-rejection medication. The doctors look for the medicine to be absorbed into the patients’ body at a particular rate and maintain a certain level for optimal effectiveness, therefore, I go to have blood drawn every morning for three weeks immediately post-op. Following the early morning labs, some days we have clinic visits scheduled, other days we have seminars or classes, and most we just hang out in case something comes up and the doctors need me to come in.

Another reason for staying in Town is we are keeping a sort of modified quarantine against germ exposure. Because the anti-rejection therapies inhibit white blood cells, I will be at a higher risk of infection by cold, bug, bacteria, or virus. We have had visitors, (for which we are thankful, because sitting in a hotel room can get pretty boring!) but we ask that they scrub in, wash up, and limit contact. The timing of the procedure is perfect, because if it were in the middle of allergy season, or cold season, I would certainly catch something. Perhaps we can avoid it in the middle of the summer.

I cant speak highly enough of the surgical team, nursing staff, and support services at UAB Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Center. Their care and compassion shepherded me through some of the toughest times that I have had. Their professionalism and consistent messaging helped me to cope with the news of the past week, both good and bad, and through it all, they took damn good care of Jennifer and me. I owe each one of them a Great Big Hug and sincere Thank You!

So, we will be here for the next couple of weeks, recovering, resting, walking, and enjoying our Summer in Birmingham. Ive never been a big fan of city-living, but it is attractive in small doses. Im sure it wont be long before I am pining for home, but for now we are content… and free!