Man, today was a long day. I thought Lisa The Nurse was kidding when she said that I'd be wiped out later, due to the adrenaline and nerves. I didn't think I had that much of either, but BOOM! Momma CRASHED this afternoon. WOW!
I have to say- the U of M is a city unto itself. I could never go to college. There are too many people, too many buildings, too much commotion all the time. I guess that rules out NYC for me too. heheheh! The Transplant Center does an OUTSTANDING job of being on time. I say 8 different people today and not one was late!!! AMAZING!
First I had all the blood drawn out of me, til I was a pile of bones on the floor. heheh. Okay, it was probably only 7 vials. I stopped counting at 6. They check everything. I'm happy to report that my fasting blood sugar is good, my cholesterol is good, both the good and bad, everything looks okay. There was one test on there, and the surgeon prefaced what he said by "This test is terribly flawed..." but my number seemed a little low- it measures kidney function. He said that it is absolutely nothing to be concerned over, but on January 20th, I will go in for the 4 hour test- I will drink some dye (or have it in an IV?) and then I have to have blood drawn at 2 hrs, 3 hrs, 4 hrs. I've read about this in many donor blogs, and it doesn't sound like a thing to be concerned over at all. In fact, I think every donor blog I've read talks about it, which makes me feel better.
I (we) met with 2 different surgeons, who covered every single little aspect possible, including the death rate from surgery which is .003%. Cullen didn't like that, but that rate isn't much different than for a hysterectomy. OH! We talked about paired exchange- which is super cool and works awesome for non directed donors. What that means is that if there is a donor out there who has a recipient who doesn't match with them, but I match with the recipient, I will donate to them, and their recipient will be matched with their best match on the list. That way TWO transplants take place, instead of just one! The U of M just did their first one (it's not "new" per say, nationally, but the program that organizes it is, and the U got to participate!) and it was in the paper on Friday. : ) We'll see. That test has to come out right for me first.
I had a chest x ray (looks good!) and EKG. I did a CT scan of my kidney's. I'd love to get a good look at them! I think that's so cool. The iodine feels so bizarre when it goes through your body. Our bodies are just kick ass!
We met with the social worker and then I met with the psychologist. That was the ..hardest (?) part. Esp with non directed donors (and for the record, I think non directed is easier than having it be someone you're emotionally involved with). They really dig into what makes you want to do this, and when asked things like "what other charitable things have you done?" ...that feels gross to answer, because it's not about putting another thing on the list. But, whatever!
OH! Also- isn't this interesting? 50% of recipients never even write a thank you note. He was very clear with me that I should not expect a thing. And I don't. I'm okay with not hearing a thing ever on it. Like I said, for me, it's easier to be a non directed than know the person and worry that the kidney is going to fail, or see that they aren't feeling well or something. I get to walk away and carry with me that I did the best I could, and that's it. However, i was thinking about that statistic, and most of the donors know their recipient, so I guess I'm not surprised that the thank you letter that the hospital encourages doesn't happen- I think those people all see one another and there is no need for a letter. The right thing always happens! This much I know.
And to the world, and anyone in it who may be concerned that in the future, something health wise will come up for me, and the fact that I'll have only one kidney will become important in a not good way: I am not a victim. I have never been a victim and I never will be one. Be it cancer, an accident, anything that happens to me or someone I love, it does not make me a victim, it's just another circumstance to learn to grow around, embrace, become stronger for, whatever. And if I'm not a victim, I certainly don't require or need sympathy or any thing such as that.
In other news, I ate a bag of kettle corn all by myself tonight. Horrible. Jordan thought he was peeing in the toilet while half asleep, but peed all over himself instead. I love American Idol. My spider loves when I light a candle near the aquarium. OH! This morning I took the lid off to give her some "new" air, and then I went to go do something and I NEVER WENT BACK TO PUT THE LID ON. My beautiful spider didn't even make a run for it. But I was in some serious trouble with Cullen! He was fit to be tied. Right there in the waiting room I got "And if you EVER do what you did this morning AGAIN, you will be required to immediately get rid of Willow, and I won't care how much you cry about it.", just like a 5 year old. But I couldn't blame him. Can you even imagine what would have happened if he saw the lid off, and no Willow in the cage? Where do you even begin to look for a spider that size? How do you carry on with your day? You don't. He would have found it, and ditched my appt to go drop her off at a pet store, FO SHO. I'm so lucky she loves me and didn't want to go. I'd thank her by hugging her but I'm not going to.
TTFN!
No comments:
Post a Comment