Part Twenty Eight: Bath Tubes and Hospital Food

I spent a little time this morning getting ready for my weekend trip to Texas and then headed over to the outpatient clinic a little before noon.

The regular desk guys were out to lunch when I arrived and as a result, I didn't get my normal quick service. First, they seemed confused and couldn't find my file. Then they thought they found it and told me to have a seat until someone could register me. Meanwhile, my dad walks in and up to the front desk. They fumble for his paperwork and then realize that the name sounds familiar. The desk guy's eyes scan the room and land on me.. "Didn't we just check someone else in with that name??" My dad gestures to me and says I'm his daughter. He's checked in at that time and given a wristband and told to wait to go back.

Meanwhile, I still have no wristband and am still not officially registered. I know the routine and know that this is out of the ordinary. I saunter up to the desk and inquire as to whether or not I'll be getting a wrist band today.

The guy looks at me blankly. "Are you having something done today too?"

Despite the fact that I've already indicated that I am there for preadmission testing for a kidney donation, he still questions me. Like I could somehow be unclear about why I am there.

Eventually, they get it figured out. Khristy, my favorite blood-sucking nurse, comes and fetches my dad and tells me to come on back whenever they finish with my paperwork.

By this time, my dad has already given his blood samples and is in the process of getting his EKG. I am already hopped up into the pistachio green adult high chair when they emerge from behind the curtain. Khristy remembers that she bruised me before and used a nice small needle. She needed at least five or six tubes of blood today and as the first sample comes out I think that it really looks a lot like chocolate syrup.

K next hands me a urine cup and points to the restroom. My dad wonders out loud why he didn't have to give a pee sample too. Khristy remarks, "Well, we already KNOW what kind of sample we're going to get from YOU!"

After peeing into the cup I came strutting out of the bathroom and plunked it down on the counter proudly. "See there!" I said to my dad, "Now THAT'S quality right there. That's what you have to look forward to!"

We go in the back for the EKG and I realize that I'm wearing one of the tightest shirts that I own. It makes it hard for Khristy to maneuver around and stick things under my shirt but she manages and after some readjustments, is eventually able to get a good reading for me.

While we're doing my EKG, the x-ray technician comes to get my dad and eventually I join him down the hall to get chest x-rays. This time, I was able to see my x-rays pop up on a monitor after they processed and it was pretty cool! My breasts looked incredibly perky in the side shot.... and my heart looked bigger than I expected.

I thought we were finished at that point, but we were next directed into a little exam room to meet with the Anesthesiologist who was a super nice younger lady. A nurse asked if we had eaten yet and we were each given a little container of hospital food. It contained an apple juice, apple sauce, cookies and a cold moist turkey sandwich. We nibbled away while discussing what to expect on the morning of surgery. The doctor asked if we had any questions and I came up blank. My dad said, "Amanda just wants to know if she's going to be able to watch the World Series that night in the hospital with me." The doctor smiled and said, "I sure hope you'll be able to watch the Cardinals play. And if you're feeling okay, I don't see any reason why you won't be able to go in and visit with your dad some that night."

The next stop was the Doctors Office Building to meet with the transplant team. I wasn't expecting any more physical exams, but when we got there, we were almost immediately whisked away to separate exam rooms for more inspection. After getting our vitals checked, I waited alone in a little room for at least an hour and a half before anyone acknowledged me. A physicians assistant came in and did a brief exam, feeling my abdomen and throat and groin and breasts. After a quick question and answer session I was asked to sign a consent form for the surgery.

A few minutes later, one of the surgeons came in to talk with me about the operation. From what I had been told, this was not the surgeon that would be performing my surgery, but he had been following my case from day one and told me, in his thick accent, that I was one of the healthiest patients he had ever had come through the evaluation process. We talked about the risks and the things I would need to do after surgery. At one point he was saying that I wouldn't be able to take a bath for a while and he said that I would not be able to get in "the bath tube." I was momentarily confused but then realized he was referring to the bath tub.

I'm feeling less anxious today than I was yesterday and am once again thankful for the distraction of this wedding weekend. It also helps that the Cardinals won game 7 of the NLCS tonight to make it to the World Series once again. Although I probably won't be able to make it to a WS game this year, I think it will be even more rewarding to watch the World Series on hospital TV with my dad and his new kidney.