We arrived at the hospital a little after 6 am, meeting her parents and older brother in the lobby. We made our way up to the surgery floor and settled in for a wait. Around 6:40, the kidney folks were called back into the pre-surgery prep area. There, they donned finery such as this:
Then, they got to do things like answer a million questions, turn over living wills, give blood and urine samples, and watch TV. Amanda and her dad had a rotating roster of visitors: siblings, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and so forth. A few brought Amanda to tears.
It was an emotional time for all.
Amanda's mom made these signs so that there would be no confusion about who was who:
Even so, Amanda was marked with a circled K on her left side to indicate what was happening.
Amanda was wheeled back for surgery a little before 9 am. We were given periodic updates and were quite relieved when her surgeon came out to speak with us. Everything went just fine for our little Porkchop!!! What a big relief! They even finished up earlier than we expected, and Amanda was in the recovery room by 11:30.
Amanda's dad's surgery started around 10 am. His, of course, went much longer. Another wave of relief was felt when we learned that the kidney was hooked up and producing urine! I don't think anyone has ever been more excited about pee! Awesome!!
We checked in on Amanda around 1 pm. As expected, she was in and out for quite a while. It was a joy to watch her snooze and snore. She started perking up mid-afternoon and felt well enough to banter with her family.
Here she is with a cardinal balloon from her grandparents:
Her dad's surgery wrapped up mid-afternoon as well. Unfortunately, his blood pressure is quite high, so he is staying in the ICU for a couple of days (her dad had double-bypass surgery a few years ago, so this wasn't really a surprise).
He isn't able to have any liquids yet; the nurses can only give his mouth a sponge swab. Luckily, Amanda has been downing ice chips, broth, and jello!
Also, around 10 pm, she took a walk around the floor, visiting her dad in the ICU. I find this quite incredible! But, she is experiencing moderate pain around the incision sites and had a couple of Vicodin around 9 pm.
The doctors say that she could come home Thursday afternoon, but we all think this is too soon and will probably insist that she stay another day. Judging from her walk around the ward, I don't think she's in any shape to climb up all the stairs to our apartment (we live on the second floor, and the house is atop a small hill....lots of stairs required).
Before I conclude, I wanted to share this photo, which illustrates how nasty GoLytely is. This photo was not staged or posed...it's an authentic expression of disgust:
The attendants in Amanda's surgery took a few photos for Amanda of her kidney. We will hopefully get those photos developed and posted soon. I mean, how cool to have a photo of your kidney!
Good night, and thank you all for your thoughts, well-wishes, and love. It is very much appreciated.
-CF
