I Hate Dialysis Message Board

Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Transplant Discussion => Topic started by: kellyt on November 06, 2008, 02:14:42 PM

Title: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: kellyt on November 06, 2008, 02:14:42 PM
I was wheeled into the O.R. at around 8:45 a.m. yesterday and I was in ICU (throwing up) by 2 p.m.  My sister-in-law is doing great, as well.  She's sore, but doing well.  They were able to take her left kidney, so that was a blessing.

They did a sonogram of my new kidney yesterday, as well.  That was a little painful.  I had a terrible time opening my eyes after surgery.  Plus, the Morphine hasn't been very helpful with controlling pain.  If I lay still I do pretty good.  The reason they did the sonogram yesterday following surgery was because apparently the artery was small.  It's working great, but they wanted to check it out early.  I was in ICU until just about 1/2 an hour ago.  It's boring up there!  I didn't sleep well AT ALL.  I literally slept in 10 minute increments beginning at 9 p.m.!  It was horrible.  My urine output is great and there is actually some color to my urine now!  I have to ware the Foley Catheter until Monday and that sucks, but I'm used to it already.  I went 38 hours with no food in me!  That is unheard of for me!  But I really wasn't hungry!  I can't seem to get rid of the dry mouth and throat.  I've been drinking water and munching on ice most of the day.

As nervous as I was while at home, I was strangely at ease once at the hospital.  I knew I had lots of people thinking of me and I totally appreciate it!  So does my donor!  What a trooper she's been.

Funny story, I feel horrible about it though!  When we admitted Tuesday morning we found out that she was going to be on a clear liquid diet for the day, as well as get TWO enemas!!!  I, on the other hand, was given turkey, dressing, salad, roll and and two cookies for lunch, as well as another big dinner!  She was giving me all kinds of crap.  Wednesday morning she came into my room and woke me up by telling me the nurse was coming in to give me an enema!!  Also, when I got back to my room this afternoon she had written on my patient board:  "Five Enemas and NO FOOD for ONE WEEK.   I felt so guilty yesterday!  :)  It was funny.  I'm forever grateful to her!!!

It's good to be back.  I'll check in later tonight.  I have to close my eyes now.  They aren't cooperating with me...    Love to you all!
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: cherpep on November 06, 2008, 02:18:47 PM
WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!  Great to hear from you, happy to hear things are going well.  Get some rest, let your body heal.

Cute story about the food - that's one for the books, huh?!  She was limited with food while you had a feast. 
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: okarol on November 06, 2008, 02:24:14 PM
 :flower; Hey Kelly - great update! keep drinking and sleep when you can.
Lots of LOVE and HUGS!  :cuddle;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Normie on November 06, 2008, 02:43:17 PM
 :bandance;

Wow what great news.  What a wonderful gift from your sister-in-law.  Does that mean that you are truly blood related now?  :)

I hope you both have a quick and as easy a recovery as possible.  Get some rest and keep us updated.

God bless,
Normie
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Lori1851 on November 06, 2008, 02:43:51 PM
 :cheer: :flower; :cheer:
Great news hon! Give your donor a big hug for me!!!!!

Lori/Indiana
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: willieandwinnie on November 06, 2008, 02:45:19 PM
 :flower; Oh Kelly. I was so happy to see your post. I hope you can get some rest and please drink plenty.  :cuddle;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Ang on November 06, 2008, 02:47:52 PM
glad  to  hear  that  everything is  going  great  guns, :yahoo;

rest  relax  and  recovery  are  your main  goals  for  now

eat  drink  and  be  merry.

Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: monrein on November 06, 2008, 02:51:40 PM
Fantastic news Kelly.  Now keep drinking and peeing....Ah heaven!!!  :cuddle;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Sunny on November 06, 2008, 02:54:08 PM
Wonderful news. I glad all is going well. I wish you both a speedy recovery. Sounds like your sister-in-law, along with being generous, also has quite a sense of humor.
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: skyedogrocks on November 06, 2008, 03:08:38 PM
Awesome news Kelly!  So glad everything is going well!  Pee On!!!!   :flower;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: paul.karen on November 06, 2008, 03:16:01 PM
 :yahoo; :yahoo;
 :2thumbsup; :2thumbsup; :clap;
 :clap; :clap;

DOES GOOD NEWS GET ANY BETTER THEN THIS  :waving; :waving;

Ah heck you dont know me that well but this is for sure hug worthy Kelly  :cuddle;

God bless you and your Sister in law...
P&k
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: thegrammalady on November 06, 2008, 03:26:50 PM
  :yahoo;  :2thumbsup;  :yahoo; pee some for me  :rofl;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: lola on November 06, 2008, 03:33:22 PM
 :bandance; :bandance; :yahoo; :yahoo;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: kellyt on November 06, 2008, 04:07:31 PM
Thanks everyone, and I'm sending a big cyber-hug to you Paul!   ;)

I'm so tired of being hooked up to so many tubes.  I can't move without having some tube pull me back to the bed!  ha ha  I'm teathered to my hospital bed!  Help!  I have the air booty things on my calves, I have a neck IV and let's not forget that nasty Foley!

Right now I'm crossing my fingers that they allow me some solid food.  That broth is horrible!   :puke;


Where's my Paris?  I'd call but YOU DON'T ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!!   ;D   ;)
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: MIbarra on November 06, 2008, 04:40:18 PM
Wonderful!!!   :2thumbsup;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: donnia on November 06, 2008, 04:41:25 PM
Oh Kelly!!  What great news!!!  I am soo thrilled for you!  Give your donor a great big hug for us!  Get lots of rest!!

{{{{HUGS & LOVE}}}}

                 :flower;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Chris on November 06, 2008, 05:14:08 PM
That was a funny story. Lucky you that you were able to eat, when I was admitted they did all the prep work, had me take a shower with the special soap, and then gave me the fricken enema! Stupid thinking there I'd say, take a shower after the enema. I would say that was one of my worst experiences with the transplant. Never had one before and hope to never have one again. Sister N Law has a good sense of humor  :rofl;
Hope you get some solid food soon. and enjoy your new found "Liquid Gold"
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: paris on November 06, 2008, 05:38:41 PM
Hey sweet Kelly!    Charles did a good job emailing and letting us know you we out of surgery.   You had a lot of us praying, pacing and waiting.   I can't believe what has happened in just a few weeks.  You deserve this so much.    Rest, rest and rest.  Charles said he would have the dishes done when you get home!   :rofl;    We love you!    I'll  be checking on you   :cuddle;

I will try to keep the phone near me!!  Both phones!!    :rofl;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Rerun on November 06, 2008, 05:42:10 PM
Rest and drink lots.  Hope your days ahead are wonderful.

                       :waving;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: tamara on November 06, 2008, 05:56:12 PM
 :2thumbsup;

Great news to here !!!!


 :2thumbsup;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: RichardMEL on November 06, 2008, 06:39:37 PM
So wrapped with the great news kelly.. keep on improving hun. Feeling a bit down here with shit so glad to read some good news from one of our own!!!
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Sluff on November 06, 2008, 07:04:36 PM
Great news Kelly. Hope they feed you soon.   :waving;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: xtrememoosetrax on November 06, 2008, 07:26:04 PM
Kelly,
 :flower; :flower; :flower; :flower;
Virtual flowers for your hospital room from me and Lina.
So glad to hear you're doing well !!  :yahoo; :clap;  Keep up the good work, girlfriend!  :thumbup;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: kitkatz on November 06, 2008, 09:44:51 PM
Hurray!    :flower; :flower; :flower; :flower; :flower; :flower;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Mimi on November 06, 2008, 11:00:10 PM
Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!!!
 :guitar: :guitar: :guitar: :guitar: :guitar:


Mimi
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Wattle on November 06, 2008, 11:19:27 PM



 :flower; :flower;  Yippeee  Think of the Christmas dinner you can now eat!!   ;D
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: rose1999 on November 06, 2008, 11:40:55 PM
:yahoo; Fantastic news. Delighted to hear you are both OK and doing well. Love and bunnies for both of you  :cuddle; :bunny: :bunny: :cuddle;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Bajanne on November 07, 2008, 12:37:38 AM
My dearest Kelly, this is such wonderful news!!!! :yahoo; :yahoo; :yahoo; :yahoo; :yahoo; :yahoo; :yahoo; :yahoo;
I am so happy for you.  You just keep on keeping on, girl! :bandance; :bandance;
Now we have to update the transplant list! :2thumbsup;
Be assured of my caring thoughts and prayers.  :cuddle;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: twirl on November 07, 2008, 02:17:47 AM
how does it feel to drink, drink, and drink
and pee, pee, pee
so glad for you :flower;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: kellyt on November 07, 2008, 08:59:36 AM
Keeping in mind that I was peeing quite a lot before transplant, can you imagine how much I'm peeing now?  I literally have three kidneys just pumping away!  Who knows when mine will shut down, but for now they will continue to empty my bag multiple times a day.

They took off my bandage this morning and I was able to take a shower.  That felt so good.  I can't wait to get this darn Foley Cath. out, as that is the worst part.  I only have pain when I am trying to get out of bed, while I'm out of bed and when getting back in bed.  :)  I'm really trying to stay away from the pain pills until I get home.  I slept good last night, or as good as you can sleep in a hospital.  They gave me OJ with my breakfast, but it was nasty.  I just ate the unsalted eggs, my roll and my milk.  Tomorrow I'm getting good ole Corn Flakes!

They are really happy with my labs.  My Creatinine is at 2.1 and was apparently at 5.1 when we checked in on Tuesday.  Two weeks prior to that my Creatinine was 6.43, so I was already going down a little.  My Potassium is 3.7 and my Phos is at 4.7.  My WBC is a little high, but they say that's expected.  They took out my neck IV so I'm no longer teathered to that stupid pole.  I still getting insulin, as my glucose is around 157.  I hope that starts to go down soon.  They lowered my prednisone to 40 mg today and it will be lowered to 30 mg by the time I check-out on Wednesday.

I look forward to going home, but I am enjoying just lying here and watching crappy TV!

Love to you all!

RicharMel, I hope things are okay with you.  You sound like you're going through some" life poo" at the moment.  :cuddle;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: paris on November 07, 2008, 09:08:40 AM
Kelly!!     :yahoo;   :clap;   :flower;   :flower;   :cheer:   :cheer:    LOVE YOU!!
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: willieandwinnie on November 07, 2008, 09:12:07 AM
:flower; Kelly. Walk as much as you can stand to. Drink plenty and rest even more. Tall order isn't it. I hope you get to go home sooner then they are saying.  :grouphug;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Sunny on November 07, 2008, 02:19:39 PM
Glad to know you are doing well Kelly and producing lots of fluid with those three kidneys. Good luck with your recovery.
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Joe Paul on November 07, 2008, 03:03:44 PM
Glad to hear you are doing well  :thumbup;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Chris on November 07, 2008, 05:41:23 PM
That's good that your labs are doing better. Hope you will be off insulin injections soon. I had the same problem with orange juice when they gave it to me after transplant. I no longer can stand the stuff and I loved it before dialysis and transplant.
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: pelagia on November 07, 2008, 06:22:38 PM
Somehow I managed to completely miss this good news until today.  Congratulations on everything going so well. It is the best of news.  I have the greatest admiration for your sister-in-law. 

Here's a trio of hugs for your kidneys  :cuddle; :cuddle; :cuddle;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: okarol on November 07, 2008, 07:16:22 PM

Jenna was in the hospital for 3 days for her transplant - you'll end up being there for a week? I am curious why so long. Jennas surgeon said there are fewer germs in homes and that the hospital bugs are bad - so they really wanted her released on day 3. But I know every center is different. Maybe they were tired of me sleeping in her room!

I hope you take some photos Kelly, of your experience - and some video - so you can do another IHD presentation! I wish i had taken more photos but it was so overwhelming at the time!

Best wishes - so good to hear you are doing well!  :bandance;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: kidney4traci on November 07, 2008, 09:36:51 PM
 Congrats!!! Yeah!!  :cheer::yahoo; :flower; :flower; Cyber flowers and lots of  :grouphug; :grouphug; - Keep peeing and hope you can go home soon!!!
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: kellyt on November 08, 2008, 07:33:08 AM
I was told from the very beginning that I'd be in the hospital no less than 5 days following surgery (Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon) and no more than 7 days.  It seemed that I noticed lot of people admitting the morning of surgery and we admitted the day before.  Is that how it was for Jenna?  This is a very small hospital (only four floors) and it's all transplant.  I think the top floor is heart surgeries and I think the 2nd floor is kidney/liver, etc.  It's very quiet and clean.  Since getting out of the ICU I've been sleeping quite well, other than being awoken every two hours for totally normal vitals!  YAY!

I have taken some photos, but not nearly as many as I would have liked.  We may do more video on departure day and video more of my home therapy!
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: okarol on November 08, 2008, 12:11:09 PM

Jenna was admitted the day before due to a mild B cell crossmatch so they decided to do plasmapheresis and IVIG prior to surgery the following morning. She was in ICU the first 24 hours after surgery. When she was sent to the regular floor they set up a bed for me in her room (all the transplant recipients were given private rooms to avoid germs.) After she was released we had to come back 3 times a week for labs the fist 2 weeks, then twice a week. She also had to come back for more IVIG a few weeks later.
 :bandance; take care!
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: petey on November 08, 2008, 12:46:01 PM
When Marvin got his transplant, we were admitted the day before.  He was put on the neph floor, and I was on the surgical floor.  We went in on a Tuesday.  The transplant was Wed. morning.  After the transplant, Marvin spent one day in ICU, then he was moved back to the neph floor (I was on the surgical floor the whole time).  I came home on Saturday, and Marvin came home on Sunday.  Those were good days, and I hope he does as well with his second transplant.
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: kellyt on November 08, 2008, 02:15:20 PM
Yep, same here.  I hope things go great, as well.

I tell ya, it's so nice to come back to this site post surgery and talk to knowledgeable folk about this stuff!  I love you guys! :grouphug;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: monrein on November 08, 2008, 02:24:38 PM
And we love you back Kelly.  :cuddle;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: paris on November 08, 2008, 02:41:26 PM
"I love you all the way to the moon and back"   That is what my grandkids tell me and that is how I feel about you!!       I think it is good you are spending a little more time in the hospital. You will be a little more rested and feeling better, especially since you won't have a ton of help when you get there.  BUT, let people do thiings if they offer!     Love you!!     :flower;   :cuddle;
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: Chris on November 08, 2008, 04:15:49 PM

Jenna was in the hospital for 3 days for her transplant - you'll end up being there for a week? I am curious why so long. Jennas surgeon said there are fewer germs in homes and that the hospital bugs are bad - so they really wanted her released on day 3. But I know every center is different. Maybe they were tired of me sleeping in her room!

I hope you take some photos Kelly, of your experience - and some video - so you can do another IHD presentation! I wish i had taken more photos but it was so overwhelming at the time!

Best wishes - so good to hear you are doing well!  :bandance;

My doctors told me that I would be there for only three day's, but that never happened. There were some problems and they released me. Out for a week and back in on Christmas. When they asked me the first time if I was ready to go home and I said no, I wished they listened!

Voice any concerns Kelly if you have any, but hopefully you'll be able to go home without any problems.
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: kidney4traci on November 08, 2008, 06:39:57 PM
Okarol, you are always a welth of information!  Sounds similar to what they said I may have to go through if my friend gets accepted.  Thank you for being so forthcoming with your daughter's experience. 
Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: pelagia on November 08, 2008, 08:46:12 PM
Everything sounds on track for getting home soon.  :cuddle;

Title: Re: New kidney in and working great!
Post by: RichardMEL on November 09, 2008, 06:48:34 PM
thanks for your thought Kelly but OMG you concentrate on you silly young lady!!!! I'm so glad you're doing so well and hopefully out of there soon peeing heaps and all... I'm so envious yet so totally happy for you and your family!!! Way to go!