Successful Transplant! - One year later!

Stephen just headed out the door for Texas. He'll be performing guitar concerts in Tomball on January 10 and San Antonio on January 11. Tomorrow he is giving a workshop in Houston for high school kids in the district's music program. This marks the beginning of an incredibly busy year for him. I am afraid to count the days on the calendar, but I know from what I've looked at so far that he will be on the road for more than a third of 2009, including some trips that are 3-4 weeks long. This is how life once was for us, and he can only do it again because he is so healthy after the transplant. For that I am forever grateful. Still, I have certainly grown accustomed to having him around the house this past year and a half

Stephen recently wrote a piece for the Walnut Valley Music Festival (Winfield Kansas) newsletter, which was published in December. If you've been reading this thread, you may remember that it was his first venture back "on the road" as a guitar player following the transplant. The festival almost didn't go off because of a hurricane that flooded the midwest. The festival folks have posted the entire piece on their website

as well, so I thought I would post a little bit of it here. I've excerpted mostly the part about his experiences the after effects of transplantation. Those who know Stephen know that he deals with most trials in life with humor. I think part of that comes through below.

"Winfield 2008:

I suppose many things can be said about this year’s Festival, the 37th annual occasion of this event that has become a tradition for so many of us. Though it could be said that there are thousands of different perceptions in any given year (because there are thousands of us that descend upon the place) – there is certainly enough about the Festival that makes it a richly shared experience.

The Festival is something that binds us together, and in an ever more rapidly paced and too often fragmented world, wouldn’t you agree that those things that bind us together just a little bit more - are precious indeed? Good, I thought so…

I have been to most of the Festivals since 1983, when I first attended. Not all of them, but most. When my son was born in August of 1990, I couldn’t very well take off for Kansas a month later. And I’ve missed a couple of other years here and there. I almost missed 2001, but finally made it to Stage I just about midnight on Friday, a moment I will never forget. As I write this, a memory just popped into my head of the flight out of Norfolk that morning. There were just a couple of passengers on the plane, as I recall, and we were moved into first class. And I remember the flight attendant saying something like “home of the brave – yeah, right”.

I wasn’t in attendance last year, so 2008 was a return year for me.

A lot had happened to me since I was last in this place. In March of this year my kidneys were removed as the result of a degenerative disease. I went on dialysis for a couple of months and in May I received a kidney transplant. In case you’re thinking this sounds like fun, I don’t recommend any of this for recreational purposes. It’s not nearly as much fun as you might think, so you really just want to do these things if they are necessary, trust me…

In my case, they were necessary. And as un-fun as it all was, the end result is that I am a healthier person that I have been in a long time, something for which I am profoundly grateful. November 14 marked six months since my transplant.

Let me also say a heartfelt thanks to all of you out there (and there were many) that sent good healing wishes in my direction during that time. Thank you very, very much!

Returning to Winfield after all of this had other layers of meaning for me as well. I really didn’t play guitar for a few months during the height of these medical adventures. It took me a while to get my chops back to where I could actually play with some degree of finesse again. I played some shows with Tommy Emmanuel 3 weeks after my transplant (don’t tell my doctors) and while I made it through reasonably well, it was clear to me that my body’s chemistry had changed. While that was a really good thing for my physical health, there were other, somewhat worrisome implications for my musical well-being. For one thing, I realized that I wasn’t getting adrenalin into my system. Whatever the reason, my usual pre-show nervous energy wasn’t getting converted into useful stage performance energy as I was used to. Though I would be apparently well warmed up backstage before I would go on, once I started to play, it was as if my hands had somehow turned into claws. This was what I was dealing with all summer as I started to play a few gigs again locally in Virginia - and what I was worrying about as I headed west to Winfield. I played a show in Knoxville, Tennessee on my way and that went great. Of course, I played a 4 hour show and was truly warmed up by the time I stopped.

I experienced some minor issues at the Festival, which made the beginnings of some of my sets a little stiff. But fortunately, my fingers always gradually came alive and though even if I had the ability to go back and re-do some of my performances, there are some I wouldn’t change a note of. My Saturday night set on Stage 2 was a particular blast...."

If you want to read the entire piece or learn more about this amazingly fun festival, link to:

http://www.wvfest.com/

You have to use the link "Stephen Bennett's view from the stage" under the photo to get to the newsletter piece.

That's great, thanks for posting it! I'd love to hear him play someday!

Wouldn't it be nice if we could find a way to link to his guitar playing so we could hear it.
I'm so glad to know he is doing well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWCHGxHiwrc

Here he is, playing and singing "What a wonderful World".

Makes me think of our Susie.

Thats awesome best wishes

I kind of like this one too. This was shot during his last overseas trip (to Germany) before dialysis and transplant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHnxBODb-C8&feature=related

Okay, here's one more fun one - a piece he wrote for our cats. It's filmed at a place called Kulak's Woodshed in North Hollywood, CA. It was kind of cool because they streamed the show live over the web and folks from all around the country were watching and sending in requests. This is also filmed during Stephen's long hair phase. It was kind of a down time in life for him as he began to realize that he was on the way to parting with his kidneys for real. Luckily I got him to pull the hair back. There are some pieces up on youtube where he is looking pretty ragged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KQKeWa-XNE

Generally, I would have to say that it's more fun to be at a show then it is to watch one of these clips. During the shows he is witty and engaging (I sound objective, don't I?

), but the clips mostly catch him while he is playing and concentrating!

It was 9 months on Valentines Day! Stephen leaves on a three week trip tomorrow. He's going to British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California. Just like the good ole days... (thank you Michael, thank you kidney donors everywhere!)

Kidneyversaries are the best!!!

We went to dinner tonight to celebrate Stephen's one year kidneyversary. It's an incredible feeling to be at this point. Humbling. We remain forever grateful to Michael for giving us this gift.

Stephen has had few problems since the transplant. The only real incident has been this week. He just returned home on Monday night from a 3 week trip to Europe. He was very tired and a bit ragged looking when I picked him up at the airport. I think that even he will admit that it took a bit out of him (four countries and more than a dozen concerts in 3 weeks). He managed to catch a cold, had a little eye infection and then a bit of a fever. The fever or the eye would be enough to worry me, but not him (he never worries). I was on IHD right away searching "cold" and "infection". Reading W&W's post about Len's first cold and fever on his one year kidneyversary and his course of antibiotics and Karol's post about Jenna having a cold and a slight fever, and knowing that they both got better quickly

eased my worries... Stephen's been on Bactrim for a couple of days, his eye has cleared, the fever has subsided and he's feeling fine.

He spoke to Michael this morning and they were laughing up a storm about something, as always. Michael says he's feeling no effects of the donation at all.

I guess we never know what life has in store for us. For now my husband is focusing on doing what the transplant clinic told him is #1 when you get a transplant - live your life! Next month we're going to southern Utah and the Grand Canyon for a week. It's something we've always wanted to do and I am really looking forward to it.

I really appreciate my IHD friends for being with us on the journey this past year. You understand in a way that few others can.

******
I haven't been that good about keeping track of Stephen's creatinine and meds, except here on IHD, so just for the record:

creatinine - 1.0
prograf - 3 mg am, 3 mg pm
cellcept - 750 mg am, 750 mg pm
prednisone - 10 mg am/7.5 mg am; on alternate days
baby aspirin - 1x day
pepcid - 1 am, 1 pm
Labetalol - 200 mg am, 200 mg pm
Mag-Ox 4x a day
K Phos Neutral 4x a day
Zetia 5 mg am
Pravastatin 20 mg pm

Great report! I am so happy to hear Stephen is doing better. That's quite an accomplishment to travel and do so many concerts! Best wishes to Stephen and Michael on the kidneyversary - and to you too pelagia - caregiver extraordinaire!

Terrific that Stephen's doing so well. And that he has you to worry about the things he doesn't fret over.

Glad to hear he's doing well.

Happy Kidneyversary...and many, many more!