Yhe surgery went well and they did not have to use mesh on the hernia which is a huge praise. They were able to just stich it up....(I am sure it is more complicated than "just stitching it up"...lol). We were able to see him about 1.5 hours after surgery. He is doing well just having some pain...more than he expected. Hopefully we can get out of here in the next hour or so.
As I have been waiting I purposely did not bring any school stuff with me. I need to unplug from that part of my life for a few days. Not in a bad way I just need a mental break. So I have been reading a book for pleasure. It is a book by a lady I follow on social media about her husbands struggle with anxiety. Now don't get me wrong David doesn't struggle with anxiety or depression but I have in a strange way found comfort in reading the book. I don't really connect with what she went through with her husband but it is comforting to read a book about a care giver and I can understand the feeling of helplessness she felt at times in wanting to fix her husband but not being able to. What I am encouraged about is that she kept her eyes on God. She didn't always have a great attitude but she never gave up her hope in the Lord.
I am not even a fourth of the way through the book but I love it. I do want to be clear that I am not complaining one bit about taking care of David...I have enjoyed every second of it in one way or another! I kinda miss it now...lol.
Oh boy...getting discharged from hospital now!!!
Love, alice
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Back in the hospital after 3months
10am
Well we technically are back in the hospital but it's all good...errr...well..it will be. David is having hernia repair surgery today. He got a hernia right after his transplant from where they took out his p/d dialysis catheter. Today they are going in to repair it. The surgery should be a short procedure and he should be able to go home later today.
It is hard to believe that it has been 3 months since the transplant. It seems so long ago to me, yet hard to believe it has already been 3 months. Clear as mud? Good! This point post transplant seemed like it would never come. I think back to the days when I imagined what life would be like after transplant. What life would be like without dialysis.
Now I sit here 3 months after transplant so thankful for Karen and Jennifer and their families for supporting them in their donation. It is amazing that these two women have done this for our family! For sure thankful this Thanksgiving holiday.
11:20am
They just took him back for surgery. I DIDN'T CRY!!!! I am known for "losing it"when they take David back for surgery but I didn't even tear up this time. (I have learned how to control my emotions in situations like this.......no it hasn't gotten easier but I am learning)!
The flood of memories and emotions that have come back to me sitting in this waiting atrium....the sounds, the same people at the check in desk, the tracking screen, the bathroom, the vending machine.......surgeon Brutus..lol. The difference....it's not the middle of the night...lol. Also this time I scored one of the foot stool things!!!!!! Victory!!!!
Since the transplant David has gone back to work....exactly 2 months after transplant that is. I won't blog about my feelings of him returning back to work but let's just say it wasn't our first choice. But God has blessed once again by giving David the strength to work. He is still building strength but each day he is getting stronger. Once he recovers from this hernia surgery he will for sure be like a new man...physically that is.....the old David personality has returned in full force. He is back to the witty, rotten, goofy guy I fell in love with. ( let me be clear I have been in love with every version of David.....I will love him no matter what!!!). In sickness or in health....I said it...I meant it! ( just praying we get more of those in health years coming up!)
I will try to update tonight after we get home about how he is doing. Thanks again for all the love and support.
Love,
Alice
Well we technically are back in the hospital but it's all good...errr...well..it will be. David is having hernia repair surgery today. He got a hernia right after his transplant from where they took out his p/d dialysis catheter. Today they are going in to repair it. The surgery should be a short procedure and he should be able to go home later today.
It is hard to believe that it has been 3 months since the transplant. It seems so long ago to me, yet hard to believe it has already been 3 months. Clear as mud? Good! This point post transplant seemed like it would never come. I think back to the days when I imagined what life would be like after transplant. What life would be like without dialysis.
Now I sit here 3 months after transplant so thankful for Karen and Jennifer and their families for supporting them in their donation. It is amazing that these two women have done this for our family! For sure thankful this Thanksgiving holiday.
11:20am
They just took him back for surgery. I DIDN'T CRY!!!! I am known for "losing it"when they take David back for surgery but I didn't even tear up this time. (I have learned how to control my emotions in situations like this.......no it hasn't gotten easier but I am learning)!
The flood of memories and emotions that have come back to me sitting in this waiting atrium....the sounds, the same people at the check in desk, the tracking screen, the bathroom, the vending machine.......surgeon Brutus..lol. The difference....it's not the middle of the night...lol. Also this time I scored one of the foot stool things!!!!!! Victory!!!!
Since the transplant David has gone back to work....exactly 2 months after transplant that is. I won't blog about my feelings of him returning back to work but let's just say it wasn't our first choice. But God has blessed once again by giving David the strength to work. He is still building strength but each day he is getting stronger. Once he recovers from this hernia surgery he will for sure be like a new man...physically that is.....the old David personality has returned in full force. He is back to the witty, rotten, goofy guy I fell in love with. ( let me be clear I have been in love with every version of David.....I will love him no matter what!!!). In sickness or in health....I said it...I meant it! ( just praying we get more of those in health years coming up!)
I will try to update tonight after we get home about how he is doing. Thanks again for all the love and support.
Love,
Alice
Sunday, October 4, 2015
DAVID IS DOING FANTASTIC!!!!
Again, I feel horrible that it has been a whole month since I last posted. I have been so busy with school and trying to keep up with David! lol!!
We are officially back at home and settled in. Still a lot to do here at home but it is nice to be here!
We finally had David's folllow up appointment with the surgeon and he is SO HAPPY with David's progress. His creatinine is down to 1.4 which is AMAZING! All of his labs look great, David feels great, and his incisions are healing great. He finally got his staples out (after 6 weeks). David has energy, he is SLEEPING great!!! Basically, He is doing amazing!
He is finally gaining some weight back (he was down to the 130's) but in a very healthy way! We are looking forward to the ok from the doctor to start gaining strength and working out, but that will be a few more weeks.
We are still aiming for the date of January 4th for him to return to work.
We are slowly working out the meds thing, we think we finally got insurance to cover more of the co-pay but not quite sure yet. David's Long-term disability has been approved however he hasn't received his first check yet. God has been providing for us though and somehow all of our bills are being met. A huge thanks goes to everyone who has given to our GoFundMe page
( https://www.gofundme.com/DashforDavidB )
That has been such a blessing.
We have received a letter from the woman David received his kidney from and we are writing back to her. We are excited about this communication and looking forward to getting to know her and her family better. Karen is writing a letter to her recipient as well and we pray they will respond and we can find out how far this chain has gone or if it was just the 4 people involved.
Karen was able to get away with her boys and family on a little beach get-a-way. We are so thankful for the timing of it all and that she was able to get away and "recover on the beach"!!
There is not much more to update right now. School is super busy for me. David is doing great!!! Our pups are loving being back home and having dad here with them. I think when he goes back to work it will be a big adjustment for them!
Thanks again for your continued prayers and support, we have THE BEST FRIENDS AND FAMILY AROUND!!!!
Love,
David and Alice
We are officially back at home and settled in. Still a lot to do here at home but it is nice to be here!
We finally had David's folllow up appointment with the surgeon and he is SO HAPPY with David's progress. His creatinine is down to 1.4 which is AMAZING! All of his labs look great, David feels great, and his incisions are healing great. He finally got his staples out (after 6 weeks). David has energy, he is SLEEPING great!!! Basically, He is doing amazing!
He is finally gaining some weight back (he was down to the 130's) but in a very healthy way! We are looking forward to the ok from the doctor to start gaining strength and working out, but that will be a few more weeks.
We are still aiming for the date of January 4th for him to return to work.
We are slowly working out the meds thing, we think we finally got insurance to cover more of the co-pay but not quite sure yet. David's Long-term disability has been approved however he hasn't received his first check yet. God has been providing for us though and somehow all of our bills are being met. A huge thanks goes to everyone who has given to our GoFundMe page
( https://www.gofundme.com/DashforDavidB )
That has been such a blessing.
We have received a letter from the woman David received his kidney from and we are writing back to her. We are excited about this communication and looking forward to getting to know her and her family better. Karen is writing a letter to her recipient as well and we pray they will respond and we can find out how far this chain has gone or if it was just the 4 people involved.
Karen was able to get away with her boys and family on a little beach get-a-way. We are so thankful for the timing of it all and that she was able to get away and "recover on the beach"!!
There is not much more to update right now. School is super busy for me. David is doing great!!! Our pups are loving being back home and having dad here with them. I think when he goes back to work it will be a big adjustment for them!
Thanks again for your continued prayers and support, we have THE BEST FRIENDS AND FAMILY AROUND!!!!
Love,
David and Alice
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Sorry for the lack of posting...........
I do apologize for the lack of posting this week. I went back to work on Monday and things have been pretty busy! It has been an adjustment going back to work. Meeting my students, adjusting back to long days away from David, and trying to keep my energy up has been a struggle (I am not going to lie), but in a weird way refreshing. It has been a reminder that life will begin again for us and we will now have a new normal.
We are still staying at his mom's house. David is really comfortable here and they don't have any steps that he has to deal with. But we do look forward to the day we go home for real....in a few weeks.
We did receive some discouraging news. We knew that David's anti-rejection medication would be expensive however we were both in a little shock when we found out exactly how much it will cost us. Just our CO-PAY alone (as in just our portion of the cost of medication) is actually MORE than our house payment......PER MONTH. I couldn't believe it! It was very defeating. I did ask the pharmacy if we could set up payments and they told me that we could for the first month but each month after that we have to pay in full. I have no clue where the money will come from in the earthly sense but I know God will provide. David NEEDS this medication so he will receive it! I have been reminded God did not bring us this far just to leave us...He is a God of eternity!
We know God is in control, We know David needs this medication, and we know we are on one income right now. The numbers don't work out but God will provide. We have been so blessed by being able to cover most of our bills so far even with David being out of work through the gracious gifts of friends, family, and even strangers through cards and our GofundMe page. (http://www.gofundme.com/DashforDavidB) I am literally in tears realizing how much we have been blessed. We are so thankful for all of the gifts, prayers, and visitors.
We know God will continue to provide.
We also have received several meals from friends and family. If you are interested in doing that a dear friend set up a Mealtrain website so people can sign up
(https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/zq0m2o). That is a pretty cool site...super helpful in situations like this. The meals have taken a lot of stress off of me and David's mom. We can focus on spending time with David and not being in the kitchen all day.
We have had a few visitors since we have been home. David's grandmother came and visited, David has had some friends visit(I was at work...boo!). I got to spend some time with Karen on Saturday! She is a rockstar and doing so well. She even went back to work for a few hours!
David ventured out a little this week to go to a few stores with his mom. We are in need of a new comforter for our bed when we get home, so they looked at some (didn't find anything he liked). But we have some time.
I feel like there is so much more to write about but to be honest I am exhausted, my brain is tired from work, and I quite a bit of grading to do.
I am so sorry I slacked off from blogging but I will try to post again this weekend!
Love,
Alice and David
We are still staying at his mom's house. David is really comfortable here and they don't have any steps that he has to deal with. But we do look forward to the day we go home for real....in a few weeks.
We did receive some discouraging news. We knew that David's anti-rejection medication would be expensive however we were both in a little shock when we found out exactly how much it will cost us. Just our CO-PAY alone (as in just our portion of the cost of medication) is actually MORE than our house payment......PER MONTH. I couldn't believe it! It was very defeating. I did ask the pharmacy if we could set up payments and they told me that we could for the first month but each month after that we have to pay in full. I have no clue where the money will come from in the earthly sense but I know God will provide. David NEEDS this medication so he will receive it! I have been reminded God did not bring us this far just to leave us...He is a God of eternity!
We know God is in control, We know David needs this medication, and we know we are on one income right now. The numbers don't work out but God will provide. We have been so blessed by being able to cover most of our bills so far even with David being out of work through the gracious gifts of friends, family, and even strangers through cards and our GofundMe page. (http://www.gofundme.com/DashforDavidB) I am literally in tears realizing how much we have been blessed. We are so thankful for all of the gifts, prayers, and visitors.
We know God will continue to provide.
We also have received several meals from friends and family. If you are interested in doing that a dear friend set up a Mealtrain website so people can sign up
(https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/zq0m2o). That is a pretty cool site...super helpful in situations like this. The meals have taken a lot of stress off of me and David's mom. We can focus on spending time with David and not being in the kitchen all day.
We have had a few visitors since we have been home. David's grandmother came and visited, David has had some friends visit(I was at work...boo!). I got to spend some time with Karen on Saturday! She is a rockstar and doing so well. She even went back to work for a few hours!
David ventured out a little this week to go to a few stores with his mom. We are in need of a new comforter for our bed when we get home, so they looked at some (didn't find anything he liked). But we have some time.
I feel like there is so much more to write about but to be honest I am exhausted, my brain is tired from work, and I quite a bit of grading to do.
I am so sorry I slacked off from blogging but I will try to post again this weekend!
Love,
Alice and David
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Edit on zip code...sorry!!!
I am so sorry for the delay in the "We are Home" update....but We Are Home! Well homeish! We are staying at David's mom's house because she does not have any steps, there will be someone here 24/7, and she has already gone through this with him so she knows how to help out! Not sure exactly how long we will be here but it will probably be a few weeks.
Several have asked for the address in order to send cards or such
203 Cleveland Ave.
Lancaster, Ohio 43130
So Monday we a pretty eventful day. David was taken down to the O.R. around 6:30am for his surgery to remove his PD catheter. We were told that the surgery was supposed to be at 7:30am. I walked down to the surgical waiting area and was looking for his tracking number. Once I finally go it I was really confused because it was past 7:30 and it was still saying he was in preop. And the surgical start time kept getting later until it said 9:30. I was so confused. I even asked the lady at the desk and she said they didn't have him scheduled until 9:30. Finally my buzzer when off and I went up to the desk and they told me preop wanted to talk to me so I had to go to a certain phone. At this point I thought something was wrong and the surgery was going to be cancelled. The nurse on the phone explained that an emergency surgery came up and David's got bumped back. So she let me go to preop and sit with David until they took him back. He didn't end up going back until 10 and was done by 10:30. He didn't get back to the room until 11:30. They ended up giving him the last dose of the chemo type drug which took 4 hours. So he wasn't done until 5:15.
Then this happened.............
So....the story of why we ALMOST didn't go home on Monday. David had gone in to use the restroom (did I mention he pees a lot!) lol and he yelled to me "Alice go get the nurse!!" I had slightly dozed off, I jumped up and ran to get her (not knowing what was going on). When I came back with her David was standing in the bathroom and the incision from that mornings surgery to remove his dialysis catheter was leaking out clear fluid, lot's of clear fluid. To the point where it was dripping on the floor so he had to hold a towel to it. His stomach in that area was also a lot more swollen than it previous was. Our nurse had never seen anything like that before and she was pretty concerned. She called the doctor and there was an intern with another patient on the floor so he was going to come over when he finished. Our nurse did mention that just as warning this could prevent us from going home today.
The doctor came in about 15 minutes later and took a look, he said that everything was fine. What was happening was (as far as I understand it) David has some dialysis fluid left in his stomach in that area and when they removed his catheter from his belly his body left "tracks" from where it layed inside his stomach for so long so the fluid moved to those tracks once it was removed and it was now leaking out of the incision. He put a new dressing on it, told us to try to keep it as dry as possible so the incision would heal up, and WE COULD STILL GO HOME!!!!
David still had to have his central line pulled out by this point so his nurse came in and prepared to do that. they use two stitches to hold it in place, so she had to remove those and then pulled it out. David had to lay flat for 30 minutes after that because he could bleed out if he didn't. While he laid I took a load of stuff out to the car and picked up stuff from the pharmacy.
When all was said and done....We left the hospital by 7:30ish.. We swung by our house to pick up a few things and then headed down to his moms house.
We ate something real quick and we both hit the bed!!
Yesterday we slept! I had to run a few errands in the morning but then I took a nap. I had to run to Westerville for a student teaching orientation. I actually really enjoyed getting away for a few minutes (even though I missed David and thought of him the WHOLE time). I got back ate and went back to bed. So I do apologize for the lack of updates yesterday....we were sleeping!
So from this point on David will have a home health care nurse come out twice a week for a few weeks, they will do his bloodwork, and check up on him. David goes back to see the surgeon September 14th and follows up with his nephrologist in October. We have to contact his Transplant coordinator if there are any problems that come up but otherwise we just monitor vitals at home, take medication, and get blood draws done.
We have had several families line up to provide us meals so we APPRECIATE that so much!!! We are so thankful for all the cards and gifts that have been given to us. Please know that we are using the gifts wisely to cover bills, medication, and gas. I am still waiting to find out how much his anti-rejection medication will be each month (not going to lie I am nervous about this) but God has brought us and provided for us this far He will not let us down now!
Karen is resting up at home. Her incision is bleeding a bit so she is heading back to OSU tomorrow for her surgeon to take a look at it to make sure things are ok. If you would like to send her a card or meal please just email me allie4donation@gmail.com I can pass that information along to you!
I am planning to head back to work on Monday. I am excited to get to know my kiddos but I am NOT looking forward from being away from David for so long!
Please continue to pray for healing of his incisions, swelling to go down, and pain to go away. Pray for Karen's incision to stop bleeding and everything to be good with that.
If you want to visit David please just call or text us. Again, if you are sick or been around someone who is sick please do not visit. Also, don't be offended if David wears a mask or if we ask you to wear a mask or use hand sanitizer. David does not really have an immune system right now so we need to keep him as healthy as possible. We don't want to overwhelm David with visitors but I know it will be an encouragement to him to see friends and family!
We love you all and I do promise to keep updating but for now....a nap!
love,
alice
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Home Sweet Home....
I am so sorry for the delay in the "We are Home" update....but We Are Home! Well homeish! We are staying at David's mom's house because she does not have any steps, there will be someone here 24/7, and she has already gone through this with him so she knows how to help out! Not sure exactly how long we will be here but it will probably be a few weeks.
Several have asked for the address in order to send cards or such
203 Cleveland Ave.
Lancaster, Ohio 14130
So Monday we a pretty eventful day. David was taken down to the O.R. around 6:30am for his surgery to remove his PD catheter. We were told that the surgery was supposed to be at 7:30am. I walked down to the surgical waiting area and was looking for his tracking number. Once I finally go it I was really confused because it was past 7:30 and it was still saying he was in preop. And the surgical start time kept getting later until it said 9:30. I was so confused. I even asked the lady at the desk and she said they didn't have him scheduled until 9:30. Finally my buzzer when off and I went up to the desk and they told me preop wanted to talk to me so I had to go to a certain phone. At this point I thought something was wrong and the surgery was going to be cancelled. The nurse on the phone explained that an emergency surgery came up and David's got bumped back. So she let me go to preop and sit with David until they took him back. He didn't end up going back until 10 and was done by 10:30. He didn't get back to the room until 11:30. They ended up giving him the last dose of the chemo type drug which took 4 hours. So he wasn't done until 5:15.
Then this happened.............
So....the story of why we ALMOST didn't go home on Monday. David had gone in to use the restroom (did I mention he pees a lot!) lol and he yelled to me "Alice go get the nurse!!" I had slightly dozed off, I jumped up and ran to get her (not knowing what was going on). When I came back with her David was standing in the bathroom and the incision from that mornings surgery to remove his dialysis catheter was leaking out clear fluid, lot's of clear fluid. To the point where it was dripping on the floor so he had to hold a towel to it. His stomach in that area was also a lot more swollen than it previous was. Our nurse had never seen anything like that before and she was pretty concerned. She called the doctor and there was an intern with another patient on the floor so he was going to come over when he finished. Our nurse did mention that just as warning this could prevent us from going home today.
The doctor came in about 15 minutes later and took a look, he said that everything was fine. What was happening was (as far as I understand it) David has some dialysis fluid left in his stomach in that area and when they removed his catheter from his belly his body left "tracks" from where it layed inside his stomach for so long so the fluid moved to those tracks once it was removed and it was now leaking out of the incision. He put a new dressing on it, told us to try to keep it as dry as possible so the incision would heal up, and WE COULD STILL GO HOME!!!!
David still had to have his central line pulled out by this point so his nurse came in and prepared to do that. they use two stitches to hold it in place, so she had to remove those and then pulled it out. David had to lay flat for 30 minutes after that because he could bleed out if he didn't. While he laid I took a load of stuff out to the car and picked up stuff from the pharmacy.
When all was said and done....We left the hospital by 7:30ish.. We swung by our house to pick up a few things and then headed down to his moms house.
We ate something real quick and we both hit the bed!!
Yesterday we slept! I had to run a few errands in the morning but then I took a nap. I had to run to Westerville for a student teaching orientation. I actually really enjoyed getting away for a few minutes (even though I missed David and thought of him the WHOLE time). I got back ate and went back to bed. So I do apologize for the lack of updates yesterday....we were sleeping!
So from this point on David will have a home health care nurse come out twice a week for a few weeks, they will do his bloodwork, and check up on him. David goes back to see the surgeon September 14th and follows up with his nephrologist in October. We have to contact his Transplant coordinator if there are any problems that come up but otherwise we just monitor vitals at home, take medication, and get blood draws done.
We have had several families line up to provide us meals so we APPRECIATE that so much!!! We are so thankful for all the cards and gifts that have been given to us. Please know that we are using the gifts wisely to cover bills, medication, and gas. I am still waiting to find out how much his anti-rejection medication will be each month (not going to lie I am nervous about this) but God has brought us and provided for us this far He will not let us down now!
Karen is resting up at home. Her incision is bleeding a bit so she is heading back to OSU tomorrow for her surgeon to take a look at it to make sure things are ok. If you would like to send her a card or meal please just email me allie4donation@gmail.com I can pass that information along to you!
I am planning to head back to work on Monday. I am excited to get to know my kiddos but I am NOT looking forward from being away from David for so long!
Please continue to pray for healing of his incisions, swelling to go down, and pain to go away. Pray for Karen's incision to stop bleeding and everything to be good with that.
If you want to visit David please just call or text us. Again, if you are sick or been around someone who is sick please do not visit. Also, don't be offended if David wears a mask or if we ask you to wear a mask or use hand sanitizer. David does not really have an immune system right now so we need to keep him as healthy as possible. We don't want to overwhelm David with visitors but I know it will be an encouragement to him to see friends and family!
We love you all and I do promise to keep updating but for now....a nap!
love,
alice
Several have asked for the address in order to send cards or such
203 Cleveland Ave.
Lancaster, Ohio 14130
So Monday we a pretty eventful day. David was taken down to the O.R. around 6:30am for his surgery to remove his PD catheter. We were told that the surgery was supposed to be at 7:30am. I walked down to the surgical waiting area and was looking for his tracking number. Once I finally go it I was really confused because it was past 7:30 and it was still saying he was in preop. And the surgical start time kept getting later until it said 9:30. I was so confused. I even asked the lady at the desk and she said they didn't have him scheduled until 9:30. Finally my buzzer when off and I went up to the desk and they told me preop wanted to talk to me so I had to go to a certain phone. At this point I thought something was wrong and the surgery was going to be cancelled. The nurse on the phone explained that an emergency surgery came up and David's got bumped back. So she let me go to preop and sit with David until they took him back. He didn't end up going back until 10 and was done by 10:30. He didn't get back to the room until 11:30. They ended up giving him the last dose of the chemo type drug which took 4 hours. So he wasn't done until 5:15.
Then this happened.............
So....the story of why we ALMOST didn't go home on Monday. David had gone in to use the restroom (did I mention he pees a lot!) lol and he yelled to me "Alice go get the nurse!!" I had slightly dozed off, I jumped up and ran to get her (not knowing what was going on). When I came back with her David was standing in the bathroom and the incision from that mornings surgery to remove his dialysis catheter was leaking out clear fluid, lot's of clear fluid. To the point where it was dripping on the floor so he had to hold a towel to it. His stomach in that area was also a lot more swollen than it previous was. Our nurse had never seen anything like that before and she was pretty concerned. She called the doctor and there was an intern with another patient on the floor so he was going to come over when he finished. Our nurse did mention that just as warning this could prevent us from going home today.
The doctor came in about 15 minutes later and took a look, he said that everything was fine. What was happening was (as far as I understand it) David has some dialysis fluid left in his stomach in that area and when they removed his catheter from his belly his body left "tracks" from where it layed inside his stomach for so long so the fluid moved to those tracks once it was removed and it was now leaking out of the incision. He put a new dressing on it, told us to try to keep it as dry as possible so the incision would heal up, and WE COULD STILL GO HOME!!!!
David still had to have his central line pulled out by this point so his nurse came in and prepared to do that. they use two stitches to hold it in place, so she had to remove those and then pulled it out. David had to lay flat for 30 minutes after that because he could bleed out if he didn't. While he laid I took a load of stuff out to the car and picked up stuff from the pharmacy.
When all was said and done....We left the hospital by 7:30ish.. We swung by our house to pick up a few things and then headed down to his moms house.
We ate something real quick and we both hit the bed!!
Yesterday we slept! I had to run a few errands in the morning but then I took a nap. I had to run to Westerville for a student teaching orientation. I actually really enjoyed getting away for a few minutes (even though I missed David and thought of him the WHOLE time). I got back ate and went back to bed. So I do apologize for the lack of updates yesterday....we were sleeping!
So from this point on David will have a home health care nurse come out twice a week for a few weeks, they will do his bloodwork, and check up on him. David goes back to see the surgeon September 14th and follows up with his nephrologist in October. We have to contact his Transplant coordinator if there are any problems that come up but otherwise we just monitor vitals at home, take medication, and get blood draws done.
We have had several families line up to provide us meals so we APPRECIATE that so much!!! We are so thankful for all the cards and gifts that have been given to us. Please know that we are using the gifts wisely to cover bills, medication, and gas. I am still waiting to find out how much his anti-rejection medication will be each month (not going to lie I am nervous about this) but God has brought us and provided for us this far He will not let us down now!
Karen is resting up at home. Her incision is bleeding a bit so she is heading back to OSU tomorrow for her surgeon to take a look at it to make sure things are ok. If you would like to send her a card or meal please just email me allie4donation@gmail.com I can pass that information along to you!
I am planning to head back to work on Monday. I am excited to get to know my kiddos but I am NOT looking forward from being away from David for so long!
Please continue to pray for healing of his incisions, swelling to go down, and pain to go away. Pray for Karen's incision to stop bleeding and everything to be good with that.
If you want to visit David please just call or text us. Again, if you are sick or been around someone who is sick please do not visit. Also, don't be offended if David wears a mask or if we ask you to wear a mask or use hand sanitizer. David does not really have an immune system right now so we need to keep him as healthy as possible. We don't want to overwhelm David with visitors but I know it will be an encouragement to him to see friends and family!
We love you all and I do promise to keep updating but for now....a nap!
love,
alice
Monday, August 24, 2015
Going home.......
I am pleased to announce that we have been approved to go home today officially as soon as a few things happen.
David's surgery was pushed back this morning due to an emergency case that got put in front of him. So he didn't actually get into surgery until 10am, he was back in his room by 11:30ish. We were informed that David DID have to have his last IV of the Chemo drug they were giving him to kill his immune system. So that takes 4 hours. They started it around 1:15 won't be done til 5:15pm then they will pull his central line from his neck and he will have to lay flat for 30 min. After that we just needs to pick up a script and then we are out of here!!!
We have been VERY busy since David got out of surgery today. Meeting with Social Work, training with a nurse, fighting with pharmacies and insurance, filling prescriptions. It has been a bit over whelming. But we are so thankful that we get to do all this because this means DAVID HAS A KIDNEY!!!!!
We did learn a few new things about going home that we need to share with all of you. If you are planning to make meals we learned that David can only have PASTEURIZED Dairy. That means he can not have organic dairy or farm fresh eggs. It has to be PASTEURIZED. Other than that he is on a low sodium normal diet!
We again, are so thankful for all of you and your prayers during this time. We have felt so incredibly loved and supported.
This is not the end of our blog....I will keep you updated in the future of what is going on and how David is doing. We like to think of this as the beginning. The beginning of a new life with a new kidney!
love,
David and Alice
David's surgery was pushed back this morning due to an emergency case that got put in front of him. So he didn't actually get into surgery until 10am, he was back in his room by 11:30ish. We were informed that David DID have to have his last IV of the Chemo drug they were giving him to kill his immune system. So that takes 4 hours. They started it around 1:15 won't be done til 5:15pm then they will pull his central line from his neck and he will have to lay flat for 30 min. After that we just needs to pick up a script and then we are out of here!!!
We have been VERY busy since David got out of surgery today. Meeting with Social Work, training with a nurse, fighting with pharmacies and insurance, filling prescriptions. It has been a bit over whelming. But we are so thankful that we get to do all this because this means DAVID HAS A KIDNEY!!!!!
We did learn a few new things about going home that we need to share with all of you. If you are planning to make meals we learned that David can only have PASTEURIZED Dairy. That means he can not have organic dairy or farm fresh eggs. It has to be PASTEURIZED. Other than that he is on a low sodium normal diet!
We again, are so thankful for all of you and your prayers during this time. We have felt so incredibly loved and supported.
This is not the end of our blog....I will keep you updated in the future of what is going on and how David is doing. We like to think of this as the beginning. The beginning of a new life with a new kidney!
love,
David and Alice
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