Kidney Surgery

Today is the day! Cleadus and Pa are already under the knife, and we’re waiting patiently for the news that the transplant of Cleadus’s kidney into Pa’s belly has gone off without a hitch.

We spent Sunday together as a family and were able to hear the clinical to-do list of what was going to happen as far as the two surgeries were concerned. We know that Dad will be in the ICU afterwards for at least a day, but Cleadus should be up and walking by tonight, so it’s apparently a lot less invasive for him. Dad has a much higher risk of infections affecting the transplant and they obviously will need him to be more careful and cared for to make sure the whole thing takes. Cleadus will certainly be loved and cared for…but he’s younger, in good health, and once the kidney is out, it’s just a matter of healing from the stitches. I actually feel a little bit of a bond there from my own stomach surgery a few years ago…I remember how that felt and the months it took before I was feeling like my old self again…It’s strange the way your body leaves you in a funk until IT thinks it’s ready to be better…even when you try and reason with yourself, and maybe even reason with your body, that the wound is healed and everything is fine…it still takes a little while to feel RIGHT again. We will certainly be patient about Cleadus being his regular pop-off, happy-feet dancing sort of fella.

Pa will be in the hospital for a couple of extra days beyond Cleadus’s stay, but at least they’ll be in the same room together, which makes the visits that much easier on the rest of us, and Cleadus can talk to his kidney and tell it to settle down and play nice in its new home. He he he…I can’t wait to hear some of the dreams that come out of that week of sleepovers. Dad will be on the anti-rejection medication for the rest of his life, and apparently he can never eat Grapefruit again, which saddens him. (I have no idea why…apparently, there is something in the grapefruit that interferes with the medication and could affect the transplant. Go figure!) But, if all goes well, and we keep any illnesses and snotty nosed grandkids away from him till the doctors give the thumbs-up, then he should be better than he has been in years. He will have more energy (though I’d miss smiling at his falling asleep on the couch at the most random times), will feel healthier, and will obviously live just that much more of a full life to take advantage of the amazing gift he’s been given.

Modern medicine never ceases to amaze me!

To liven the whole issue, Jon and I came up with some fun t-shirts that we presented to everyone involved (thanks to Denise for pointing me to a website full of suggestions). Here’s the list of who got what…
Grace: My daddy is one kidney short of having a pair.
Lisa: If you still have two kidneys stop your griping!
Mom: I’m green…my husband contains recycled parts.
Cleadus: (front) I have my father’s eyes (back)…it’s only fair, he has my kidney.
Dad: My son gave me a kidney. Shut up about your frickin’ honor student.

I love that whole group, and I know how many prayers and thoughts have been directed to them for today. Thank you all, and I’ll update when we know more!

~ by bylorena on April 7, 2009.