2nd Kidneyaversery!

Yesterday was our 2nd Kidneyiversery meaning it has been 2 years since I donated my kidney to Dave!  Wow, time has flown by and it feels like we have done so much in these past 2 years that the days of dialysis are so much farther in the past then they really are.

Both Dave and I are doing well!  At least as far as I can tell.  His most recent blood work looked amazing and I feel fine so I guess that is good.  The only weirdness from the donation that I still have is that the muscles on the left side of my back where the kidney used to be become more sore then the right.  I feel this is something I wouldn't even notice if I wasn't spending most of my free time taking circus classes (aerial silks, lyra, and German wheel).  These classes require a ton of strength in all muscles which is why I think I feel the pain there more then a normal person would.  I'm sure with more working out it will stop too.

Within these last two years Dave and I have done so many things that might not have been possible had Dave not been able to receive my Kidney.  We went on a cruise, were married (only 3 weeks ago!), went to a ton of concerts and events, hung out with tons of friends, went on multiple weekend trips to places like the beach, dragon*con, Hershey, and wherever else we wanted, and got a dog.  Our motto has been "No Rest" because we know first hand that you never know what could happen in life so you might as well do as much as you can while you are able.  We hope to continue doing tons of things and that my kidney keeps working well inside Dave!

2 years down, hopefully many more to go!

Almost Married

With only 9 days left till we are married I was thinking on all that has brought Dave and I together.  I feel that one of the things that makes us a strong couple is all that we went through with Dave becoming sick, dialysis, and ultimately the kidney transplant.  I feel being able to share in each others struggles is a good ability to have when one enters into marriage.  I also realized I did not share our adorable Kidney Engagement photos with you guys and I think people interested in donation, kidneys or transplants would enjoy them.  So look below for some of those.

We used a plush heart and kidney as props.

He held the heart, and I held the kidney!

This one was used for the save the dates with the quote:
"She gave him a kidney and now he will give her his heart."
We are adorable, we know.

And some other random photos just because!

Thanks for reading.  If you have any questions about donation feel free to ask.  I feel I have less to talk about now that we are almost 2 years post donation, but I am always open to answering questions or taking requests on things to write about.

Fun Kidney Fact!

From the Donate Life Maryland Facebook today.  If you can't be a living donor this is why it is important to register as a Organ Donor!  

Everything part 2

Thursday Continued:

I woke up to someone saying my name.  I sort of remember being wheeled to the recovery room.  Once I arrived there I was very cold and could not see.  They put something on my eyes that made everything blurry.  I mentioned both things to my nurse and he wiped off my eyes so I could see and wrapped me in blankets.  After this I was fairly coherent.  My mouth was super dry and I felt just a little nauseous so he brought me some ice chips.  Not long after was one of the hours people could come visit in the recovery area, so my Mom, and Dave's mom came by.  They were surprised and happy to see me so awake and alert.  They were also happy to know I wasn't in too much pain.  Only if I tried to move did it hurt.  

This was me when they first came to visit.  I look super puffy from all the fluid and am wrapped in about 100 blankets because I was so cold.  I didn't feel that bad though which was great.  They left after their allotted visit time and within less then 2 hours I was being moved to my room.  One of the perks of donating is a special room that I think is more easily ready the the normal rooms used for the recipients. 

The room was nice and had a good view.  I was pretty alert there and they did give me some pain meds that didn't seem to do much.  The morphine that puts Dave to sleep in a few min. did nothing for me.  And due to the fact I was on my back it was hard for me to sleep, because that is not how I normally sleep.  But luckily if I didn't move it didn't hurt.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I was nauseous or hungry.  This may seem like something simple to figure out but with everything that had gone on and not eating I was unsure.  

View from my room.

View from my room 2

Eventually Stephanie showed up.  I am not sure what time but it was later in the day.  She brought me a puppy stuffed animal, a balloon, and a card. It was nice to see her, and I was happy I was alert enough to talk to her a bit.  While she was there they brought me a dinner tray.  It had some chicken and rice dish on it.  Thinking I was hungry I slowly raised the bed all the way up into a sitting position ready to eat.  I put maybe 2 pieces of rice in my mouth and knew I wasn't hungry I was nauseous.  I quickly spit it out, started sipping a ginger ale and asked for some anti nausea medication.  The nurse came in and gave me some zofran using my IV.  It didn't help.  I eventually started to lower the bed back down and I guess sitting up that straight had the path way to my stomach disrupted because it felt like all the liquid I had drank rushed into my stomach, causing me to throw up.  :(  I didn't have a basin in my room and Stephanie ran out to find one so I used the cover to my dinner.  ick.  It was painful and I ended up getting it all over me.  But I am lucky to have had Stephanie there because she went into Nurse Stephanie mode, and the tech came in to check my vitals at the same time.  So they gave me rags to clean us and gave me a fresh gown.  I was grateful it only got on me and not the bed because I don't know if I could have gotten up for them to change the sheets.  After that episode I was pretty miserable.  The nausea didn't go away and I faded in and out of sleep, with someone coming into my room almost every hour for one thing or another waking me up.  

I swear I am trying to smile here.

In the morning I felt better.  My nurse came and took out the catheter I had to wear overnight.  Which although it sucked having it in, I am kind of glad it was there because I don't think I could have gotten up to use the restroom.  After that came out he pretty much said I had to get out of bed.  So with his help I stood up!  I then put on pants (which is exciting) and walked around my room a bit.  Getting up was a real turning point.  Once I was up I was up.  I instantly wanted to walk to Dave's room so the nurse who seemed unsure about the long walk led me anyway.  It was good to see him.  I was sore and didn't stay long though.  After I walked back to my room the nurse made sure I sat in the chair instead of laying down.  

I felt better then I looked, yay chair!

Eventually, a doctor walked in looked at my incision and asked if I wanted to go home.  I told him that it would depend on if I could eat anything first.  I did not want to leave before I could eat a meal.  I am assuming that because they said I could leave my blood work was good.  I should have asked about it but I forgot.  

Okay once again I am tired of writing and this is getting long so I will come back to it later with a part 3 which should be the end of it!  Thanks for reading.

soon.

After looking at my calendar I am feeling a little anxious.  The surgery is only 2 weeks from now!  It feels so soon, but yet so far.  I know I feel like I have time to get stuff done before then like laundry, some work stuff, grocery shopping, buying another pair of my awesome yoga pants, etc. but I know that these next 2 weeks will probably fly by so I should make a list and start checking things off.

Dave had his pre-op appointment yesterday and they told him not to get sick. Mine isn't until next Friday but Dave said they looked over my lab work while he was there and told him things look good!  That is exciting.

As for me feeling anxious I hope it goes away, and I know its just me being stupid (I get anxious over the littlest things for no good reason).  Maybe I'll pay for some Drop in yoga classes these next to weeks so I can relax a little.  Plus there was a possible scheduling conflict with a work thing while I was going to be out, so that stressed me out a lot yesterday, but my boss was awesome and resolved it for me, so one less thing to be stressed about.

So that is really it for now.

P.S. I am looking for a cool Kidney Tattoo idea, so if you have any suggestions send them my way.  :D

Last minute stuff....

As I mentioned before Dave had an MRI Monday, this showed that the main big tumor on his kidney is a angiolipoma which is fine, but there are other tumors that they can not make out.  Because of this they are not sure if they will be able to take out and put in a kidney at the same time (the are definitely taking them out because they are big and such).  This would mean he has surgery sometime soon to remove the kidneys, then he heals up a bit for 3 months and we proceed with the transplant at this time.  We are waiting to hear back from the surgeon who is going to remove the kidneys to see if it can all still happen on the 7th.  I believe we all hope it can happen at the same time so Dave does not have to go through 2 separate surgeries and so he can be off of dialysis ASAP!  But I also don't want any increased risk of rejection, and I don't know if removing the kidneys at the same time would increase that risk or not?  Something to think about... But what this means is I still don't know whats going on and we are still playing the waiting game with only 10 days left till possible surgery.  Blah!

National Donor Day

It has come to my attention that today is national Donor day!  I just wanted to share that with everyone so they think about becoming a donor (not just a living donor but an organ donor after they die by selecting to be one when updating ones licence).  Also Happy Valentines Day!  Sadly, Dave will be spending it at Dialysis so no special plans with him, but we will probably go out some other night just because.

Also no kidney updates.