I guess I better back up a few months, to Friday, December 12th 2014. The day started as any other day. I was going to work, unknowingly, for the last time. The mounting stress of my job and the stress of waiting for a kidney were too much for me, so I had put in my 2 weeks notice 2 days before. My last day was to be on the 24th and start my new job on the 26th. As is very well known, that did not happen.
It was just like any other Friday. We got up, got ready for the day and I went to work and Lot finished getting the kids ready and Drake off to school. The cell reception was awful at work, so I couldn't send or receive call or texts unless I was by a window. I made my lunch and sat down to eat it when I noticed I had a text from Lot, but needed to move so I could call him. I wish I still had the texts he sent, but they basically said that his transplant coordinator at Intermountain Medical Center had just called him (it was around 10:30 am) to say that there was a possible kidney for him and that we may need to go down in the afternoon. There needed to be more tests run and then they would let us know. That was the hardest part. We had to wait and since I knew that it would do me no use to to go home and worry, I stayed and work and worried. Right after I broke down in front of everyone and told them what was going on. We had to wait until 4 before we got word that the kidney looked like a match and that we could head down Saturday morning, just in case. I left work not knowing if I would be back the following Monday.
There was some concern about the kidney being clean and disease free. You see, we do not know the donor, and may never be able to thank his family. He was from East Africa and had been in jail since January. They were not able to make contact with his family. Just for the fact that he was in jail, there is a much higher risk of infection and disease. There wasn't too much indecision on whether or not to take the kidney. We thought it best to receive a priesthood blessing from the Bishop and a close friend. We were assured that everything would be just fine and go ahead and do it. Lot called the transplant team and told them we would take the kidney and were told to leave no later than 8 on Saturday morning.
It was a whirlwind of a night. We packed for the kids and took them to my parents for the weekend and then came back home and cleaned the house and packed our things, not knowing how long we were going to be in Utah. It was not a very restful night. I think we stayed up late watching a movie, I am not sure. It has all kinda become a blur in my mind.
We were a little concerned about the weather since it was supposed to snow all the way down and the Malad Pass is not fun when it is covered in snow. I also drove the whole way. Lot was nauseous and needed to rest. I had never drove that far into Utah before. I hate driving down there and can only make it to Bountiful before we have to switch. We know the Lord was with us on that drive. We hit rain in Blackfoot and it continued until just past Inkom. Then it was snow. Here is the divine intervention: we could see the snow coming down on either side of the freeway, but not on the road. It was extremely reassuring to know that we were not the only ones that wanted us to get to our final destination in safety.
We made it to the hospital at 11:30am and were taken to a room and Lot was given an I.V. and blood was drawn for more tests. This is how it went for the weekend. I made a trek to Best Buy across the street and bought a few card games to help pass the time. The team was not sure when the transplant was going to take place, so Lot was not allowed to eat this whole time. He had last had food at 9:30 Friday night. Sunday afternoon rolls around and we finally get word that the transplant will take place the next day around 7:30am. Lot was given permission to eat as long as he didn't eat anything after midnight. Not a problem, so we went down to the cafeteria that became my 2nd home and ate something.
Noon on Monday rolls around and then leaves us behind. No word on the transplant and the nurses have not been told when it will happen. It started to get a little frustrating waiting, with nothing to do and Lot not allowed to leave the hospital. Finally, around 2, Lot was taken to the surgery floor and I was left in his room. Waiting in an uncomfortable chair for 3-4 hours did not appeal to me, so I opted to stay in the room on a semi-uncomfortable couch and watch Netflix.
The time actually went by really fast and before I knew it, they were calling me to tell me that Lot was in recovery and they would bring him up in a couple of hours. He was groggy, but looking really good to me:) After he was set up on quite a few machines and had a sufficient amount of pain medication in him, he was able to smile a little and talk a little.
Lets see if I can remember everything he was hooked up to. There was a central line in his neck to administer medication and draw blood from. He was on oxygen, had a tube down his throat for a little bit (that was taken out right before he was wheeled up to the room), had a heart monitor on, a pulse/ox monitor, a drain from the incision site, still had his dialysis catheter in, another catheter to monitor the amount and color of urine he was producing, and compression wraps on his legs to help keep the blood flowing and to prevent bloods. There was also an i.v. in one of his hands. He had a lot going in to and out of his body for the first 72 hours.
Our time in the hospital was spent watching movies, reading, walking the halls, trying to eat and trying not to make him laugh. Who knew that a 10 inch incision would hurt when you laugh? :) We found out just how much when we got a call from my sister, who was watching the kids at our house while we were on our mini vacation. My brother-in-law, Quinn, was watching the kids while Abby (that awesome sister I mentioned) was at work. I am not a story teller, so this won't be as funny as if they told it, but I will try.
Imagine, if you will, Chloe and Konnor sitting quietly (ha!) eating lunch. Quinn runs to the restroom for 5 minutes (tops) and chaos ensues while he is otherwise preoccupied. He thought he was safe to leave the kids alone for that amount of time. Again, I say HA! Not these two. Chloe found a magic marker in Drake's room and proceeded to color on everything she could reach. The final count on what she drew on was : herself, Konnor, both their beds, the ENTIRE living room light switch, the walls in the living room, their dog, Pepper, and the siding outside. This all took place in under 5 minutes! How could this happen in such a short amount of time? Not a clue, but if you are wondering if you want kids, come on over and watch our kids for while and if you survive, you are ready:) If not, well, wait until the Marker Incident of 2014 is out of your mind or is at least funny. We laughed the entire time Abby was telling us, cry laughing, in fact. Chloe would have done that if we were home. In fact, she has, just not with a magic marker and not on the white parts of a dog. I have no doubt that Pepper still avoids Chloe for that reason. We had a great laugh about it and then had to tell the nurses why we were laughing so hard and were then known as the room whose kids drew on everything with a magic marker.
That happened on Tuesday and the rest of the week we walked the halls to get Lot up and moving and for a change of scenery. Lot was by far the youngest person there. We got some interesting looks from other patients since he was so much younger. The entire floor was the transplant floor.
Our stay was not without bumps though. The kidney was working like a champ. All of the numbers that were high when we went in started to come down to within the acceptable range. On the 23rd, we ended up in the E.R. Lot was having some unexplained and unknown pain. After a battery of tests and only 4 hours in the E.R., it was determined that the pain came from the stent that went from the new kidney to his bladder. It was pinching somewhere and unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. That stent needed to stay in until January 12th.
We were cleared to come home on Christmas Eve. We did not tell the kids, who were at my parents house since school was out for the break. We left right after Lot had his blood work done and made it home by noon. I dropped Lot and all are stuff off at home and then went out Christmas shopping. We were not prepared at all! It is also not fun to be out at that time and then have to wrap everything. We usually do all that before and then just have to wait for the kids to go to sleep and then drag it all out. Lot was incredibly tired and was only able to supervise the wrapping, but he was home, on his way to being healthy, and alive, so I didn't mind.
We surprised the kids and had a great Christmas. We didn't care what we got. We had each other and enjoyed watching the kids open their things. We received the best gift we could have ever asked for. The timing was not the best, but looking back at what we did and went through, there really is no good time to have a transplant. Never having to have one would have been the best scenario, but that it not what happened and I am okay with that. We have learned much and are still going through situations related to the transplant. It is a part of our lives and as weird as it seems, I can't think of anything else I would rather go through with Lot and our small family. If it was not this, it would be something else.
This is becoming a very long post, so I will try to wrap it up. The kidney is still functioning extremely well. There have been no infections or rejection episodes. Lot has to have blood draws every other week along with every other week appointments. This is down from blood draws twice a week and appointments once a week. His cholesterol is elevated, so he has been put on medications to see if that helps to lower the numbers. His glucose levels are not coming down and part of that is the life long medications he is on. Since the glucose is not coming down, he has been diagnosed as pre-diabetic and has a meter to check his blood sugar several times a day. He stays away from sugar as best he can and eats a low carb diet. The numbers fluctuate, but in the process of doing this, he is loosing more weight and walking more and just being more active in general.
Lot has a big pill box that he fills on a weekly basis and has alarms on his phone to remind him to take the medications. The immunosuppressant drugs have to be taken 12 hours apart and the rest, there is not much of a leeway on the time they can be taken. There are some that interact in a bad way, so timing is important. The incisions have all healed and the bruises have disappeared. Life has returned to a new normal.
I look back on what we have done and gone through the last 2+ years and I don't know how we did it some days. There were great days and not so great days. That is just the way it goes. We have had countless prayers said on our behalf, numerous blessings received, new friends made, experiences to tell and no way to pay it forward. We have been blessed beyond measure. Our Father in Heaven is VERY mindful of us and wants us to do our best and when we stumble, He is there to pick us up, dust us off, and send us on a new path. That path will not be all roses and happy. The roses have thorns and I have 2 left feet:) But the roses smell great and Lot doesn't mind if I step on his feet.
The past 2 years have been a major trial. I wish I could know that it was over and we could move on to something else. This is going to be an ongoing trial, but it is so much easier to handle now. Through continued prayers that we say and that are said on our behalf, we have gotten through the worst of it. We are happy and healthy. What more could you ask for?
I hope this love boat ride lasts for a long time. I am looking forward to sitting back and being able to appreciate all that is around us and take time for us. There are other scary rides in this amusement park that is our life, but we will stay away from those and maybe get on the Ferris wheel when the boat ride ends.
You guys are an inspiration.
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