Slight setback

Drew in Pain

Drew woke up in the middle of the night in intense pain. We got him to the ER and he seems to have developed a partial blockage in his small intestine. He's been re-admitted to the hospital. They are giving him IV pain meds. They think that the blockage will eventually work its way out. But for the time being he is staying right there.

Home Sweet Home

Yes we are home, thank God! Every time the docs made rounds Drew would ask them when could he go home. It was always the same answer, depends. Drew wanted to go home so bad that on Sunday he was just about doing cart wheels down the hall ways to show that he was ready. It worked. Drew's new kidney started working right away. His creatintin stated at 6.1 on Thursday and today it is 2.9!! Drew feels so much better.
I had some interesting experiences while I was in the hospital. First of all, the Staff on 10 tower were excellent. They were very prompt in answering the call light and I felt very well cared for. I could not have asked for any better care. But back to my interesting experiences. I have a history of major motion sickness and I didn't want to be nauseated post-op so I requested a scopolamine patch. I put the patch on the day of surgery, I was really out of it Thursday night but Friday night I was more with it. Saturday morning I woke up thinking I had really weird dreams. I attributed it to all the machines in my room such as my plum pump, my SCD hose my O2 bubbling away and my continuous pulse oximeter which makes noise. I took a nap early Saturday afternoon. I woke myself up talking to the IV pole. Now I know both Scop and morphine could cause hallucinations but I was thinking it was just a dream. Sunday morning I woke up talking to my plum pump! When I realized what I was doing I looked around to make sure no one else was in the room to hear me talking to the pump. I had a choice, either I deal with the hallucinations and keep the patch on or take the patch off and risk nauaea. I chose to keep the patch on and just not answer the machines in my room when they asked me a question. But my plan didn't work out quite that way. This morning I woke up to what I thought was a man calling out to come to his room. I almost hit the nurse call button when I remembered the hallunications so I sat up to hear where the sound was coming from and again, it was the plum pump making a weird noise.
Next time I'm going to skip the scop patch.

Monday - Home!

It's going to be a PARTY tonight

Both Millie and Drew were discharged today. They are home. I'll be there later tonight.

Dominoes tournament tomorrow night - anybody want to join us?

Patrick

Sunday Afternoon

"Don't make me laugh!"

I called and talked to Millie just now. She is sounding much better. Drew was in her room and singing in the background.

She says that while it's still "let's see" about them going home, things are looking good for being discharged tomorrow (Monday.)

I made some smart comment that Millie wasn't expecting so she started laughing ... it was painful for her. But she said that it would help break up the scar tissue.

Drew is doing excellent. His creatinine levels are markedly down. They were up to 6.9 (dialiasis-level) before the surgery. Today they were down to 3.3 which is much better. He is feeling much better too.

The calvery is coming!

My brother, John, is on his way there right now. I'll be going tomorrow after work. So we are looking forward a number of nights of Dominoes. Y'all come and join us - we can fit you in at the table.

Saturday Night

I talked to Millie about mid-day Saturday. She said that she gets conflicting reports from different people as to how long they will have to stay. I guess everyone's crystal ball is a bit cloudy. I think it is a pretty good guess that they will still be in the hospital Sunday.

Another e-mail from Sherry from 10 PM

Hello from the hospital,
Sorry about the late post. Millie and Drew both had a good day again today. Millie's been walking down the hall to Drew's room.

The nurses get a kick out of Drew's menu request of green beans, rice and chicken for every meal.

We're so proud of both of them and everyone here in the department of Anesthesia is praying for a speedy recovery. I'll check on them early tomorrow morning before leaving the hospital.
Sincerely,
Sherry

Friday Night

Report from Sherry

Hello everyone!

Millie and Drew are doing great!

Every time I saw Drew today he was on the phone and all smiles. Drew was moved to a room just down the hall from Millie today.

Millie's been up walking the halls and is doing great! She said it looks like Tuesday for her trip home. Drew will probably be later in the week.

I'm visiting tomorrow afternoon before work so I'll post again around 2 pm.
Sincerely,
Sherry

The Morning After

Groggy but "there"

I spoke with Millie and I asked her how she is doing. She said she is "there." She sounded a bit groggy but that's to be expected with the pain meds she's on. She said that Drew is doing "great!"

Sherry Reports:
Good morning everyone,
Just got done visiting with Drew and Millie. They both look great. Drew has a nice, new kidney!! Walked in and he was on the phone chatting, watching TV. Didn't look like he was just one day out of a big surgery! Millie is a little sore, but in great spirits. Hopefully they'll get to eat some decent food by the end of the day.
I'll check on them again midday and post any updates. At present, all is well
Sherry