Road to Recovery

It has been just eleven days since Lonnie's kidney transplant and he continues to do very, very well.  He came home a week ago already -- just four days after his transplant!  It is simply amazing to watch him on his road to recovery.  He has about a million pills to take and has to come in to the clinic three times a week to get blood drawn, but he is feeling pretty good -- and I know he will continue to feel even better as the days go on and he gets stronger.  He did tell me that he wishes he could get outside more to walk around a bit, but it is just too cold and slippery right now.  He also cannot drive for a few weeks, so he is relying on others to take him places.  I am sure that is difficult as well!  February 8th will be a trip back to UW Hospital for a check-up.  I believe they will also remove the dialysis port and the kidney stents at that time as well.  Hopefully after that he can really feel normal again!

I continue to think about the family that lost a loved one in order for Lonnie to gain a kidney.  I pray that they find peace and know that they gave an incredible gift to not only Lonnie, but others as well.  Being on the recipient side of organ donation truly makes you appreciate what an awesome gift it truly is. 

I spoke with Chris at UW on Thursday and discussed the paired donation program and the possibility of me "kicking off" a paired donation chain.  She explained to me exactly how it would work.  She also told me that they have been matching people very quickly through this program, so that if I decided to do it there is possibility that the surgery could happen quite soon after I enter the program.  That is a little scary to me as I have a practice and family life to be concerned about.  But I know if this is God's plan then He will work it all out for me.  So for now I plan to continue to pray about it and wait for another one of His "signs" :-)  Chris also told me that she just came back from a transplant conference.  She said one of the talks was entitled, "You've Come a Long Way, Baby!"  She said she immediately thought of Lonnie.  How true is that!!

Today the Packers also gave Lonnie a gift by beating the Bears to win the NFC Championship Title.  In two weeks they will go on to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.  Hopefully they can pull out a victory!!