Surgery is just 24 days away now. Sara will go a week from Wednesday to have her final pre-op exam. My family and I are going to Louisville, KY next week so Josh can attend Rajon Rondo's basketball camp. We are so looking forward to our time away as a family. When we get home it will be just over a week until the big day. I am still not at all nervous. I am just so excited! This past year has been incredible. In the end, two people(Lonnie and Sara) will have new kidneys. In the end I will be a new person. So incredibly touched -- so incredibly blessed -- so incredibly humbled. God is good -- all the time.
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Dillons Meet the Solinskys
Last night Mike, Josh, Isaiah, and I headed to Applebees in Wisconsin Rapids to meet Sara, her husband Craig, and their 5 year old daughter Ashlyn. Sara and I were anxious to get together again and so happy to have our families meet each other. They gave us a large corner booth and after a few minutes of deciding where everyone would sit we settled in with the kids in the middle and the adults on the outside. Ashlyn was not at all shy with the boys and after deciding what to eat, she and Josh got right into a game on her kids menu. After trying to let her get ahead a bit, Josh quickly realized that she did not need any special treatment -- she ended up beating him in the end! The conversation flowed freely and Ashlyn kept us all entertained with her stories and antics. At one point she asked to come sit by me, which made me so happy! She tried to teach me how to touch my nose with my tongue, but it turned out that I was just not quite as talented as she was! It certainly was not for the lack of teaching skills on her part. At one point she asked me if she could see my kidney! Unfortunately I had to tell her that it just wasn't possible. She did decide to name the kidney, however. Her first instinct was to name it Belle. Then she said maybe Colleen. She finally accepted Isaiah's suggestion to name it Colleen Belle. So Colleen Belle it is! She also gave us a lesson on "hemodialysis", a word she could pronounce without flaw and a definition of which she knew by heart. Before we knew it three hours had passed. We had talked, laughed, and gotten to know each other. Josh and Isaiah got a taste of what it would be like to have a little sister! Ashlyn even said she would like to come stay overnight at our house sometime! How fun that would be!! Craig and Mike enjoyed their time talking about their jobs, hobbies, and life in general. It was such a wonderful evening and we just cannot wait to do it again!
Friday, June 24, 2011
27 Days and Counting....
Sara and I both received our surgical paperwork from UW yesterday. Her surgeon will be Dr. Hans Sollinger who has a cool German accent and is a smiley fellow! We haven't met him -- just know this from a video he has posted on UW's website. My surgeon will be Dr. Janet Bellingham. Mike and I actually met Dr. Bellingham in December when we were at UW for my donor evaluation. I would say that she is a bit on the serious side, but definitely seemed to be very competent. Both Sara and I will need to be at the hospital the day before surgery to have our final pre-op appointments. Sara will also be going down on July 6th for an evaluation. Most of these tests should simply be formalities, but still they continue to use phrases like "surgery is tentatively scheduled" and "potential donor" or "potential recipient". Don't they know that this transplant is definitely happening?? Don't they know that Sara and I have both come way too far in our journeys for this to not work out?? Apparently we will just have to prove it to them!
This coming Sunday evening Sara, her husband Craig, and their daughter Ashlyn are planning to meet me, Mike, and our boys for dinner. We are looking forward to our families meeting each other before the big day! It won't be long now -- just 27 days! Sara goes to dialysis 3 days a week and is counting down the days until that will be in the past! After tomorrow's session the count will be: 10 down, 10 to go!! Halfway done!!
Several people have asked me if I am nervous. The answer is no. Maybe I am too excited to be nervous. Maybe I am too naive. But truthfully I just think that I have complete faith that this is meant to be -- and that is all I need to know!
This coming Sunday evening Sara, her husband Craig, and their daughter Ashlyn are planning to meet me, Mike, and our boys for dinner. We are looking forward to our families meeting each other before the big day! It won't be long now -- just 27 days! Sara goes to dialysis 3 days a week and is counting down the days until that will be in the past! After tomorrow's session the count will be: 10 down, 10 to go!! Halfway done!!
Several people have asked me if I am nervous. The answer is no. Maybe I am too excited to be nervous. Maybe I am too naive. But truthfully I just think that I have complete faith that this is meant to be -- and that is all I need to know!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Surgery Scheduled!!
Sara and I were both anxiously awaiting news from UW today. She left a message for Kathy a little bit before 1:00, but when we hadn't heard anything by 4:15 I called Kathy myself. UW had just been waiting on my viral studies to come back(HIV, Hep B, etc) before we could move forward. Kathy checked her computer and indeed the results were in -- all normal as I expected! She then told me that she had checked possible surgery dates earlier today. She knew we were looking at the week of July 18th. UW only does planned transplants on Wednesdays or Thursdays. There was only one time slot left on July 21st, so she snagged that date for us! I couldn't believe it --just three and a half weeks from even finding out about Sara from my friend Laura and here we were getting a date for transplant! After everything Lonnie and I went through this seemed way too easy! Kathy said that Sara will still need to come down soon to have a final pre-op done. We are just going to plan on all being fine at that visit! Kathy said that I should plan on being to UW at 7:30 a.m. on July 20th for my pre-op work. They will put us up in a hotel that night so we are close by for surgery the next day. She said I should plan on being in the hospital 3-4 days, depending on what time I get out of surgery on the 21st. I didn't really care about any of that right now -- I only cared that we had a plan! The transplant committee will also need to give us their final approval at their next meeting on July 7th, but Kathy assured me that this should just be a formality. After I got off the phone with Kathy I had the exciting privilege of being the one to call Sara! Just like the day I called her to tell her we were a match, we both were thrilled!
One of my first calls tonight was to Lonnie and Ginger. They have been such a huge part of my life that I wanted them to be among the first to know. Ginger said they are thrilled for Sara and I and that they still love me :-) As happy as I am that he is doing well and as much as I knew I would have their support, I just needed to hear it from them. Lonnie's visit on Wednesday to UW went very well. There is no trace of the BK virus that he had earlier in his blood. They again increased his anti-rejection meds and we will pray that the virus stays away.
As I sit and think about this past year tonight I am overwhelmed with emotions. I have often said that this has been the most faith-filled journey of my entire life. What started as a simple "voice" in my head saying, "tell him you will give him one of yours" has turned into a road of excitement, disappointment, thrills, heartbreak, friendship, love, and unwavering faith. I have had many people tell me that this is an amazing thing that I am doing. I only wish those people could walk in my shoes down this path. What I have given so far has come back to me ten-fold. I am so blessed to have family, friends, co-workers, and an amazing husband who have supported me through it all. I am so blessed to be able to offer this gift of life. I am so blessed to have Lonnie. I am so blessed to have Sara.
One of my first calls tonight was to Lonnie and Ginger. They have been such a huge part of my life that I wanted them to be among the first to know. Ginger said they are thrilled for Sara and I and that they still love me :-) As happy as I am that he is doing well and as much as I knew I would have their support, I just needed to hear it from them. Lonnie's visit on Wednesday to UW went very well. There is no trace of the BK virus that he had earlier in his blood. They again increased his anti-rejection meds and we will pray that the virus stays away.
As I sit and think about this past year tonight I am overwhelmed with emotions. I have often said that this has been the most faith-filled journey of my entire life. What started as a simple "voice" in my head saying, "tell him you will give him one of yours" has turned into a road of excitement, disappointment, thrills, heartbreak, friendship, love, and unwavering faith. I have had many people tell me that this is an amazing thing that I am doing. I only wish those people could walk in my shoes down this path. What I have given so far has come back to me ten-fold. I am so blessed to have family, friends, co-workers, and an amazing husband who have supported me through it all. I am so blessed to be able to offer this gift of life. I am so blessed to have Lonnie. I am so blessed to have Sara.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Meeting Sara
Sara arrived at my house this morning at 8:20 a.m. to begin our trip down to Madison. She handed me a vase full of flowers which were beautiful! I hugged her right away -- I felt like I already knew her based on our many Facebook conversations and emails. Shortly after, we set out for UW. Right away I felt very at ease with her and we had no problem making conversation. Of course for those of you who know me personally you know that I am never at a lack for words. Poor Sara probably didn't know what she was getting into when she agreed to a 3 hour round trip journey with me :-)
When we got to UW we parked on the 6th floor of the parking garage and made our way down to the clinic/hospital entrance. As we were walking up to the doors we saw a very familiar person sitting on the bench outside -- it was Lonnie's wife Ginger! She pointed behind me so I turned around and there was Lonnie! We knew he had an appointment today, but our timing was perfect. I introduced Sara and we all walked in together. We registered and then waited to be called back for our lab appointments. I was called back first, then Lonnie, and finally Sara. I got to give 8 tubes of blood plus another huge syringe, which in reality was only 2 ounces of blood. After that I needed to do a urinalysis, as blood in my urine has been a definite problem in the past. Amazingly enough, that was the extent of the testing we needed to have done today. They originally thought I might have to have another psychiatry visit, but they decided that was not necessary. Obviously they do not know me well!
After Sara and I finished up at UW we said goodbye to Lonnie and Ginger as they still had to go to see Dr. Fernandez. Then we headed out to eat lunch at TGI Fridays. Sara was nice enough to buy me lunch even though she certainly did not have to do that. I managed to eat a big bacon cheeseburger -- hey, I had just given up a lot of blood and needed my strength back, right? We were on the way home and just to Portage, about 30 miles outside of Madison, when Sara's coordinator Kathy called my cell phone. My coordinator, Chris, was on vacation so Kathy was calling to tell me that the urinalysis results were already back. I was a little concerned about that test in specific because for reasons unknown I have always had a trace of blood in my urine. That is concerning to the surgeons because it could indicate a kidney problem. Kathy told me that this time there was NO blood! Thank the Lord!! She said the rest of the results should be back in the next couple of days and either she or Chris will be calling us. The last major hurdle will be the final crossmatch. This is done to ensure that there are no changes in mine or Sara's blood that would cause a problem at surgery. The blood samples they used to do the initial matching were from November for Sara and December for me. So there is always a chance that something has changed. But Kathy says she does not anticipate problems. We are so close now that I can feel it!
I am still waiting to hear how Lonnie's visit with Dr. Fernandez went today, but I am positive that all is well. He looks great and his whole family will continue to be such a big part of my life.
It was so awesome to finally meet Sara. I know she will provide a great home for my kidney. I can only pray that it will allow her to live a long, healthy life so she can enjoy time with her husband and precious daughter. Thank you Sara for allowing me into your life! I hope we will be friends for years to come.
When we got to UW we parked on the 6th floor of the parking garage and made our way down to the clinic/hospital entrance. As we were walking up to the doors we saw a very familiar person sitting on the bench outside -- it was Lonnie's wife Ginger! She pointed behind me so I turned around and there was Lonnie! We knew he had an appointment today, but our timing was perfect. I introduced Sara and we all walked in together. We registered and then waited to be called back for our lab appointments. I was called back first, then Lonnie, and finally Sara. I got to give 8 tubes of blood plus another huge syringe, which in reality was only 2 ounces of blood. After that I needed to do a urinalysis, as blood in my urine has been a definite problem in the past. Amazingly enough, that was the extent of the testing we needed to have done today. They originally thought I might have to have another psychiatry visit, but they decided that was not necessary. Obviously they do not know me well!
After Sara and I finished up at UW we said goodbye to Lonnie and Ginger as they still had to go to see Dr. Fernandez. Then we headed out to eat lunch at TGI Fridays. Sara was nice enough to buy me lunch even though she certainly did not have to do that. I managed to eat a big bacon cheeseburger -- hey, I had just given up a lot of blood and needed my strength back, right? We were on the way home and just to Portage, about 30 miles outside of Madison, when Sara's coordinator Kathy called my cell phone. My coordinator, Chris, was on vacation so Kathy was calling to tell me that the urinalysis results were already back. I was a little concerned about that test in specific because for reasons unknown I have always had a trace of blood in my urine. That is concerning to the surgeons because it could indicate a kidney problem. Kathy told me that this time there was NO blood! Thank the Lord!! She said the rest of the results should be back in the next couple of days and either she or Chris will be calling us. The last major hurdle will be the final crossmatch. This is done to ensure that there are no changes in mine or Sara's blood that would cause a problem at surgery. The blood samples they used to do the initial matching were from November for Sara and December for me. So there is always a chance that something has changed. But Kathy says she does not anticipate problems. We are so close now that I can feel it!
I am still waiting to hear how Lonnie's visit with Dr. Fernandez went today, but I am positive that all is well. He looks great and his whole family will continue to be such a big part of my life.
It was so awesome to finally meet Sara. I know she will provide a great home for my kidney. I can only pray that it will allow her to live a long, healthy life so she can enjoy time with her husband and precious daughter. Thank you Sara for allowing me into your life! I hope we will be friends for years to come.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Final Testing
This Wednesday Sara and I will travel down to UW Hospital for our final testing. It is incredible to me to think that just over two weeks ago I did not even know she existed and now we are going for FINAL testing! And we still have not met in person. Wednesday will be the day! We will have lots of time to get to know each other on our trip down to Madison. I am so looking forward to it! I know my plans sometimes don't always work the way I expect them to, but if everything checks out okay we are hoping to go to surgery by mid-July! Sara had her dialysis tube placed on Friday and will be starting hemodialysis. She will need to go 3 times a week. The original plan had been to do peritoneal dialysis, which would allow her to do the dialysis at night while she slept. But several snags in that plan -- along with the hope that this will be very short-term -- led her to make the decision to do hemodialysis. Hopefully it will be the shortest dialysis time in history!
Ironically enough, Lonnie will also be going to UW on Wednesday to get his blood drawn and see Dr. Fernandez. So far, so good with him so hopefully a good report will be coming out of that visit!
Tomorrow I am taking my kidney to Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park in the Dells with Josh's 6th grade class. Looking forward to a fun day of sun and relaxing with friends! Hopefully this is the last time my kidney will visit Mt. Olympus :-)
Ironically enough, Lonnie will also be going to UW on Wednesday to get his blood drawn and see Dr. Fernandez. So far, so good with him so hopefully a good report will be coming out of that visit!
Tomorrow I am taking my kidney to Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park in the Dells with Josh's 6th grade class. Looking forward to a fun day of sun and relaxing with friends! Hopefully this is the last time my kidney will visit Mt. Olympus :-)
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