It has been two weeks today since I came home from the hospital and I can say that I am feeling much better than I did that day! My biggest hurdle has been the gas pains that I have continued to have. Apparently most people do not have them this long, but I just had to be different! In the last two days, however, those seem to be resolving and I am feeling much better. Yesterday was my first big outing. Josh played in a basketball tournament in Wisconsin Dells, so we left here about 1:00 p.m. We went out to eat afterwards with our friends, the Lancours, and did not get back home until 9:00 p.m. That was a big trip for me! But I thank God that I felt relatively good all day long. It really was great to be out and about again.
Sara and Colleen Belle(the kidney) are both doing wonderful! Sara has her creatinine levels checked every other day. This number is significant in determining if Colleen is doing her job. Ideally they would like to see it be 1.9 or lower. Sara's went as high as 4.8 after surgery, but now has dropped to 2.7! We are very optimistic and truly believe that this number will continue to drop. Sara is moving slowly like me, but sometimes she is putting me to shame with the stuff she is doing -- even cleaning out her daughter Ashlyn's closet and drawers! I told her she is welcome to do that stuff, but she cannot tell me about it. Makes me feel much too lazy :-) We are hoping to get together later this week. I have not seen her since the day I came home from the hospital so I am anxious to see her smiling face!
Wednesday I will take a trip down to UW to see Dr. Bellingham. Hopefully she is happy with my progress and I won't have to see her back for 4 months. I figure if I time it just right I can hopefully get some Christmas shopping done in Madison the day of my 4 month check-up!
My friend Jenny wrote to me yesterday and at the end of her message she said, "I still can't believe you donated a kidney". I realized at that moment that I can't believe it either. Other than the fact that I am obviously recovering from a surgery, I do not miss my kidney at all. There is absolutely no change in my health or daily functioning that would suggest I only have one kidney in use. That is simply amazing to me. The fact that they can remove a body organ and you can go on as if nothing has changed is pretty remarkable. As I have wondered out loud before, "why do we even have two??".
I continue to be humbled by the unbelievable support I have received from my husband, kids, extended family, friends, Sara's family, acquaintances, and total strangers. People are so good. My house has been filled with beautiful flowers, delicious foods, and awesome cards from so many. I cannot even begin to say thank you to everyone!!
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