I am officially on the books for April 10th to receive the gift of life! I had all of my pre-op appointments already. I met my surgeon, whose name is Dr. Turgeon. LOL She is Amazing already. She said she felt like she knew me because of the unusually high number of people who called in to be tested for me. (Thank you, friends and family!! I love you!!) She said she reviewed my case many many times with each potential donor, but sadly no one matched me directly. And she also told me that my name came up a few times already for potential paired donor exchanges, but they were stopped before they every began because all the parameters were not met to their standards. In other words, the matches weren't good enough. So, they were declined and I never even knew about them. I understand that that must happen from time to time, but Dr. Turgeon came in the room and gave me a big hug and said she was SO happy to finally have a good match for me! She explained the surgery, we chatted about how crappy I feel and how we both have high hopes that a new kidney will help me feel better in many ways. It may not fix everything I have going on, but I should have a good outcome. I'll come to Emory for monthly infusions for the rest of my life (or as long as my new kidney is functioning. There's always a risk for rejection, in which case I'll just go back on dialysis.)
Some of the other transplant doctors talked to me about being immuno-suppressed for the rest of my life. I'll have to avoid anyone who is sick because the 3 medications that weaken my immune system to avoid attacking the new kidney will allow me to get sick easier, and will make it harder to get over a sickness. But I think I can live with that. Not counting pneumonia a couple of times and Legionnaire's Disease once, my Dad has done pretty well with the immune-system suppressing drugs for the past 21 years. (Seriously, Legionnaire's Disease. He wasn't even in the Legion!)
They will have me up and walking the day after surgery. My case will be in the afternoon on the 10th because my donor's surgery is in the morning, then the kidney gets transported to Emory (From where, I don't know yet...) Dr. Turgeon wants to have me on the table and ready for surgery the minute the kidney arrives in the OR. The courier who brings the kidney to us will have a GPS tracker thingie that Emory can access. We will always know how far away it is, and the Emory staff in the OR will know exactly when to put me to sleep for the transplant surgery.
I'm excited. And a little nervous. But mostly excited :) Nine more days!
BTW... Mint is a leaf. Right? It is a plant. It is a vegetable. Therefore Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies are good for me. I think I can do similar logic regarding coconut and the Samoa cookies. I'm eating really healthy today!
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