Oh happy day!

9:00 am

One of the doctors from the transplant team just came to talk to us. Great news!! She removed his Foley catheter...ouch. He's a little sad about that still. Now he has to pee on his own. He's not looking forward to it. They're going to do another ultrasound on his bladder to make sure he's emptying it on his own. The last thing to go now is his central line. He's been begging to lose that since he left the ICU. Well, since he got to the ICU! The doctor went to put in an order for the central to be removed. He's completely untethered right now. Nothing hooked to anything. He just walked across the room...only holding his hospital gown together in the back so as not to flash anyone! :)

Ups & Downs

We had a rough start to the day. Anthony didn't rest well and had developed a fever. His blood pressure also went up. He was hurting a lot more and using his pain pump more often. I got here around 8 but the doctors hadn't been around yet. He hit his emotional rock bottom. He was tired. He was hungry. He was hurting and couldn't get comfortable. He was freaking out that his kidney was being rejected. Everything that could go wrong had already gone wrong in his head. He just knew he was in trouble. He didn't even want to see the kids. If you know anything about Anthony you know that is not his personality. He is NOT at "Debbie downer." He's always looking for the good in things and helping to lift you up. So today it was my turn. After I called my mom, and had a good cry, we both buckled down. Thankfully, Dr. Rogers came around quite soon after the emotional drop out. He was just what we both needed. Kidneys don't reject this quickly...it's ok to feel bad...days 2 and 3 suck...you will feel better with different pain meds. All these things were music to our ears. 

So the nurse took away his pain pump and he was put on an oral pain medicine, Norco. He also finished up his last bag of IV fluids and got to be set free. Now the only thing he's tethered to is his Foley catheter. Hopefully that comes out first thing tomorrow morning. He hates the hospital bed and refuses to get back in it. He actually had a heat rash from being in it last night. It makes him too hot. Interesting. He's quite happy in the nice cushy recliner. He's already declared that's where he's sleeping tonight. As the day progressed he steadily improved. The good thing about rock bottom is that there's no way to go but up. Thank goodness he's a quick rebounder. He got some color back, stopped feeling sorry for himself and, with a little help from his supportive but ever so tough-loving wife, he crawled back into himself. The rest of the day has gone well. 

He was put on solid food this morning but felt so poorly that he din't want to eat anyway. Tonight he had chicken fingers and fries with green beans and ice cream. I helped clean him up again and help him feel like a real person. We washed his hair and he got to shave. He still has his IV line in and his central line so he can't shower for real. I got to see his incisions today and his stitches and staples. It's amazing! It looks so good! I honestly thought it would be gross or goopy or yucky. But it's NONE of those things and looks beautiful, clean, smooth, and is a nice crescent moon shape. Not sure how long before he can get the stitches and staples wet so he can take a real shower to clean off the rest of the orange that is around his middle section. Betadine from the surgery I suppose. 

We've spent the evening together just watching movies on Prime and hanging out. We had several visitors today but all came this morning. His parents stopped by early around 10 then Pastor David came by. Our friend, Tori came and took me for a drive and to get some lunch outside of the hospital. It was nice to get out for a while. Thanks, Tori.

Now he's begging to go home. He said he'll get better faster when he's home. He wants to be left alone and to sleep in his own bed. He's also ready...we're also ready, to see the babies. We haven't seen them since Wednesday morning. Well, we saw Lincoln on Wednesday morning but Aspen was still sleeping so we haven't seen her since Tuesday. If we don't get to go home tomorrow Mom will bring them to visit. I'm missing them terribly and can't wait to squeeze them. I think that was my hardest thing last night, missing the babes. Soon. Very soon.

Amy went home today. She came to see us before she left and she looked really good. She was standing nice and tall, not hunched over and shuffling like yesterday. She has been nothing short of amazing. She's been so humble and gracious...I boo-hooed this morning when she hugged me. I told her I'd write her a letter filled with all the thoughts I have in my head. She gave Anthony a hug and a kiss and said she'd be in touch. She has already invited us over for dinner once he's back to normal. I sure hope we stay in touch. She's planning on returning to work on Wednesday and Thursday. We wish her the best of luck!

So tonight we just wait. He's continuing to gain strength, he's eating more, his color looks much better and all his vitals have returned to normal. His creatanine levels have dropped to 1.8!! When he was admitted on Wednesday it was 8! What an amazing kidney!! 

Settled

He's free!!! At 2 this afternoon Anthony was released from the ICU. This is his nurse, Sara. She took great care of him...us really. 

He was more than ready to get out and be in a regular room. I was very much looking forward to having some room to settle and spread out. 

We have landed on the 11th floor of Ardmore tower. We seriously got the penthouse!! It's the largest room in the whole hospital! It's amazing. Windows on both sides with a beautiful view of downtown Winston-Salem. The lights tonight are beautiful. 

Anthony is doing OK. Right now he's reached his emotional limit. He's overwhelmed. It's been a very emotional and tiring two days and he's just on overload. He doesn't quite feel like himself. The nurse has shared tons of information he's not so happy about. The pharmacy team came to talk to us about the meds he's going to be on forever. Then pharmacy delivered our first month's supply.

He got up again tonight and walked in the room. He made one and half passes through the room before settling back into the bed. He stayed up in the chair for several hours. Anna came to take me to lunch and dinner today which was great. It's nice to have someone here for me, too. It's nice to have someone to eat with and talk to and walk around the hospital with. 

He's hungry. Or as Sara said this morning, he's "hangry." He's on a clear liquid diet and is very unhappy about it. He's had chicken broth, jello, Italian Ice pops, apple juice, and some pink lemonade. Since Wednesday at 5pm. He's also not slept well. ICU is not for sleeping and they took his blood pressure automatically every hour. The nurse also came in to check on him every hour...between the blood pressure checks. He slept about none. Right now he's trying to rest enough to close his eyes and sleep. He can't find a comfortable position. He's also quite upset. The new nurse after shift change doesn't know his story and she's treating him like he doesn't know what she's talking about and that he doesn't understand. He asked if they could do something to get his bowels moving since he hasn't passed gas or gone poo yet. He's frustrated they won't let him have anything to eat until he does. Hopefully they'll bring him some laxative so he can get his insides moving enough to eat. Man needs some food!

Please continue to pray for him. He needs rest and peace right now. He's frustrated and quite unhappy. He's emotionally drained and at the end of his rope. Pray that he sleeps well tonight and gets rest.

Morning check in

Anthony texted me at 7:15 this morning to tell me the labs they took last night were great! His creatinine levels are like a normal person!!!

His kidney appears to be doing great and he's still outputting tons of urine. It's beginning to clear more and look a little more like strawberry lemonade than cherry limeade. 

He had his ultrasound this morning to check his kidney and look at blood flow and such. The sonographer was awesome and talked to us the whole time. He showed us the "money shot" with all the red and blue lit up on the screen. That's exactly what we want to see. 

The surgical team came in with Dr Rogers a while ago and said everything looks good. His levels are coming down and all we have to think about now is his hemoglobin. But since he lost some blood during surgery they said he's fine. 

His sweet nurse Sara gave him a bath and he feels a lot more like a real person. He's currently sitting in the chair! Hooray!! 

We're just waiting on results from the ultrasound and another round of labs. Then were headed to the 11th floor!!

Recovery

I'm always amazed at who the Lord puts in our path. And how a few simple words can make such an impact on someone. Tonight as we met the new nurses after shift change in the ICU Anthony and I started talking to our charge nurse, Josh. Simple small talk lead to asking where we lived and we discovered that Josh is almost our neighbor!! He lives in a home only a few houses down from Anthony's grandmother's old home. He lives only a mile from our house. Amazing. Crazy. One of his first questions was, "What church do you go to?" We answered that we loved our Whitnel Penticostal Holiness Church family. He said he didn't get the opportunity to go to church because he works a bailor position and works every weekend. Josh only mentioned that he wished he had the time and a church of his own. He was completely amazed by Anthony's kidney journey and has been nothing short of fantastic.  Anthony shared his blog with him and hoped he will read it. I certainly hope that if Josh is wanting a relationship with God he reads Anthony's story and is touched.

Anthony has still been asking, nay, begging for water! Josh also told him no initially. Little did we know he made the effort to call Dr. Rogers to see if he could be allowed some fluids for Anthony's parched throat. Not only did Josh go out of his way to request his liquid diet he walked himself down to the cafeteria and got Anthony a big glass of sweet tea! Such a small act....but SO huge to someone in Anthony's position. It was truly precious. 

Before shift change Anna came back by and took Mom and me to dinner. We headed upstairs to see Amy first. She's doing great! She's sitting on the top floor just resting. She's finally got her ice pack that evidently took an act of congress. Not unlike it took 3 hours to get Anthony a pillow! She's using her own pain pump and doing well. They'll get her out of bed tomorrow as well so she can start moving around. They've estimated that she will get to leave on Saturday. That's amazing to me. She just gave a way a part of her body and now she's about to go home.

There are so many things I want to say to her. I haven't had the strength yet. I'm going to write them all down in a nice long letter and send it to her. I can't get through it in person...if you know me then you know how easily I cry. There's no way she would understand what I was saying. What a selfless gift. What an amazing selfless act.

Dr. Rogers came to check on Anthony a few hours ago. He said he was looking great and was glad all went well. He was also pleased that Anthony is making so much urine. They're pumping him full of fluids...what comes out must go back in. It's the color of a dark strawberry lemonade still. The nurses say the more he goes, the less red it will be. He also has a drain bulb on his side coming from his incision site. Stephanie, our nurse tonight, drained it a while ago. Yum.

Anthony's pain pump is full of Delodid and he is enjoying it. Though he's being a big stubborn about using it. He doesn't want to over use it and then regret it tomorrow when they take it away. He said his current pain level is Pi. His throat seems to hurt more than his side for now. When Josh got his liquid diet approved they showed up with a tray full of beef broth, sweet tea, and a lemon Italian Ice. That certainly made his day better and he thoroughly enjoyed his ice. (Picture to come tomorrow!)

The plan for tomorrow is to have an ultrasound on the abdomen to check the kidney and surrounding area to make sure all is well. They'll look for excess fluid or bleeding. As long as his night goes well and his ultrasound is good he will be released from ICU to be put into a regular room up on the 11th floor with Amy. Those rooms are SOOO nice and I'm looking forward to have a place to settle. They will also send PT for him tomorrow to get him up and moving. He's already looking forward to that. He wants to make sure all is well with himself and get everything working again. 

It's 10 pm and I'm back at the hotel...being up so early and having so many emotions mixed with adrenaline means I am exhausted. He's in very capable hands for the evening and he needs to rest too. I'll make my way back over to him in the morning for another fun day at the hospital. Maybe our friend, Tori, will even come visit!! (hint, hint) I also have a super funny video of Anthony begging for water and making deals with the nurses Anna and Melissa when he first got to the ICU. I'll work on posting that here as well!!

ICU

2:20 pm

We were called from the waiting room to go see him in ICU. We walked like half a mile (this hospital is huge!!) and finally came to North Tower 4B ICU. Thankfully he's a little more separated and private than your typical ICU patient. They try to isolate transplant patients since they're immunocompromised. 

3:40 pm

For now were just hanging out reminding him to breathe. He wants to go to sleep but needs to take deep breaths. His monitor keeps beeping because he's not breathing enough. The nurse got his pain pump set up and he just pushed it for the first time. 

He wants water. That's all he can say. He wants water! He was intubated for hours. His nurse said its like the Sahara in there when it comes out. He's already trying to make deals with them to give him water. They keep saying no. :) he asked if he got up and danced a jig if they would let him have a sip!

The nurses looked at me and said "You must be Kyla. That's all he's said since the moment he woke up." *tears*

He wanted to feel my cheek against his cheek. "That feels better," he whispered. 

Now we just wait for him to rest, sleep, and recover from all the anesthesia. 

Keep up the prayers as we still need healing. 

Love to all. I really appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I've been much more relaxed today than yesterday. I've still been crazy emotional today but really all for good reasons. 

He's done!!!

1:25pm

Dr. Rogers just called to say that Anthony was finished! He was all closed up and doing great. The kidney is making lots of urine and is working perfectly. He said they're getting ready to wake him up and extibate him. In about an hour he should be settled into ICU so we can see him!