Today a friend on facebook was complaining that they found
themselves whistling Taylor Swift’s song “We are Never Getting Back Together”. And it reminded me that the morning I was
going into surgery, as I was getting ready, I found that exact song going
through my head. And I remember
thinking, “That is the shallowest song ever…why in the world is that song stuck
in my head right now, is that the best my brain can do…this mindless stupid pop
song?” It wasn’t till tonight that I thought
about the words…me and my kidney never were going to get back together. Ever ever!
hhahahha
#79. Three weeks - November 2012
It’s been three weeks since I donated my kidney, and the
recovery continues. I realize that in
the back of my mind I had this expectation that I would be really feeling fine
by three weeks past surgery. I was
taking four weeks off work, and so the last week would be great, I would be
getting all sorts of things done around the house. Well, guess again!
I think I had this expectation because my husband was back
to work three weeks after his nephrectomy.
But he did come home for naps in the middle of the day.
Where I’m at right now:
the incisions are entirely healed.
The largest incision, below my navel, is rather lumpy and sore. When I walk, it feels jiggly and sore. I still have a feeling of tightness around my
chest, although that is gradually subsiding.
My back is sore, especially on the left side where my kidney was. And my digestion system still seems to be
having a problem with gas. As in the gas
seems to get trapped, and when I lie down it seems it helps to gurgle it’s way
through my system. And there’s just a
generalized sort of ache in my insides. All
of this isn’t pain, specifically, but soreness.
If I don’t move around, it doesn’t hurt at all. But when I get up and
walk around, it gets more sore. I have been really helped these past three
weeks by treatments from an osteopath, whose gentle hands helped to balance out
my body.
I am up and active for several hours every day, doing a few
errands, going for a walk, meeting a friend for tea…but I am always happy to
get home and lie down. I have a catnap or
two during the day for a few minutes, I am not having the mega-naps of last
week.
Something great happened today! I came across the blog of someone else who
was an undesignated donor here in Canada!
I hadn’t been able to find any of those, for some reason, and it was
wonderful to read her experience of donating.
So many similarities in the feelings she had as she told people about
her decision to donate. Her experience
was very different than mine, because the recipient was in the same hospital,
and there were some negative aspects to her hospital stay because of that. Here is her blog: http://tomakeachoice.blogspot.ca/
I visited an acquaintance of mine yesterday. He is in the hospital, having a kidney removed
because he has kidney cancer. So we had
the same surgery. I saw him one day
after surgery. He was up and feeling
great, and had not had any pain medication that day!!! Wow!
Just goes to show you how different every one’s experience is!
#78. How he does it - November 2012
In a strange twist, before he came to see me, my surgeon was
in the examining room next door to me, meeting with a family. When he first went in to talk to them, he
must not have completely closed the door to that room. I could hear everything he was saying,
although the other people’s voices were muffled. He was explaining to the person that there was a tumour on their kidney, that it was likely cancer, and he explained
the options that they had for treatment.
It was such a déjà vu moment for me. This surgeon is the one who had had “the talk”
with us when my husband was first diagnosed with cancer over four years ago. What a long journey it has been for us since he
spoke those first words. The long months
of waiting, the chemotherapy, the nephrectomy, the recovery, the long agonizing
wait as we wondered whether cancer would reappear. And gradually hope dawning. And then further down the road, my own
thinking about being a kidney donor, which led me back to the surgeon, back to
the hospital, for surgery and recovery,
and here I was hearing my surgeon beginning that story again with a whole new
family. My heart went out to those
faceless people in the room next to me. I could imagine all the emotions that
were swirling inside them.
And the surgeon’s voice was exactly the same; calm, sympathetic, competent, clear. Answering
questions patiently. At some point a few
minutes into the interview, someone closed the door, so then I could only hear
muffled voices. I thought about what a hard job this surgeon had, going through
this over and over and with many cancer patients each week.
Around 20 minutes later he came into the room to see me. And I was a smiling patient, not a worried
one. And I could thank him for doing
such a good job on my surgery. He told
me that it was a remarkable gift that I had given to someone. And I told him that the reason I was able to
do that was because he was such a good doctor.
What happened to my husband and I was hard, but our experience with him
and the other staff at the hospital was as positive as it could be. And a direct result of that positive experience
was that I would consider coming back willingly and going through that surgery
myself. He saves lives in a lot of
ways, not just by what he does, but how he does it, the attitude he brings to
his work.
I'm glad I met this doctor, and that I was able to work with him to do something important together.
#77. Working fine! - November 2012
I talked to one of my surgeon’s residents first. I remember meeting him both before and after
surgery. He asked me how I was feeling,
had a look at my incisions and said they were looking good. He noted the
swelling, particularly around the biggest incision, and said that would
gradually go away over the next six months or so. He asked me whether I was peeing OK, and
whether there was any blood in my urine.
Everything is fine in that department.
He asked me if I had any questions. I asked him whether he knew anything about
how the transplant had gone with my kidney.
He said he knew that the transplant went well, and my kidney was working
just fine in the new person, “So you can know you’ve really made a big
difference in someone’s life.”
The only follow-up for me, he explained, is that in three
months I need to go to my family doctor to have my creatinine levels checked,
and then once yearly after that. He
encouraged me to take care of my health, and try to avoid developing high blood
pressure, which is affected by salt intake.
It was a short little visit. He
said I could go, or I could wait and see the surgeon if I had questions for
him.
I did decide to wait.
I had not seen the surgeon since our brief conversation in the operating
room, and I wanted to thank him personally.
#76. Post-op appointment - November 2012
Today I returned to the hospital for my post-operative
appointment with the surgeon…I was walking into the hospital exactly two weeks
after my surgery.
Yesterday when I woke up I had no pain at all, even though
my medication had worn off in the night.
I wasn’t comfortable, but I wasn’t in pain. So that was a
milestone. Other days I’ve woken up with
the first thought being, I need to get
my pills!
So because I was feeling so good, I got up and did some
stuff that I haven’t done in a while, like laundry. I tried not to pick up anything too heavy,
but I guess I overdid it, because today I woke up in a lot of pain again. You reap what you sow! The doctor was clear, don’t pick up anything bigger than
a phone book for four weeks. Rest, rest,
rest, that has to be my new mantra! So
hard to remember, especially now that I am starting to feel better.
I was thankful to a friend who offered to drive me to the hospital
today; I could have gone myself, but I wouldn’t have been able to take my
Tylenol #3s if I was driving. And so I
was not in any pain after the drive and the walk to the hospital.
Anyway, today I was walking into the hospital and I was just
grinning. Last time I had walked in that
hallway it had been very early in the morning and I was heading to the surgery
to get admitted. Now it was all behind
me, and I am well on the way to recovery.
Such a fabulous feeling!
#75. Listening - November 2012
Ten days post surgery.
I feel much better today. No
sharp pains when I’m moving, which is a big improvement. More just a general ache in my insides, and
when I take my pain medication I don’t even feel that. I went for a short walk outside. There was a bazaar happening at a local
church down the road, so I drove over and thought I’d just go and stroll
through it. But two minutes of strolling
left me with a strong feeling that I was not well, and that I needed to be in
bed. Listen to your body, right? So straight back home and into my pajamas for
a long nap and then a quiet day on the couch.
Today my mind was opening up a bit to thinking about the
four people who have new kidneys. For most of the past ten days I just haven’t
had room in my head to think about anyone else very much because I’m just
dealing with my body. I wonder what their recovery is like. They’ve got the same sort of incisions, I
imagine. The inner operation would not
be so invasive, I would think, since they’re not cutting anything out. As far as I know, even if they have a kidney
that’s failed, they don’t remove it, they just add another one.
The difference for them is that they hopefully now have a
kidney that is working, and they are peeing for the first time in a while. And their blood is being cleaned more
efficiently and effectively, so they are going to start feeling better. And they can eat and drink more freely
because their/my kidney is doing its job.
They’re listening to their body and hearing something healthy. Cool!
#74. State of the Union - October 2012
A week ago today I was in surgery! The last days I have spent in my pajamas just
sleeping and reading. I had three naps yesterday! Good friends have been dropping off meals,
although I don`t have much of an appetite, and there are lovely flowers everywhere I look! My sisters sent me a big pile of books to read, and others have dropped off magazines and movies. People are being so nice to me!
I ventured out of the house for the first time today for an
excursion to the doctor’s office to have the staples from my incisions removed. He didn`t want to remove all the staples,
just half of them. The incisions are
looking good though. My abdomen is still
quite tender and bloated feeling, with some colourful bruises.
I came home and was
still feeling good so I did the dishes and tidied up a bit. I
wandered once around the backyard…in one week the whole backyard has been transformed,
all the leaves have fallen, it’s beautiful…green and yellow. It was so nice to be outside.
For the last two days
I have been on a maximum dosage of extra-strength Tylenols, as well as Aleve,
which mostly covers the pain. I could be
on Tylenol 3’s but the codeine in them is very hard on my digestive system,
which is also uncomfortable. So I decided to just go without the heavier pain
medication. Walking is fine, it’s just
carrying anything, bending, turning over…anything that involves abdominal
muscles means I get some short sharp shooting pains. Nothing excruciating, just enough to say
OW!
I probably did too much today all at once, so by supper time
I was pretty sore. I was feeling bad
enough to need the Tylenol 3’s. Since I
had the operation I have felt a tightness around my chest and I’ve had a sore
back…I’ve been told this is probably from the air that they pump into the
abdomen during the laparoscopic surgery.
It’s very hard on the diaphragm, which I guess gets stretched in an unusual
way. And so maybe that explains the sore
back. But probably the extra exercise
today was a bit much. The Tylenol 3s had
me feeling just fine in around an hour.
Thank the Lord for good pain medication!
Today is Hallowe’en and I’ve developed some lovely long
green bruises on my wrists from where the IVs were. Feels fine but it looks rather gruesome! Boo! At
supper my husband was making me laugh, which was not good because I was so sore,
but later in the evening, I could laugh without worrying about it. It`s time for some more pills now before I go to bed.
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