We had a good night – got sleep. It's amazing what sleep does to your attitude! We are waiting for them to tell us when they will be taking him for biopsy and he is kind of cranky because they won't let him have anything to eat.
These posts are kind of fading into each other so I hope I haven't already explained this but there is a little bit you need to know about rejection. There is acute rejection and chronic rejection. Chronic rejection is what happens more often in long term transplant where you gradually lose the organ. Acute usually happens several days after the transplant and if caught quickly can often be dealt with via medication. Today we find out if we are in acute and what they need to do to fix the problem.
All this was complicated by the fact that he was carrying so much liquid. 8 kilos is like him carrying around an extra 17 and 1/2 pounds or a couple of gallons. This made it hard for him to breath, hard on his heart, he was swollen, and the toxins were building up in his system. The main reason this happened is because the beds at Baylor weigh you and his was never callibrated. He has been saying he had too much fluid. The nephrologist talked to the floor supervisor about it Wednesday, and last night we finally got them to bring in a regular scale and he showed that it was 11 kilos off.
They try to wait because dializing you is kind of like kicking that kidney when it's down but it had to be done. They just told us the biopsy is at three and if it doesn't show them anything then they will do an angiogram tomorrow morning. They finally let him eat so he is happier.
Sooooo we are still in a holding pattern. The doc is encouraged that the kidney is making urine (sorry for being disgusting but in kidney transplant everybody gets excited if the patient can pee!) so he is just hoping that the kidney is "stunned" and will start filtering like it should.
This entry was posted in Faith, Kidney, Personal on December 3, 2007 by Dee.
I didn't have a transplant, but I've had my moments being excited about pee lately! It's nothing like what you guys are going through, but I can certainly sympathize with you and Dale. Good thoughts for you guys this afternoon!
Too bad when technology fails you. You know, if you've read Daniel Pink's book, Whole New MInd–he talks about the power of listening and story in hospitals and how some hospitals are training doctors to write stories because they think it makes them better listeners.
I hope things are getting better, and that food, rest, and feeling better all help!
Dee: just wanted you to know that you are in my thoughts and prayers….hope you have a good day today!
Dee, Love to all of you, especially Sondra. Glad she is home and doing well. We keep Dale and all of you in our prayers and love to read your blogs. If your ears are burning it's because we talk about you so much. Just wondering how you and Dale and his new kidney are doing! Ha! That really sounds funny…miss you and your wit and wisdom and smile.