On our flight back from the last book tour stop in Spokane, Phillip and I made an exhaustive list of things we wanted to get done before the transplant. It is unique that we will both be in surgery, and we wanted to have our home and lives a well oiled machine so that our moms can step in and care for us. We also wanted to come to the pre-op day and surgery day feeling comfortable with our medical team and both of our procedures. Here are some of the things we’ve been working on getting done over the past few weeks:
- Review all transplant literature from the transplant center.
- Create a list of questions for Phillip’s and Danea’s surgeons. Meet with both.
- Turn Danea’s office into a 3rd bedroom for her mom.
Gathering the necessary supplies.
- Purchased:
- Our favorite magazines. I got Real Simple and Martha Stewart – I love the fall editions of these.
- Restock toiletries.
- Slippers – neither of us had any
- Cozy sweats – a treat to make healing extra comfy
- Extra battery for laptop
- Medicine bag to carry my prescriptions for travel as need be
- Extra towels – we didn’t have quite enough for the full house we’re planning
- Antibacterial wipes for the house and a small package for my purse
- Extra hand sanitizer
- Stock up on dog food.
- A box to corral the medical supplies I’ll need once home (this is a tip from ch. 5)
- Spruce up house. There were a few things we wanted to rearrange and put up to create an extra relaxing family room.
- Clean out desk and office closet.
- Dedicate new journal to have in the hospital.
- Get out the fall decorations. It is my favorite time of year!
- Oil change on Phillip’s car.
- Get the laptop setup for website updates.
- Clean out the fridge and pantry – I had tostada shells in there from more than 2 years ago…yikes!
- Make extra house keys.
- E-mail friends and family.
- Get the dogs groomed. They have an appointment on Saturday.
- Pre-pay bills that will be due while we’re in the hospital.
- Tidy the garage. Phillip did an awesome job on that this weekend.
- Sort through e-mail to create a clean inbox.
- Instructions for our mom’s: trash day, local contacts, dog sitter information, etc…
- Download any music we’ll want onto our phones.
- Complete advanced medical directives.
- Clean out makeup.
- Remove nail polish and file nails short.
- Get haircuts.
We got pretty extensive with our list. Most of this is done which feels awesome. We really wanted to not have anything on our plates to completely focus on healing. Phillip has also been working diligently with his team at work to get some projects completed ahead of his absence.
Stress management is about controlling what you can. We have to have trust in our medical team, but we can certainly set-up our home and work lives to contribute to a positive health outcome.
Wednesday is our pre-op morning. I’m sure we’ll have a few more things to do after that day. We are both feeling good.
My surgeon likened the recovery to a surgery I had when I was 19 and that was hard, but very, very doable. We’ll get through this just fine.
Most of my nerves come from the idea of living immune-suppressed. We went to a comedy show last night (Side note: Brian Regan is hilarious!!), and among the laughter the coughs and sneezes were extra poignant for me. It is so frustrating that people expose others to their illness…stay home if you’re sick! It is fascinating to see what a new point of view will do.
It will take some time to gain confidence with being back in a crowd and to understand what precautions I need to take to stay well. This is something we’ll be trained on by our transplant team. I also know some amazing transplant warrior women who have very full-out-in-the-world lives and get through what they need to get through. The unknown is just that…unknown.
One of my favorite quotes seems extra applicable right now:
“When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly.” ― Patrick Overton
One week to go…yippee!