Just joining me? Catch up with Kidney Transplant: Part 1 and Part 2.
The first thing I remember after waking up from surgery in recovery was feeling a heavy tightness on my lower left abdomen and the immense relief that came from knowing the surgery actually happened and that I had a new kidney. Still quite groggy, after that realization, my eyes shut and I faded back out.
My second fade in was an odd awareness of being lifted forward for a chest x-ray. Fade back out.
My third fade in was for shouts of, “Look! Look!” My eyes opened to Phillip being wheeled past me on his way up to his hospital room. He had been out of surgery for a few hours and was ready to get settled in. I smiled, he half-waved. Fade back out.
My fourth fade-in was the permanent one. I awoke to a nurse emptying my catheter bag and exclaiming how much urine I was producing. Phillip’s kidney was putting out more than a liter of urine per hour. I had a plethora of IV bags hanging behind my bed flooding my new kidney with saline. A very good sign.
IV bag city!
Phillip’s mom and step-dad were next to stop by. They said that Phillip was nauseous from the anesthesia, but doing well. They got my very patient mom from the waiting room – she was more than anxious to see me. My surgery took two hours longer than expected. It started at 9:30AM, and it was 6:00PM when my mom was finally at my bedside.
My mom was pure joy in that moment. I can only imagine the build-up of emotion waiting to hear that your daughter and son-in-law had successful procedures. She told me that when the surgeon came to the waiting room to tell her how things had gone, he said, “We pulled off the clamps and the kidney turned pink.” to indicate that it was alive, well and ready to work. My mom surprised herself by bursting into tears. Being a parent, is truly a never ending pursuit. I was so thankful to have her there with me.
I wasn’t in any pain. The anesthesia was doing a nice job of numbing everything up. The nurse brought me a warm blanket and I was in recovery room bliss! The next few hours were a whir of vital signs, catheter bag emptying (almost a full-time pursuit), ice chip chomping and waiting. Surgery really, really, really dries out your mouth. If you ever find yourself in a recovery room with a dry mouth, in addition to ice chips on a tongue depressor, be sure to ask for a sucker-looking sponge on a stick to help moisten things up and scrub away cotton mouth.
They needed to have my room on the 8th floor ready and to get sign-off from the doctor that I was released to head up to my hospital room. He was apparently dealing with some sort of trauma, so things got a bit delayed.
We made it up to my room between 8 and 9:00PM. My mom headed back to her hotel room for much needed rest and my nurse and I got down to business. The 8th floor of the hospital is devoted to transplant patients. The nurses are specially trained to teach the patients how to take their medications and care for their new transplant.
The first evening after transplant is extremely busy. Vital signs are taken once per hour. There is an astounding amount of IV and oral medication. In short, there is very little time for actual sleep that first night. It seemed almost as if the nurse was permanently stationed in my room which was actually quite comforting. He was an awesome caretaker.
I received some pain medication while in recovery and again when I got to my room, but at 2:00AM the anesthesia’s pain-dulling effects began to wear off and I was feeling it. I asked the nurse if he could give me anything, but unfortunately, my kidney function was still delicate, so they can’t give too much for pain. I was only granted an IV shot of pain medication once every two hours where as Phillip had the nifty pain-button that could be pressed every ten minutes. Jealous, but very thankful Phillip had full pain control. He definitely deserved it!
The nurses and I managed OK. They propped me up me up on my sides to relieve pressure on my back and did what they could to ease my discomfort. We made it through just fine.
Kidney transplant are miraculous! As I mentioned in Part 1, my creatnine ( a measurement of kidney function) was at 9.7 mg/dL going into the operating room. That is ten-times what a normal level should be (approx. 1 mg/dL). When I got out of the OR, my creatnine was at 7 mg/dL. By 3AM it was at 3 mg/dL and the nurse was called by the laboratory to confirm that he drew blood from the correct patient. Ha! Twenty-four hours after surgery my creatnine was back in normal range at 1.3 mg/dL. M.I.R.A.C.U.L.O.U.S!!
Everything went splendidly! We really could not have asked for a better outcome.
We’re only 24-hours past surgery, transplants are involved and I’ve got more to tell you. Stay tuned – Phillip and I are just a few hours away from having our first post-transplant visit.