the wait is over

Doesn't seem like there's a new kidney in there, does it?? Well....there is! See...



UPDATE:

• The surgery on Tuesday went smoothly and took WAY less time than they originally estimated.
  
• They let Jen go the next day (which, by our consensus, we think they could have at least kept her there longer).
  
• Joe was up and starting to get around a little the next day, too. With pain, of course, but he still got up to walk a little.
• Joe's surgeon (a nice little Indian man) was just awesome and said that Joe was doing so well with everything.
• They released Joe on Friday.

Now, Joe and Jen are home and healthy. Still in pain, but all is well. And some good news = no more dialysis!!!

All in all, I am so very much impressed by the Mayo Clinic. They were just very informative with everything, always there for any need whatsoever, and they were just very on top of things. Since I just started training for a new job (that is pretty inflexible with missing work for a kidney transplant), so it was really hard to be gone for 10+ hours each day while Joe was in the hospital. But everyone is home now and on the road to recovery. It's hard to believe it has already come and gone. Thanks to EVERYONE for all of your prayers and support for Jen and Joe. It has really paid off!!!

I'm home

I don't feel like typing a whole lot right now, but I am home. Everything went excellent, my new kidney is working very well. I'm still very sore and I'm not supposed to lift more than 5 pounds for like a month. More updates and maybe a pic of my incision later. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers people !

1 day, 9 hrs, 1 min, 30 scds, 29 scds, 28 scds...

FIRSTLY:

Here's a little PR for my friend, Lindsay.

Besides being an amazing woman (who has the most wonderful friends and family!!!)...she is having twins this December. Identical twins. And she's also (fairly) newly married! What an exciting year, huh??

Her tale has been rather taxing and there have definitely been some scary moments during her pregnancy, but all is well for her, she is looking beautiful as ever, and she has an awesome support network and a husband who will, without a doubt, be the best father to these special little girls! Thank you, Lindsay, for letting me be part of your journey to parenthood!



LASTLY (but definitely NOT leastly):

This is Joe before his transplant (he is reading some mail in this picture because I interrupted him to snap this photo).

If I had a picture of Jen right now, I'd put that up, too...but I don't. I'll take some pictures over the next week, though, and will keep you all posted on everything that's going on.

I can't believe how quickly time has passed. And, while I know that this is major surgery for both Joe and his sister, I know that the outcome will be wondrous.

There is this booklet that Joe picked up once when he was at the Mayo Clinic for testing and it tells a bunch of different stories of people who have had transplants of all kinds - even the story about an artificial heart transplant that lasted for 13 days before the woman was able to get an actual heart transplanted in her. AMAZING!! These folks at the Mayo Clinic are first class and I'm just so happy that, of all places, Joe and Jen are in their hands.

Once again, I'll keep everyone posted as soon as I have details (and as soon as I'm able to actually sit down at the computer). So until then...hats off to Joe, Jen and the doctors. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

nails

I've been doing SO WELL since last December and for the past 10+ months have had the best and longest nails I've ever had in my life. For those who don't know: I've been a nail biter since in the womb. AWFUL habit. I know, I know. But for the past (almost) year, I've been having awesome and fairly healthy looking nails (see image here, from my post about our engagement).

But I just bit about half of them and now I'm sad and angry with myself.

Can this week just be over already? Oh wait...it hasn't even started yet!!!

laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and renal transplant

Yeah. You heard me right. Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy and Renal Transplant. Now say it 10 times fast!

Joe and Jen's surgery is taking place next Tuesday...can you believe it? That's less than 5 days from now. Tuesday! I can't believe how quickly time has passed. For those who will be cheering on Joe, Jen and the doctors from afar, here's a sneak peek at what will be happening...

JEN

Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy

• This operation is performed by using a "scope" to peer into the abdomen through a small incision. This approach makes it possible to locate, secure, and remove the kidney through a surprisingly small wound. This "minimally invasive" surgery allows for a faster recovery than with the traditional operation. Donors are generally able to leave the hospital one or two days after the surgery and can often resume work within two to three weeks.
• source: Mayo Clinic
  

On surgery day, once the kidney is safely removed from Jen, Joe gets wheeled into his OR for the next part of the transplant...

JOE

Renal Transplant:

• During kidney transplant surgery, an incision is made in the transplant recipient's abdomen, usually on the lower right side near the "hip bone." The donor kidney is placed near the bladder on the right side of the recipient's pelvis. Surgeons usually attach the donor ureter to the recipient's bladder, allowing urine from the new kidney to flow normally. Surgeons restore blood supply to the donor kidney by connecting it to blood vessels supplying the recipient's legs.
• The patient's own kidneys are usually not removed. In some cases, such as when the kidneys have been a lingering cause of high blood pressure, one or both kidneys are removed during the transplant or at a later operation.
• Transplant typically takes about three hours. The recipient usually gets out of bed and takes a short walk the day after surgery. Liquids can be sipped the day of surgery, and a normal diet is usually resumed within two to three days. During recovery, most patients gradually experience less discomfort in the incision, a greater ability to move around, and return to normal activities. The donor kidney should begin to function immediately, and patients typically remain in the hospital for three to five days.
• source: Mayo Clinic

PICTORIAL DISPLAY

From Jen to Joe.



Where Joe's battle wound will be.



How Joe will get hooked up.



When all is said and done...

seriously...don't watch this

being back on the mainland = bittersweet

Well, everyone...you can rest peacefully now because we are back home, safe and sound, from our vacation in Hawaii. Anyway, it would be near impossible and just ridiculous to load all of our 600+ photos into one blog, so I made some collages from our different island experiences. Enjoy!

OAHU

We flew into Honolulu last Friday (9/12) and stayed in a hotel on Waikiki Beach there. Honolulu was crazy and, if I may be so bold to say, the traffic there rivals that of Boston on it's WORST day. While Joe was at dialysis on Friday night, my family and I ventured to the Punchbowl (which is a national cemetery where a lot of veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnam were buried). We were even fortunate enough to find the grave of my mother's uncle (my grandma's brother) who died in WWII and was buried there. It was a beautiful way to start our vacation. The trees were amazing and it was so green there. Saturday morning we had breakfast on the beach and then we hiked the Diamondhead Crater Trail, which is an extinct volcano that offers amazing views of the Oahu coast. We had enough time to relax and explore a little of the Honolulu area before boarding our ship, the Pride of America, Saturday night.

Punchbowl National Cemetery

Breakfast on the Beach, Waikiki-style

Diamondhead Crater Hike

The Pride of America

MAUI

On Sunday morning, we arrived in Maui - which was the first destination of the cruise and, after the craziness of Honolulu, became the favorite island of pretty much ALL of us. We drove around the coast a little and found Hookipa Beach, which is world famous for surfing, windsurfing, etc. It was so gorgeous and BLUE there! We even saw a monk seal taking a nap on the rocks. After Hookipa, we went back to the ship to get ready for the night time entertainment - a REAL Hawaiian luau!! We drove out to Lahaina and saw the United States's largest banyan tree before heading over to the Old Lahaina Luau. The luau was one of the greatest nights to date. On Monday morning, Joe had to head over to dialysis in Maui and, afterwards, we spent some more time at the beach before heading back to the ship to sail on to our next destination.

Hookipa Beach, Hana Coast

Old Lahaina Luau

Morning at the Beach, Maui

HAWAII

We anchored in Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii, on Tuesday morning and had a big day in store for us there. We took a wonderful tour of some very "Hawaiian" things. We got to tour Rainbow Falls (which earlier in the year flows faster), the Mauna Loa (macadamia) Nut Factory, and Volcano National Park where we saw Kilauea Crater (which has been erupting since 1983), Devastation Trail and even walked through an actual lava tube! On our way out of Hilo on the boat that night, we got to see (from a distance, of course) actual lava flowing into the Pacific Ocean. My snapshot of the lava flow isn't the greatest since we had to zoom way in, but just imagine orangy-hotness oozing from the earth and splattering hot lava into the ocean, creating an enormous cloud of sulphuric smoke. We even used my dad's binoculars to take a closer look and actually saw the lava splashing up into the air. Words can not describe how cool it was! The next morning we arrived in Kailua-Kona (the other side of the Big Island). My family went on a snorkel and raft excursion while Joe and I spent the day walking around the little town and snorkeling on Turtle Beach. The only turtle we saw was out of the water on a rock, but we also saw some really amazing fish.

Rainbow Falls/Macadamia Nut Factory/Orchid Gardens, near Hilo

Hawaiian Volcanic Action

Turtle Beach, Kona

KAUAI

Our final island on the cruise was Kauai. On Thursday, we took a drive out to Poipu Beach, where the water was blue and a monk seal swam within a couple feet of my mother. So freakin' cool!! Joe even thought I was joking when I said, "Hey! There's a seal!" After Poipu, my family went on a zipline excursion while Joe and I hung out at Kalapaki Beach before his dialysis that evening. The next day, we spent our finaly beach hours at Kalapaki Beach again, before sailing out of Kauai and back to Oahu to disembark. On the cruise out of Kauai, though, the captain steered the boat along the breathtaking NaPali Coast before sailing back to Honolulu - an awesome way to end our time at sea.

Poipu Beach, Kauai

Kalapaki Beach + Cruising by the NaPali Coast, Kauai

Once I upload all of our photos to a gallery, I'll let you know the link so that you can see all of the fun we had on our trip. Joe and I were half-heartedly discussing "accidentally" missing the last sail out of Kauai and just staying there. But we had to get home to our little Lucy (who we missed so FREAKIN MUCH!!!) and, plus, housing prices are pretty astronomical there. So we thought better and decided to come home. Still thinking about going back someday but, for now, responsibility and Joe's upcoming transplant prevent us from becoming a Hawaiian at this moment. But don't just take our word for it - GO THERE! Besides being a backdrop for some of Hollywood's most popular films (From Here to Eternity, King Kong, Blue Hawaii, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Waterworld, 6 Days 7 Nights, 50 First Dates, Jurassic Park - to name a few), Hawaii is just an amazingly beautiful place. So just go. In fact, GO NOW!!