Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are behind us, and I have a few minutes to post, let me begin by saying that I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. There are really no new updates on the transplant process itself. We are still in a holding pattern pending my Donor Day visit to the hospital and possibly a few more tests for J (not really sure, we've both been crazy busy!). This is more of a "how am I feeling about this process" post.
I have to be honest: the closer we get to the actual transplant, the more nervous I become. I realize that this is a totally normal reaction to having surgery. I've had a grand total of 2 surgeries in my life; one when I was 15 to have my tonsils removed, and one when I was 27 for abdominal surgery. The tonsil surgery was a little less nerve-wracking because I got to look forward to being able to swallow normally, and I was too young and naive to know how it would affect me, physically. When I woke up, I heard the heart monitor beeping and thought I was dying. The second one was a bit more anxiety-inducing because I knew that I didn't do well with waking up from anesthesia (I wake up thinking that I'm dying, remember?). This time, I have that knowledge coupled with the fact that laparoscopic surgery makes you feel (and look ) like an over-inflated balloon because of the gas that the use to inflate your abdominal cavity so they can better navigate around your internal organs. Sounds like a blast, right? Not really! When I woke up from the second surgery, I swore an elephant was sitting on my chest and that the surgeon had tried to use me as a party decoration. The nurse did her best to reassure me that this was most certainly not the case; I was too heavy to float above the table, and the elephant was too large to get into the room. I'm fairly confident that there will be no large pachyderm sitting atop my body as I wake from this surgery, so there is one less worry.
No, my worries are much more sane this time. I'm worried about being away from my husband and son while in the hospital. I've never spent a night away from my son. I'm worried about the logistics of surgery day: who will stay with the kiddo when I go in for surgery? Should I have Husband stay home with him that morning and have someone drive me in? I've briefly discussed this with my best friend (Son's Godmother) and she is okay with doing this. Husband is a little bit on the fence; while he wants to be there when I go in, I want to keep the disruption to Son's schedule as minimal as possible. I'm worried about how I'm going to keep from going crazy while in the hospital. I'm I do plan on bringing a couple of books with me, maybe a crossword book or something, but I don't plan on bringing any electronic devices other than my phone because I don't want to chance having them go missing if I have to leave my room for something. All these weird, random questions keep running through my mind about how I'm going to deal with this process. That's another reason why I started this blog. I feel a sense of calm being able to put these nagging questions down on "paper" without having to talk my friends and family to death; I sometimes feel like they are sick of hearing about it.
And speaking of stuff to worry about, I really need to remember to ask the surgeon about which kidney they usually remove for donation and what happens to the adrenal gland that sits atop that kidney. For those that aren't versed in human anatomy, the adrenal glands are paired glands. One adrenal gland sits atop each kidney. Both glands have several arteries bringing blood to it, but only one vein taking blood away. That's where the similarities end. The right adrenal gland empties directly into the Inferior Vena Cava, a large vessel that carries blood from the lower body back to the heart. If this kidney is removed, there is no interruption to the arterial or venous supply of the gland. The left adrenal gland does not; it empties into the renal vein, which in turn empties into the Inferior Vena Cava. If the left kidney is removed, the venous access to the adrenal gland is removed, and the gland has no way to rid itself of blood. This can lead to some bad things happening, like blood clots forming in the gland causing the gladular tissue to die or become infected. I'm pretty sure those are worst case scenarios; I'm still doing research on the subject, and I will be discussing this in-depth with my surgeon on Thursday. Other than the adrenal gland issue, I really don't care which kidney they take, I'll miss either one just as much as the other. They have both played an integral part in eliminating waste from my body. I'm quite fond of them, and proud that one of them will go on to help someone else pee. GO KIDNEYS!!!
Good night friends!
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