transplant day 3 - lookin good

Big improvements today. Bruce was walking in the halls and sitting in chair all day- awake and feeling good. He felt like eating more, his BP is better, and no headaches so far.

The Nephrologist ordered an ultrasound to make sure everything looks good because his creatin is not rising as fast as it could. He said it was nothing to be alarmed about it was just to make sure kidney looking good and no blood clots. He IS making lots of urine but the kidney may not be filtering the way it should yet. He explained that the laproscopy surgery is good for the donor but not as good for recipient because the donor is pumped full of air before the surgery (which explains all of the bloating and pain Ken has had). The air changes the pressure in the veins of both kidneys. Sometimes that makes it take longer for it to wake up and function to its capacity. The ultrasound did not show anything was wrong, but then the surgeon looked at it and decided it wasn't a clear enough picture so they will redo it.

He is supposed to start eating and drinking more. Yesterday he was feeling rough so he didn't want anything. Today his intake was much higher. There is no doubt Bruce's eyes look more normal. Dr. said that could have been from too high phosphorus.

Ken's mother pushed him here in a wheelchair so that they could visit for awhile. It was interesting that they both seemed to get much better today compared to yesterday. Ken was told it will be tomorrow before he can be discharged. He has a fever around 99 that appears and goes away and he has an elevated white blood cell count so they want to monitor him another day. Hopefully it is a minor respiratory infection that goes away on it's own. It has been wonderful having him and his mom around but I know they are ready to go home. Sleeping in the hospital - as lots of you know- is next to impossible. When Ken found out he was staying another night he put a sign on the outside of his door that says "No checking vitals past 10pm" so that they would leave him alone. It cracked me up to see it. Even in his misery the past few days he has managed to make me laugh everyday.

Bruce cannot leave his floor because of infection risks. You have to get fully geared up in mask, gown and gloves to be in his room. No children are allowed on this floor so even if our boys were in town they couldn't come in the room. Ken's uncle and some of our friends came to visit today. At first Bruce thought he couldn't handle visitors but he felt better as the day went on and it turned out to be good for him to talk with them.

No one can guess how long he will be staying. The Dr. just said they have to monitor the kidney function daily. Even if he stays longer than normal, I know that he looks significantly healthier. That is a really good sign to me.