An Amazing Day

Tuesday September 14th, 2010 will be a day I remember for the rest of my life.

It started at 4:00am when my alarm went off on my phone. The funny thing is I had actually put "kidney transplant" in my calendar on my iPhone and set an alarm to go off to remind me. I don't know what I was thinking when I put that in??? Like I needed a reminder. So I went back to sleep until 4:30am, when my actual alarm went off. In for a quick shower with special soap to really clean my skin.

My brother Jim wins the award for first contact. I got out of the shower to a text message letting me know he was praying already at 4:45am.

To the hospital. As I walked in, I met my donor and his wife walking in at the same time. We were both excited.

I checked in to the ICU, which is where I would be coming to after the surgery. Room 17, with a great view of Torrey Pines golf course and the ocean in the background. Scripps green has probably the best view from a hospital bed in the world.

After signing papers, changing into my back-less gown, and getting an IV. It was time....to wait. My wife Sarah was with me, which was great, along with my dad, aunt, and a friend Mary. We talked and the time went pretty quick.

My first dose of pills and injections. There were lots of them. A small price to pay. I was very used to taking lots of pills, but the injections I received in my stomach were a first. It amazingly didn't hurt, not as I had expected.

Of the 2 hours of sleep I managed to get the night before, all I dreamed about was the surgery being stopped or postponed. So I fell asleep in the hospital bed and replaced those dreams with much more positive ones.

The doctors and nurses steadily came in and introduced themselves. I was glad to meet them. They had originally told me I would be going down to the OR (Operating Room) at 7:30am, but that turned out to be the time for my donor to go down to the OR. I would go down to surgery an hour later.

It was time. I remember being very excited when the nurse came and wheeled me to the elevator. The anesthesiologist was walking and pushing me too. I noticed that when we got in the elevator he forgot to push the button to the first floor. So the 3 of us just sat in the elevator for awhile. Until the nurse realized we weren't going down, she pushed the button.

I was wheeled down to the surgery floor sporting a silver surgery hat on my head, it was like a filled Jiffy Pop, round and puffy. Everyone else had hats that were way cooler than mine. Camouflage, chargers bolts, duck patterns, stripes...but mine was chrome dome.

This is where things went fast. After going into the prep room, where I was given a "cocktail," which was really some injection to make me relax and start the anesthetizing process. The cocktail also made it so I didn't mind being shaved and washed with extra soap.

I was wheeled into the OR. And remember seeing the hallway that led to the other Operating Room where my donor was already in process. I wanted to call out his name and say something like "here we go," but I did not. In other operations and procedures I remember someone saying "you ready Mike?" or "here we go." But this time nothing. I was out like a light.

I woke up and remember trying my hardest to focus on the clock to see what time it was. How long had it been. I couldn't get my eyes to cooperate. I might have been cross eyed because there were two clocks, but even if I could get one clock, I still couldn't even make out numbers or hands on the clock. Later I figured out it was about 1:30pm.

Had it happened!? Yes!!!

I could feel soreness on my stomach. It felt like I had been doing 5,000 sit-ups all morning. My stomach was sore, but I was still very groggy. There was one more procedure for me to do, which involved inserting an IV into my neck. It actually went into the jugular artery and then went down close to my heart. This was necessary to give me certain injections that would immediately be passed throughout my body.

Then I was back out again. The next thing I remember was my wife Sarah walking in the room. It was about 3:30pm. I have no recollection of our conversation, but her sitting in the room with me was comforting and felt good.

When I woke up, I only could think of one thing, "is the new kidney working?" Well, the best way to tell is if I am producing urine. I know this is not the most pleasant of topics to talk about, but it is how you measure the production of the kidney. Well before the surgery I only produced about 150 mL per day. That translates into about 5 fluid ounces. After the surgery, on the first day alone, I was producing about 300mL per HOUR! Whoa! That is a lot of pee!

Every day after that I have been producing somewhere between 200mL - 300mL per hour and about 3,000mL per day. So yes, praise God the kidney works extremely well.