Justin & Dailey - Morning after surgery in CCU (Dailey was 9 weeks old)
Justin & Dailey - 3 days after surgery
Justin & Dailey - 7 days after surgeryYesterday we celebrated the one year anniversary of Justin & Kelly's kidney transplant!! I can't believe it has already been a year...and it has been such an amazing year. When we were going to bed the night before last, we layed there talking about where we were a year ago & everything that has taken place since then. It made me so happy inside when Justin said that he can't believe how much better he feels now than a year ago. A kidney transplant is something I hope none of you ever have to experience, but if you do just know it's an awesome experience in life! It has brought so many good things to our lives. Most of all, Dailey now has a daddy that is healthy & happy. Thank you to everyone for all of your thoughts, prayers, hugs, phone calls, cards, and everything else that you have done for us this last year!
I kept a journal through Justin's transplant & recovery that I thought I would share with all of you. Below is what I wrote the fews days after surgery...
Justin's transplant update - Thursday January 11
I want to let everyone know that Justin & Kelly are doing great!! There were a few small bumps in the road but it looks like they are on the road to recovery...
Here is a recap of our last few days:
Monday - Pre-Op day for Justin & Kelly so we were at the hospital at 9:30. We met with the doctors, surgeons & the rest of the transplant team. They did the final lab work & got the go ahead for transplant.
Tuesday - We got to the hospital at 6:30 for Kelly's surgery check-in & Justin's at 7:30. When Justin got called back there were lots of emotions & many tears. We were nervous for surgery but so excited that his life of bad health was coming to an end.
We got our first update at 9:30 that Kelly had gone to surgery & Justin was in Prep. At 10:20 Justin had gone to surgery & at 10:45 the kidney was out of Kelly, in Justin & producing urine!! About 1 hour later we got another update that Kelly was done with surgery & in recovery. We were able to see her in her room as soon as she got out of recovery, which was about another hour. At that point Justin was still in surgery getting his new kidney. He got done with surgery about 3 and went to recovery. The surgeon came out to report to us that surgery was done & Justin would be going to the Critical Care Unit because his blood pressure & oxygen levels weren't stable during surgery so they wanted to monitor him closely through the night. At that point he told us it would be a few more hours until we could see him in CCU as he was in recovery & still waking up from the anesthesia. It seemed like the next 2 ½ hours took days & days!! I just wanted to see him & see for myself that he was doing ok. We got paged about 5:30 that he was in his room in CCU & we could go see him – I couldn't get there fast enough!! When we got to the CCU floor we were told to use the phone at the entrance to call the nurses station & they would let us in. When I called they said it would be 30 more minutes & I was crushed! The only thing I wanted to go was go see him & let him see Dailey. She had been at the hospital for the last 2 days & had been so good. There was too much going on for her to sleep (she's kind of nosey!) so she had only napped for about 30 minutes but she was so happy & content as long as she could look at all the people around us. When they finally got to go see him it wasn't what I expected. When we saw Kelly in her room she was just laying in her bed with an IV & epidural. Justin had an oxygen mask, IV's and many, many tubes going in & out all over him. It was a very emotional time for all of us.
He was so happy to see Dailey. He was kind of out of it & having a hard time talking & moving his arms but he was able to touch her head, rub her tummy & hold her arm. She was SO happy to see him! She was smiling, cooing & holding onto his finger. It was really neat to see the connection that they have. From then on he was kind of in & out. He would open his eyes for a little bit at a time, then go back to sleep. When he was awake 1 time I asked if he wanted to hold Dailey. He didn't say anything, but his eyes lit up so I laid her on a pillow next to him. They just looked at each other & they both went to sleep. She hadn't slept all day, but as soon as she was in her daddy's arms she was out.
The rest of the night was very long. CCU isn't a place for anyone to get any rest. The nurses are in & out every 15-20 minutes checking on him. His oxygen levels weren't stable & his blood pressure was really low so alarms were constantly going off. Every time that either of us would dose off there would be an alarm or person waking us up.
Wednesday - His nephrologist (kidney doctor) came in and said that he would be moving to the 17th floor (transplant floor) by the end of the day because everything was going so great. It wasn't much longer and we were on our way out of CCU! They moved us to our new room on the 17th floor, we have a great view & it is so much quieter. We are both able to relax & rest now.
Thursday - Dr. Cryst (kidney doctor) came in & told us that Justin will be starting a liquid diet & Friday he will get normal food. Right now he is getting all of his medication through a central line in his neck but Friday he will get all of his medication by mouth except for 1 anti-rejection drug that he will get through his central line. His nurse last night has been a transplant nurse for 21 years & told us that she had never seen anyone taking pills on day 3 after transplant! The nurses can't believe how great he is doing!
Today (Thursday) he is getting his 2nd of 5 doses of the steroids/anti-rejection medications. It takes 4 hours to get his full dose. Their can be a few serious side effects so they are monitoring him very closely, coming in every 15 minutes to check his blood pressure & temperature. Before they started they gave him Tylenol & Benadryl for him to relax & hopefully sleep during the treatment. He is very relaxed, only opening his eyes for a second when the nurse comes in.
If everything continues on the track it's on now, we will be out of the hospital & in the hotel on Saturday. We are planning on staying in the hotel here in Seattle for 2 weeks after her gets out of the hospital but Dr. Cryst said that possibly we will only be here for a week after that. We don't want to get our hopes up & will stay here as long as needed for Justin to be healthy.
My sister & Travis have been 2 of the best support people through all of this. They have been here every step of the way for all of us! They came over on Monday night so they could help with Dailey on Tuesday during surgery. They stayed with us at the hospital all day on Tuesday & kept Dailey at the hotel on Tuesday night so I could stay with Justin at the hospital. Wednesday they brought her over in the morning & stayed until about 1 then they went home for the night. This afternoon (Thursday) they are picking up Kaitlyn & Grant (Kelly's kids) to bring them over to see her. They will stay for a little while then take Dailey back to Ellensburg for the night. Kaitlyn & Grant will stay at the hotel with Kelly & Justin's parents & go to the zoo tomorrow then home when Kelly gets to leave. Tomorrow after work Sis & Travis will come back over with Dailey for the weekend. I couldn't ask for anymore help from them because they are doing it all!! It's so nice to have Dailey with them because I don't have to worry about her at all. She is getting everything she needs & I am able to be here for Justin.
