Thank you to the courageous soldiers who have paid the ultimate price to keep the United States of America free. I also want to say thank you to the brave men and women of our armed forces who put their lives on the line each and every day to keep the rest of us safe. Happy Memorial Day!  May God bless the United States of America!

This was taken in the early evening of a warm summer night in September 2016 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.  It is looking east towards the Washington Monument from near the John F. Kennedy burial site.

I Got to Come Home from the Hospital!

Image courtesy of NKF

Five days after my kidney transplant surgery I was discharged by the transplant team to come home.  The doctors said I was making good progress and there was no reason to stay at Barnes Jewish Hospital any longer since a minor issue with bleeding was now under control.

I had been bleeding from near one of 14 staples that were used to close the incision site.  For a few nights I had bled heavily onto my hospital gown and the mattress pad on my bed.  I finally got the attention of a resident and nurse practitioner, who like two other doctors, said "we're not worried about it.  After he looked at a layer of blood on my abdomen beneath an abdominal pad, that looked like clotted barbecue sauce, he said "Oh".  Once he knew I was right about the bleeding he made a change to stop it. My fear was I would go home and then bleed on the mattress and sheets and ruin my clothes.  The bleeding was controlled by packing gauze into the hole near where the staple had been located.

I was anxious to get out of the hospital on the Thursday after the four hour surgery.  But, first I had to have a blood transfusion. The doctors reason was my red cell count was low and they wanted to "top off my tank" before I left.  My thought was I bled so much they wanted to "top off my tank" before I left.  The transfusion took two hours and then labs were drawn by a new tech apparently learning on the job which took longer than anticipated.  I finally was told I could leave at 2 p.m. but then I had to wait for meds from the pharmacy.  My ride had waited for over an hour while techs and pharmacists did their job.

One great thing on being wheeled out of the hospital to my driver's car was stopping at the nursing station where I was given a kidney bean and told to place it into a special jar.  When I did so, the nurses who were at the station charting and eating lunch, stood up and cheered my success.  I tried to tell them thank you for the outstanding care I had received, but my voice cracked up and I ended up with tears in my eyes.  They just cheered me on and wished me good luck.  I told the nurse pushing my wheel chair it was the steroids talking and not the real me.  She smiled and looked at me like "yeah, right".

I finally got home about 3:30 p.m. and immediately my sister and brother-in-law went to the grocery store, since the cupboard was bare.  My sister brought groceries and my brother by another mother, bought beer for himself and me.  I didn't have the heart to tell him I couldn't drink alcohol for 30 days.  But, when I finally told him, he said he would drink one more for me.

After dinner that night I posted an update on a social media site.
 

"UPDATE: At the risk of being repetitive, my blessings continue. This afternoon I was discharged from Barnes Jewish Hospital by the kidney transplant team. The doctors told me I was healing quickly and was strong enough to come home with help from my family. I am still in disbelief at how quickly this all happened. First to receive the kidney exactly when needed but now to be back in the comfort of my own home just five days after the surgery. " Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good". 

I have a very long road to recovery in front of me and I ask that you would keep me in your prayers that the bag full of medications I have been given to fight rejection, viruses, infection and fungi does the job. Likewise, I ask that God give me the strength to follow all of the restrictions in place to insure the safety of the new organ. It will be 90 days before I can be around large groups of people and a minimum of 30 days before I can drive. I also have a lot of medical appointments in the coming days. Thank you everyone for your prayers, concern, kind words and support since last weekend. It means more to me than you will ever know."

An Old Man Gets a New Kidney

Give the Gift of Life

I am 71 years old and received the greatest gift of my life a week ago Saturday. I became the recipient of a new kidney on May 11th.  I am overjoyed with my new life and give thanks to God for not only giving me a kidney but also a very strong one that has been functioning extremely well.  I posted the following article on social media two days after the fact.  Because it is so miraculous I ask that you please read the entire post.

"My family and many of my friends in the greater St. Louis area are aware of the story but for those elsewhere I received a phone call on Saturday morning that has changed my life forever.

If you don't know, I've been battling chronic kidney disease for the last 10 years. Over a year ago I was placed on the UNOS kidney transplant list and told to expect a three to five year wait unless a donor came forward. In the past year I had become fatigued, rundown and slept a lot. I was not in very good humor much of the time and was not having much fun.

Saturday morning at 2:45 a.m. I received a call from the kidney transplant team at Barnes-Jewish Hospital / The Doctors at Washington University, telling me they might have a kidney match for me but that I was the backup candidate. I was at the hospital a little after 3:30 a.m. and told I was still the backup, but the nursing staff immediately started testing me to make sure that I was in shape to receive the kidney and that the kidney was the great match they thought it was. And then I waited expecting to be sent home.

At 9:15 a.m. I was told I would receive the kidney and prepped for the procedure. It suddenly hit me, this is really going to happen. My mind was flooded with thoughts and emotions and by 9:50 a.m. I was on the operating table and a team of eight doctors, anesthetists and nurses were preparing for their work. Ten minutes later I was asleep.

I woke up a little after 2:00 p.m. in the recovery room and was told surgery was successful and the kidney had started producing before the team had even closed me up. I was sleepy and sore but very happy I had a new lease on life.

Since then I have met literally two dozen nurses, residents, therapists and aides who are looking out for me and taking care of me. To an individual they have all been kind and compassionate and caring people. I am grateful for what they are doing for me.

But, I am so much more thankful to God Almighty for giving me this wonderful gift. I have been so richly blessed more than I have ever deserved. I rejoice and give thanks to Him!

This is a great gift and I am thankful to the family of the individual who donated the kidney. I asked my doctors where the organ came from and was told that information is sealed for 6 months. At that time, I will attempt to reach out and let this family know how appreciative I am. While my family and I rejoice at this time, I know there is a family out there that is grieving a loss of its member. I don't know who they are but I pray for them.

I have a long way to go but with the supportof family and friends I know I have help and it encourages me to get better as quick as I can. I have been given a second chance at life. To paraphrase Lou Gehrig "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth!"

I was released from the hospital five days after I received the new organ. I will blog in a few days about the hospital stay, coming home and what is being done by the transplant team to support me and the kidney.