The Emory Experience

Going home!

A few days have passed since the surgery and I believe I'm at a good point to share the experience at Emory. Let me start with saying that they took very good care of me and my friends who were there with me.

Q: Why donate a kidney while you are alive when you can do it in death instead?
A: There's a much higher success rate in transplants with living donors. To get word that the kidney began functioning almost immediately in the recipient was such a blessing to hear. Plus there's no guarantee that one's organs will be useable after a fatal accident.

My buddy Matt B stayed over so he could drive me down to Emory Tuesday morning for the 5:30AM appointment. I had no clue what to expect. I'm so glad that he was there with me though. It's much easier to stay grounded when you have another person with you. At 5:30 the cattle-call started. They took a group of us back to pre-op and it rolled on very efficiently and quickly from there. Matt did a great job of keeping my anxiety levels low and my laughter high. He traded off with Cindy who did an excellent job of continuing that pattern.
Due to a technical problem with an IV in my hand, I didn't start the sedation process until I got into the OR. Yeah, not too good. But I tell ya, the tech was on his A game. I went from thinking about my last hike up in TN last weekend to waking up in what I thought was a scene from The Walking Dead. I wake up every morning at home alone, but waking up alone in a room with other people around you waking up as well was a bit much to bear. And feeling groggy with very little control of ones body didn't make for much for festive moment.

From there I was moved into another room with Cindy and Matt while we waited for a room in the transplant unit. They are such troopers! They along with everyone who visited, texted, and called made this fly by so quickly. I'm forever grateful for everyone in my life!

The time in the transplant unit was amazing to say the least. My daytime nurse, Allison, is a donor as well. She went through the process last January of 2012. Seeing her back at her job with so much dedication and passion assured me that I was gonna be alright. Allison also offered me a lot of insight and advice and encouragement. And the opportunities to share with others in the hospital as to what led me to do this was great as well.

Listening to what the doctors and nurses tell you to do pays off. I was figuring that I would be out of there on Friday, but considering that I'm typing this at home, things changed. They had it in their minds on Wednesday night to probably let me go on Thursday afternoon. There was one obstacle in my way. Lack of flatulence. Yes, what every 12 year old boy takes for granted was distending my belly and hurting like heck. And the only way to help with that was to walk around. And walk around I did. I finally found a sleeping position that helped that night with the moving of the gases. Seems like the fetal position isn't just good for curling up into after a crazy day of work, it's also good for working out flatulence. When I told one of the nurses about this she was surprised to say the least. But hey, if it worked then keep it up. And yeah, you can't fake not farting. These ladies know their stuff. Next hurdle? A good old fashioned BM, but they are letting me work on that here at home. Hopefully today will be the day that I drop the kids off at the pool.

Thursday morning I got the word that I was going to be discharged and I quickly arranged a ride to come and get me after lunch. I made a few more laps around the unit and packed up and waited. And yes, that's when time slowed down to a crawl. But isn't that usually how it is? Nurse Allison came in around 12:30 and proceeded to process me out the door! I decided to walk instead of taking a wheel chair to the car, in hindsight that might have not been the best idea, but it made it faster getting out I think.

Balloons and wonderful neighbors were at home to greet me when I arrived. The food has already begun to pour in as well. I'm going to gain so much weight in the next few weeks! Sometimes we single folk wonder if we are really loved. I have no doubt that we are. I'm truly blessed by all who are around me and even blessed by those who aren't able to visit. Just knowing that everyone is there is satisfying enough.

Now I have to relax into the chill and heal phase. I can do most things except for heavy lifting and driving for two weeks. Then I go back down for a checkup and hopefully I will be released to desk duty at work. This waiting is going to be the hard part for me I think. Yeah, there's some crazy pain in my abs, but all this great weather is killing me!


A lot has been left out in this entry because so much has happened this week, but hopefully the message in my medicated mind is coherent to everyone. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of this. In our own very special way, we have all helped to save another person's life and enrich it as well.


Q: Would you recommend living organ donation after this experience?
A: Yes! But do your research and ask lots of questions. Its not for everyone for many reasons and there are so many other ways in we have the ability to enrich the lives of others around us.