Today was a good day. Karen and I spent the day at Jefferson. We met with my surgeon, a transplant social worker (about finances) and the head nephrologist. We learned a lot about the procedure. I told my surgeon that I was planning to have live Twitter updates and he laughed and wished me well with my agenda. He even offered the help I needed make it happen…stay tuned…
Here’s some quick facts:
– Can’t drive for 6 weeks after transplant
– No special diet afterward
– Will need to be back at hospital every Monday and Friday morning for weeks afterward
– I requested no Prednisone (steroid I was on last time, yuck!) and the surgeon smiled and said “Request denied.”
– The actual surgery is about 2.5 hours, but will span about 6 hours.
– My request for small liposuction on my “anemia made stomach” was denied as well (with laughter).
– I signed a waiver saying I understand “Mortality” is among the possible complications. I laughed because “Pain” was on the list as well. I think I was signing a release for life in general…
The interesting thing is the time line we were given. We are trying to see what life on the other side of the transplant looks like, especially in relation to time off work and so on. Here’s what we were told:
Surgeon: You will be in the hospital 3-4 days maximum, assuming things go as planned. The surgery is on a Tuesday, you can expect to be home by Thursday or Friday.
Head Nephrologist: You will be in the hospital 5-7 days if things go as planned, the longer if it is a weekend. Since your surgery is on a Tuesday, you will likely be released on Monday.
So let’s have some fun. Comment below with your answer. Guess when I will be released and we will see who is the closest! Help us make kidney transplants fun for everyone!
OK, for the survey…The day you’ll come home is when God is ready for you to come home… How ’bout them apples?
Peter – Don’t know who you are – – – but, define “come home” from God’s point of view = =
I’m going with the nephrologist, I’ll call it as Monday, 10:43 AM.
I’ll say Friday – but you can’t preach anywhere that week-end. heh heh.
And no snow-mobiling, either. Then again, if there’s snow why not another miracle.
Love ya much Wes. You brothers, my nephews, are sooooo cool and I love to see how the Lord uses you!! Keep letting Him.
You will come home on Friday before noon.
You’ll come home when they say so! LOL Then that doctor will leave the hospital floor without writing that day/time on your chart. Then you’ll be all packed up and they’ll say your admiting physician forget to sign off and he went home for the weekend. Then they’ll tell you everything is set for Monday morning. Then they’ll finally get escort to take you down to your car after the lunch they didn’t order for you because you were’nt supposed to be there by lunchtime. So, Monday around 1 PM could work or maybe they’ll delay you enough to catch rush hour out of Philly on Monday.
I am going with Thursday afternoon. I am pretty sure they don’t realize what a re-energized Wes will actually look like…
Saturday
Also, I was told:
– I’d be in the hospital 3-4 days if things went well (and you’d be in 4-5 days)
– I’d be tired for a month, but would most likely be able to return to most of my work duties in 2-3 weeks
– No driving trucks for at least a month (I guess i’ll have to stick to listening to weird al’s “truck diver song” instead of actually applying for my cdl anytime soon)
– No change in diet (i was told i should eat healthy, like normal, to which i responded: “I’m not sure i know what healthy eating means!”)
– I should give up kickboxing and full contact football, but can still go bungee jumping and base jumping
– There’s a 0% chance of my waking up in the middle of the surgery (or being awake upon arrival since we’re supposed to be there @ 5:15am)
– Whether I’d like to or not, I would not be able to donate a kidney again
2 Weeks!
I vote for Saturday. After the surgeons estimate but before the head nephrologists.
I would have asked for lipo too! 🙂
Goin’ with Saturday ’cause my wife is always* right.
* By always, I mean almost always**
** By almost always, I mean usually***
***By usually, I mean she’s right except when she’s wrong…which is rarely****
****By rarely, I mean…oh, never mind!
I’d say Friday evening after dinner.
I think 24 hours should be enought time for you. This 5-7 days is tooooooo long for us to be without you!
I’d normally say we should go with the nephrologist, but several people have brought up a few good arguments…God has a plan and He has allowed Wes to defy the odds already.
But for fun, I’m thinking Sunday would be a great day to be released and it does happen, not a lot.
About 4:30pm because of all the things Tom said, which is about the way hospital releases go especially the whole lunch thing – can’t remember how many times that has happened to me!
Either way, we’ll be glad to hear whenever it is you leave the hospital because that means you will be doing well.
Love you so much!
Ha, ha about lunch. So true. Make sure you order lunch for the day you are released even if they try to say you will be out by 10am!
I say that you’ll be released on Friday afternoon, just in time to get stuck in rush hour traffic. You’ll look around outside the car and not care that it is taking so long, because you’ll be thankful just to be out of the hospital!!!
Knowing you, whatever they tell you you will not do anyway, so if they say 4-5 days, you’ll be ready in 2-3. If they tell you that you can go back to work in 3-4 weeks, you will be back in 2.
To make it official, my guess would be…
THURSDAY EVENING
you will be begging to go home, and I bet you will get your wish!
My thought is that you will be bouncing off the walls by the day after your surgery but that will be only in your mind….LOL!
My guess is Sunday afternoon. Hopefully after you have been fed your last lunch at the hospital!!
This is kinda fun. Well praying for you and Steve!!
Knowing you Wes, I will say Saturday. I can see you ready to jump out of bed with energy before they are finished ziping you up. Just remember to take it easy. Love you!