New Kidney: Day 1

It was a whirlwind of a day.  We arrived at the hospital at 11:30.  Wes had a chest X-ray, EKG & 9 vials of blood drawn.  Wes and I met with the transplant surgeon.  He explained procedures and informed us that a kidney when taken from a cadaver sometimes is more “lazy” and can take a few days to start fully functioning.  He explained that this is because when the person expires there is a period of time where the kidney is no longer getting oxygen and blood flow and as soon as possible they need to extract the kidney and prepare it for transplant.  In this case, it was a total of 26 min which is very reasonable. They do not like to use kidneys that have expired over 60 min.

By 1:35 the surgeon had signed off on Wes’ chart and he was ready to go to the operating waiting room.  Once there it was more routine questions and paper work.  He met his anesthesiologist who informed him he will be there when he put him to sleep, throughout the surgery and when he woke up.  Wes remained in this room for about an hour then off to surgery.  This is where I left him and the waiting began.

At 4:45pm I got a call from the OR informing me that surgery had begun and Wes was doing well. A little after 6:00pm I received the second call letting me know that kidney was in place and Wes was still doing well.  At 9:00pm I received the final call saying that the surgery was over, Wes was doing well and Dr. Ramirez was coming up to give me the report.  About 20 minutes later I spoke with the doctor.

Dr Ramirez said that the surgery went well.  When he placed the kidney into Wes it was very pink.  He transplanted the kidney into Wes’ body and at one point when he looked at it he said it looked like it was changing color. He was very concerned that Wes’ body was rejecting the kidney and that the vessels were closing off.  At this point the kidney had not been doing anything.  Over a period of 30 min He warmed it up a little more and gave it an injection.  Immediately the kidney turned pink, started to produce urine and show signs of function.  Dr. Ramirez was very much relieved but kept an eye on it for a while longer before closing him up.

10:30pm Wes was taken to his room for the night.  He struggled for the next few hours with pain.  They gave him morphine but it wasn’t taking the edge off.  Over the next 3 hours they gave him higher and more frequent doses but still much pain. Around at 2:30am they gave him Dilaudid which finally gave him relief and he was able to fall asleep.

Nurses came in every hour to empty his urine and continue his pain medicine. This morning at 7:00am they did an ultrasound.  The blood flow to and from the kidney looks really good.  Over the next few days they will watch him very carefully and do their best to prevent any unexpected reactions like last time.

10:00am Dr. Ramirez stopped in with his team to check up on Wes and give him the report he gave me last night.  They are very pleased with the outcome so far and they will be starting him on Cumadin to help prevent the blood from clotting in the kidney like last time.   They are uncertain of how long he will be on Cumadin but at least till the 3 month check up, where they will evaluate him and see if the kidney is strong enough and can continue without it.

Wes is currently on a liquid diet and if his body can handle it they may be switching him to solids by this afternoon. For now he is resting. Later, Physical Therapy will be stopping by and wanting him to walk down the halls and sit in the chair in his room.

Any comments and notes of encouragement you write on the blog, I will be sure to read to Wes.  Thank you for all your prayers.

Karen