GOOD NEWS...and a SETBACK

GOOD NEWS from Barnes-Jewish! Technically, Dan is medically ready to leave the hospital today (YAY) but he still is a little nauseated and has a lack of appetite so he possibly will be staying another night. He is having incision pain which is to be expected and he is also still having a little nausea but all in all he is doing good. I think he will decide after dinner if he is going to bust out of this place. We have told Dan thank you over and over even though it doesn't seem like enough. All he is says in return is 'I don't need a thank you. That's not what this is about.' Dan, what you have done in giving Doug the 'gift of live' is nothing short of beautiful, amazing and the most selfless act a person can do! We considered you family before but now you are really apart of our family. WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!! SETBACK Yesterday Doug started complaining about additional pain. Yes, the surgery in general was painful but he kept saying this pain was different. I won't go into all the details but long story short whenever an abdominal surgery occurs the intestines are affected to an extent. During a transplant procedure the intestines are actually manipulated so the new kidney can be placed. This can cause a host of issues one of them being 'sleepy' intestines. Needless to say Doug's intestines have not woken up yet causing him intense pain and nausea. He was very restless throughout last night saying he could never get comfortable due to the pain. This morning they gave him some medicine to see if that would jump start things but not much happened. They brought in an X-Ray machine to get a good view of his abdomen and what the doctors thought was happening was true. His intestines were dilated and 'sleeping'. He was getting sick and unfortunately did not hold down his morning medicines which are critical at this time. The doctors came in and discussed the need for an NG tube. For those of you saying 'What is an NG tube?' It's a tube that is placed through the nose, down the throat and into the stomach. Eventually this will relieve the air that is backed up in his intestines/stomach as well as the nausea but it will take time for it to take effect. I stepped out of the room to take a quick phone call and by the time I got back they were already inserting the tube into Doug. This procedure is not pleasant and neither is having the tube in place for 24-48 hours. For the first time through this whole experience I watched Doug break down. He said 'This is what my Dad had and he didn't do well! I don't want this! I don't want to do this anymore! I can't breath! I can't swallow!' As a wife watching your spouse go through something like this is torture! I just want to take this all away from him but I can't. The transplant team made their afternoon rounds and when the surgeon examined Doug he was concerned and it showed. He voiced concern of a possible intestinal issue and therefore Doug will be heading for a CT shortly to get a better look. What he did say was that he is not concerned about the kidney as it is working good. The creatinine today is .9, which is AMAZING!!!!!! Although there are other not so pleasant issues we are dealing with at the moment Ido my best to try to remind Doug that there is a bigger picture and that the kidney is working fantastically!!! This is a bump in the road and it's only day three after surgery. As my beloved dear late Aunt Mimi used to say...This too shall pass! I will update later this evening as we learn more from the CT scans. Sent from my iPhone