Welcome Home!!
Yesterday was Tanner's 8th birthday. We started out our day by opening gifts (his favorite one pictured below) and I went on his field trip with him. Such a beautiful day for a trip to the zoo. Doug's mom was able to be with him at the hospital while I was away. He did great on the liquid diet so they gave him a solid diet for lunch and if he tolerated it he could be discharged!! I called him after the field trip and to my surprise he was packing up to come home. I ran a few quick errands and made it home in time to grab the kids off the bus and keep them occupied outside for his arrival. As soon as he stepped out of the car I think the whole street could hear Claire screaming. The kids greeted him with careful hugs and then Tanner said to me 'This is the best birthday gift ever!' We got Doug inside and I ran to the pharmacy to get a few more scripts filled for him while his mom stayed with him and the kids. Once settled we left Doug, he insisted, and took Tanner to dinner for his birthday. We had a big group for dinner and Mr. Dan felt good enough to come as well!! As I arrived home and put the kids to bed reality set in as I had to prepare Doug's evening medicines. I had all of these pill bottles sitting in front of me and I was working off a chart the hospital gave me. Overwhelmed became the word of my evening!!! I sat there counting all the pills out making sure I didn't mess anything up and I'm happy to say we survived dose one of meds at home! Whew... Doug was a little apprehensive on how the night would go to say the least but we made it through our first night. He was up several times, needed pain medicine in the middle of the night and lots of ice chips. What is mostly bothering him at this point are the continuous hiccups, believe it or not. When he is not sleeping he has the hiccups...all day long! They don't cause him pain. It's just an annoyance for him. Hopefully they will not last to much longer for his sake!!! The kids just left for school this morning so I am sitting down preparing his 9am medicines. Once again counting and counting to make sure I don't mess it up. Doug is on numerous medicines at this point. Several of them being his anti-rejection medicines that will be taken for the rest of his life. The medicines need to be given on a 12 hour schedule currently at 9am and 9pm. A home health nurse will come to our house twice a week for draw blood work to make sure that his levels continue to be within therapeutic range and to check his incision as well as provide some physical therapy. Our post-transplant coordinator, Andrea will keep us informed on the labs and will alert us if any dosage adjustments need to be made. There is so much to take in and learn but in time we will find a 'new normal'. We have been encouraged, once Doug feels up to it to get out and start doing things again. I promised not to let him live in a bubble, although I would prefer it due to all the germs out in the world. Our first topic which we are still debating is the Cardinals opening day game. I instantly said 'NO' but the coordinator said if he feels up to it there is no reason he couldn't go. I quickly responded 'What about the 40,000 other people who will be there?' So this outing is now one of Doug's goals. He has not missed opening day in the new stadium since it opened so I may have to push him in a wheelchair but if he can go I will get him there. If there's a will there's a way! Dan had a good day yesterday after overdoing it a little the day before but all in all he continues to heal and do well. He said he is having a few weird sensations in his abdomen as there is now an open space where there wasn't one before. We can only assume that the other organs are trying to settle into the space. He has a post-op visit with the surgeon on April 8th so I'm sure this phenomenon will be explained. I will continue to update on our journey as we settle into a routine. Please know we appreciate your continued thoughts, prayers, phone calls, texts, emails and meals being delivered. We are blessed to have wonderful family and friends who have been so supportive. A huge thank you to Becky, Doug's mother who was with him yesterday and for bringing him home. I appreciate you giving me the time to spend with Tanner on the field trip and his birthday! Last but not least, Doug and I appreciate the guidance that his mom and Sarah (Doug's sister) have provided as they know first hand the reality of kidney transplants! *Clearly spellcheck doesn't work on this blog format so I apologize for the misspelled words and grammatical errors in the blogs prior! Believe or not I proof read the entries but a few always slip by me. Have a wonderful day!!!
