Give A Kidney & Part Of A Liver
• • • • •

This morning was my August check-up at Hartford Hospital. As always, there was more blood taken along with the usual poking and prodding. All appeared fine…then I got a call later in the day from the hospital. They were concerned about the creatinine levels in my kidney which should improve by drinking more water. So, all that is needed is to just keep drinking.

Everything else physically is fine and I am continuing to feel better every day.

I’m sorry there isn’t much more to write about right now. I am playing golf, but only nine holes. I actually started playing again a week or two after I left the hospital…don’t tell anyone.

Bye the way, Eileen’s kidney is doing better in her than my existing one is in me. I guess mine just misses is left partner. I told it to get used to it…it’s not coming back!

People who haven’t seen me in a couple of weeks keep saying: “God, you look so much better than last time I saw you!” Just how bad did I look? But when a woman now asks: “How do you feel?” I just open my arms and respond: “Feel for yourself!”

It was eight weeks ago today when I gave Eileen my kidney. I realized today that, besides the tiredness from the anesthesia, I feel like nothing happened to me at all. Really, I have no pain or discomfort whatsoever.

I am enjoying the weight loss though. I’m still hanging around 180 – 183 lbs. I used to model in the eighties and nineties and was encouraged this past March to pursue it again. This weight, for me, is a good modeling weight. I had a shoot this morning and have one this weekend. I’m looking forward to putting together another composite sheet and start marketing myself again. This should be fun. The one thing modeling has prepared me for, is how to take rejection. It doesn’t get much more personal than that, ‘rejected because you don’t look good enough’.

Eileen & Jim stopped by today to refill my oatmeal chocolate chip prescription. They also brought over birthday presents for me for last month. They also included some ‘Welcome To The Family’ items. THANK YOU!!!

Jim told me that today is Eileen birthday and asked if I could stop by this evening for some cake. By the time Kate got home, she was too tired to go with me so I went alone.

In attendance were other family members and neighbors. Everyone was so grateful for what I had done. I felt the attention was being taken away from Eileen.

Jim’s father, upon leaving, couldn’t thank me enough. He said they were very fond of Eileen since day ‘one’ and are very grateful to have her back. I told him it was my honor to be able to do this and if I could do it again, I would.

It is very nice to see a whole family alive and happy.

Today, Saturday, will be 11 days pain free and with no drugs! Everything is coming together, finally. I can eat and drink anything I want, but I’m trying to be sensible… most of the time.

Katie and I stopped by Jim and Eileen’s home Wednesday for about an hour or so. Jim’s mother made us a real Italian pizza and apple pie. The pizza was just too good and also too easy to eat so that didn’t last long. I just cut into the apple pie today and, of course, that’s very tasty also.

The medicinal oatmeal chocolate chip cookies worked their wonders, but the dosage did not last long enough. I wonder if there is a refill prescription available.

I saw some friends this weekend and they all said: “You look great!” I wonder how horrible I must have appeared earlier for them to have that reaction.

Well, I’m going to try to make entries every week or two, but it’s getting hard to be creative and not boring.

So if you don’t hear from me for a little time just remember: “Every now and then I know it’s kind of hard to tell… but I’m still alive and well!”

Tuesday was a bad day & evening but since then, every other day has been fine. The swelling around the incision is going down and I can feel a very slight discomfort around it, as the healing process continues. I can really feel the energy drain if I don’t get a nap in.

Eileen and Jim stopped by today with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Of course they are very healthy and will aid in my recovery. After much experimentation, I have discovered that microwaving a single cookie for 17 seconds (not 16 and not 18) is perfect for texture and taste. In my research, I am also finding that 2-3 doses of this medicinal delight, spread out though the day, is the correct dosage.

Jim and Eileen stayed a couple of hours and we just talked while sitting by the pool. I’m glad I have that area since the house is in such disarray that there is literally no place, besides the kitchen table, for people to sit and talk. And even that is a small area. I am looking forward to having more energy so I can straighten this place out.

Jim is a locksmith in Cromwell so it was nice of him to repair a broken door lock I had.

Eileen appears to have more energy than I, and I hope it continues for her.

They are a neat couple and I enjoy seeing people who really like being with each other.

This morning, I had a follow-up visit with the transplant office. I was sitting there just reading the paper when I heard in two different voices at two different times, “Harry” “Harry?”. The first voice was the nurse calling me in from the waiting room. But the second voice, I knew I recognized it but just couldn’t think quick enough to figure out who it was,

Yes, it was Eileen. She was coming out of her appointment and I was going into mine. It was great, we hugged and she looked so happy. I am so glad she is doing well. She went off, and I went in.

My exam was nothing exciting, just a few more pokes and prods. When I went to get blood drawn, the people there were saying there was a lady who just left, saying “I just met my donor! I just met my donor!”. It wasn’t long before the figured out it was me.

After I returned home, I call Eileen to make sure she was ok after our brief meeting. She was happy we finally met and we’ll all try to get together soon.

Well, so far I’ve managed to stay home two whole weeks!

Not much changed over the past week. I’m still home, and each day is like a rollercoaster. Some days are just great and some are just alright. But last night… ?! Friday afternoon and night were tough. I couldn’t do anything except lay there and try to control the pain with breathing. I think the pain was more intestinal than incisional. I do get slight incisional discomfort, but no real pain to speak of. I don’t think the pain pills I’m not taking would even help with intestinal pain. That just had to work its way through. I woke up this morning, Saturday, feeling pretty good considering I didn’t get much sleep.

I talked to Eileen this week also, and she appears to be progressing right along.

Well, so far I’ve managed to stay home a whole week!

Thursday, June 27th, was a follow-up visit to the surgeon’s office where they took out the sutures. I was also examined, weighed and measured as if I was going to be mounted on a wall somewhere. I still have to stay out of the pool for extended times. I can just jump in to cool off, but have to get out after a minute or so. There is still very little pain and some discomfort. I am often very tired, but really don’t nap for more the 15 – 20 minutes. I’m told by the surgeon that my body if focusing most of the energy on healing the incision and mending my muscles back together. I can expect to feel tired often for a couple of months.

I am planning on using this first week of July to rest and get caught up on little things around here. But the following week, I need to get working again. Many people are thinking: “Don’t bother him, let him rest”. I am fine! I really don’t need to lift heavy objects or do anything strenuous. Most of my work is mental and very little physical. So, I need to work and I will rest when I am tired. I am fine!

I did go out a few times this week to some small events or just out. It was better to sit out with other people than to just sit around here. Plus, it’s good to move around. I do need to take in more liquids than I have been. I can tell in the morning when I wake up with a headache, which I never used to get, that I am dehydrated and try to drink as much water possible.

For those who didn’t know, I started this journey weighing in at just over 200 lbs. and am now down to 175. That’s a hell of a weight loss program. I do have an appetite and want to eat, but I also know that I must go slowly. The couple of times I either ate too much or too late, I then had a terrible night trying to sleep. I’m beginning to feel like a much older person, ‘Where’s the early bird special?’

At a Chamber event this week, a lady there said: “You better get yourself back in bed.” Of course, my response was: “I love it when you say that to me.”

I don’t know what’s going on. Just let me sleep!

After a few sleepless nights and one painful one, I call the transplant office (Friday, June 15) and they told me to come right in. After a few more pokes & prods, and x-rays, I was admitted right then back to Hartford Hospital. I changed into the hospital uniform of the day and just let them do to me what they wanted. I was severely dehydrated, so it took a few tries to start an I.V. line. Next, a tube was inserted though my nose and down to my stomach. I this point, I didn’t care what was being done to me. I really remember only a few things. I do remember having to drink a large amount of contrast liquid for a cat-scan. The cat-scan couldn’t happen before 11 PM, but right after that, back in my room, they started pumping my stomach. A few minutes later the doctor told me they need to get me into the O.R. ‘Right Now!’ I just remember the ‘scared’ look everyone had in their eyes. As I was being rushed along, someone asked me if they should call anyone. It was already midnight and I really didn’t want anyone awakened, plus my daughter was the one who brought me in, so she knew I was admitted. I just reinstated that there is living will there and if anything happens, they better harvest every organ possible.

Once again I woke to more abdominal pain. Here we go again, only this was a much larger incision. The hospital is really not the place to get rest. Every few hours they wake you for ‘vitals’. Again, I really don’t remember much of the first few days. I was staying on North 11 this time and that is the transplant wing. I did encounter people whom attended to the recipient, Eileen, when she was there the week earlier. They all perked up whenever they spoke of her and just how happy and energetic she was. Again, it was very good to here just what a big deal this was and continues to be. Not just for her or me, but to countless others that are touched directly or indirectly by all this. I am still blown away by this. I still look at it as a relatively small inconvenience for me. In a few short months I will be back, and that time is a drop in the bucket compared to the years of a better life for Eileen.

I broke out of HH around 8 PM Friday, the 22th and am holding up at my place for now. I am so looking forward to real rest and jetting back to doing what I do. Someday I’ll figure that one out!

By Ted

The escape was last night at around 8 PM.

The goal now is to lay by the pool and catch up on some rest.

So now, and hopefully for the last time, I turn the site back over to Harry. I’m sure there will be some interesting new posts coming soon.