My sister, Kathleen, finally receiving her kidney transplant after more than a year of waiting is something that I never want to forget. So while this may be boring to readers, I'm documenting it here for my own memory.
Kathleen and I (as her exchange donor) found out in November that our surgeries would take place on December 1st and December 6th, respectively. There was lots of discussion about preparing for the surgeries and making sure she had enough support at home and help with her two children, Conrad and Elke. We also discussed how our surgeries might affect our celebration of the holidays this year.
I requested December 1st off as a PNL (Personal Necessity Leave) day so that I could pick up her children from school. She decided she would rather have me do that then be at UCLA Hospital with her during her surgery. Her husband accompanied her to the hospital and I spent the morning running some errands of my own. After picking up her little ones from school (second grade and kindergarten), I took them to 7-11 to get Slurpees and they chose a candy bar treat. I wanted to keep their little minds busy as she had told me they were very concerned about her hospital stay. She's a SAHM so they really are not used to being separated from her. I took them to my city's public library, newly remodeled, since they'd never been there. They enjoyed playing on the computers with the children's programs and looking at the books. We went outside in the new children's reading garden. Afterwards, we went to my home to work on homework. They had previously requested I make them Lazy Lasagna for dinner so Joe and Matthew helped with homework while I cooked.
Kathleen's surgery was scheduled for about 3:30 p.m. I asked her husband, Steve, to text me once she was in surgery. We knew her new kidney was coming from a 47 year old man in Texas. About 6:30 I received a text from him that the surgery was delayed but they didn't know why. Kathleen had a migraine by this point and was very anxious. At 8:30 I received a text that the surgery had began and the delay was due to the "kidney being stuck in traffic on the 405 freeway" en route from LAX airport. Can you imagine???!!!! I called her best friend, Mabel, with the update, as well as texting all the family and friends she wanted me to keep updated. It being so late, we agreed to keep the children overnight so Steve could stay at the hospital with Kathleen. They were worried but I prayed with them and got them to sleep. Exhausted myself, I text Steve to text me when she was out of surgery and went to sleep. Around 12:30 a.m. on December 2nd the text arrived that Kathleen was in recovery and her new kidney had started working before the surgeon was even done suturing her up.
All of the above is due to the goodness of God. There were countless prayers said for Kathleen, as well as the surgeons, doctors, and nurses who were part of the process. We are very grateful for the Texan man who donated his kidney to her. The doctor said it was a great kidney! While she did have to endure about four months of PD dialysis at home each day, she avoided going to a dialysis center for blood dialysis. God is good!
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