Happy Kidney Day!

More progress. More challenges. But the best news of all is that it appears that Becky’s new kidney decided to join the party! There was enough evidence of the kidney working overnight and throughout the day that today’s planned procedure to give Becky a more permanent port for dialysis was postponed and today’s scheduled dialysis session was cancelled. If there are no new setbacks there, Becky won’t need to do any more dialysis. Woo hoo!

The general trauma of the last couple months, the stress on her body, and all the new meds are combining to affect Becky’s mental state and mood as well. Some conversations seem fairly normal, and probably more so to people that don’t really know her. Other conversations are harder because either I’m struggling to understand what she’s asking for or because she doesn’t always have a full understanding of the situation. The medical team ensures us this is normal and will improve with time.

The main medical issue right now is to eliminate all possible sources of infection as the cause of Becky’s high white blood cell count. Her count has been hovering in the upper 30’s rather than the normal range of 4-11. It may just be her body’s reaction to the new organs but infection needs to be eliminated.

There were other signs of forward progress today. Becky was able to get out of bed and take a short walk before getting in the chair for most of the afternoon. Her appetite showed signs of starting to return and we ordered lunch from Chuy’s. Less direct signs of progress included the transplant team starting the process to get rehab approved by insurance, having an initial conversation with a pharmacy tech about all of the new transplant meds, and meeting with a nutritionist to talk about some of the foods to avoid.

The last few days have felt like they’ve moved a little slow, but at least I feel like we’re moving forwards. My best guess is that we’ll be in Dallas for another 2-4 weeks. I’m not sure if Becky will need some home health care, and there will be frequent appointments for lab work as well as many return trips to Dallas. My hope is that most of them will be routine and not to address complications.

Unless there are major setbacks, my blog posts will be probably be less frequent going forward but you’re always welcome to text me or connect in any other way if you have questions.