The trip started with a long drive to Seattle on Wednesday afternoon. I took my four-year old daughter Issabel with me as Anna hasn’t seen her since January and her mother Diane volunteered to watch her while I was having tests done on Thursday.
We encountered a pretty bad accident just outside of Chehalis Washington that put us at a standstill for the better part of 45 minutes. The wait for excruciating for Issabel (as you can see by this picture) but for me it gave me a chance to reflect on the upcoming surgery and the important things in my life.
Unfortunately, the pause in traffic also got me wondering about my role as an organ donor – which lead me to thinking about what would happen if I got in a horrendous accident of my own the drive up to Seattle. What if I died and they saw on my license that I was an organ donor and they took my kidneys and gave them to other people besides Anna? Well I wasn’t about to let that scenario play out so I pulled off the highway and found the cheapest black eyeliner pencil I could at Wal-Mart and in the public bathroom mirror I scrawled a message across my stomach that would ensure in case of emergency that Anna would get my kidneys. Let me tell you – I got some funny looks from fellow bathroom patrons. Issabel was also very interested and kept begging me to let her draw a smiley face on my belly as well. With my new directions on my stomach, we jumped back in the car and continued our drive to Anna’s house.
Because o
f the car accident, we arrived after Anna was already in her Wednesday dialysis session. Issabel and I stopped in for a quick hello to Anna and her husband Rick and then we went to her house to get ready for bed as our day was to start very early the next morning.
On Thursday morning, Anna and I left for the hospital for a long day of testing and meetings. Again, we had bad luck with traffic as there was another accident on I-5 near Boeing. This made us tardy for testing and those that know me know that I HATE TO BE LATE. It is a major annoyance of mine and I was not pleased at the situation. Of course Anna was her usual calm self and did her best to lower my blood pressure while we sat in traffic. We arrived to the hospital about 30 minutes late and instead of checking in as we were instructed w
e flew upstairs to the lab where I had the quickest blood draw and pee test of my life. I have got to say that the phlebotomists at Virginia Mason are the best I have ever experienced. I have somewhat difficult veins and sometimes finding a good one is tough – but so far these ladies (only women so far) have been outstanding. One stick and I’m good. I hate to think, but I am actually starting to get used to this blood draw thing. Maybe it was because I was running late, but I didn’t have my usual pre-blood draw panic attack this time around. Of course I also had Anna standing by with her supporting smile helping me along.
f the car accident, we arrived after Anna was already in her Wednesday dialysis session. Issabel and I stopped in for a quick hello to Anna and her husband Rick and then we went to her house to get ready for bed as our day was to start very early the next morning.On Thursday morning, Anna and I left for the hospital for a long day of testing and meetings. Again, we had bad luck with traffic as there was another accident on I-5 near Boeing. This made us tardy for testing and those that know me know that I HATE TO BE LATE. It is a major annoyance of mine and I was not pleased at the situation. Of course Anna was her usual calm self and did her best to lower my blood pressure while we sat in traffic. We arrived to the hospital about 30 minutes late and instead of checking in as we were instructed w
e flew upstairs to the lab where I had the quickest blood draw and pee test of my life. I have got to say that the phlebotomists at Virginia Mason are the best I have ever experienced. I have somewhat difficult veins and sometimes finding a good one is tough – but so far these ladies (only women so far) have been outstanding. One stick and I’m good. I hate to think, but I am actually starting to get used to this blood draw thing. Maybe it was because I was running late, but I didn’t have my usual pre-blood draw panic attack this time around. Of course I also had Anna standing by with her supporting smile helping me along. Next we ran downstairs and got officially checked in – I know had about 3 minutes to get back upstairs to meet with one of the surgeons that could be performing my surgery. Luckily for me, he had to
run down to the ER to check on a patient so he was running late as well. I have to say that both Anna and I really liked the surgeon. He was kind, he was informative and he had a very kind nature that I don’t expect to receive from a doctor that primarily cuts people open. I was already feeling much better about this process overall. Additionally, this surgeon didn’t blink at my crazy line of questions – which made me feel like he had probably been asked that sort of thing many times so he was nice and experienced. He even agreed to take pictures of the operation and my kidney if we supplied him with an easy point and shoot camera. I’m pretty excited.
The surgeon did a quick little exam of me and I had to instantly explain why I had remnets of writing on my belly. I had taken a shower that morning and done my best to scrub off the “in case of emergency” message, but it was still somewhat visible. I should have paid for the more expensive line of eyeliner. Luckily for me, the surgeon also had a good sense of humor.
Next up, we were to meet with one of the transplant nephrologists on staff. While we were waiting – a man looked at Anna and I sitting together on a tiny little love-seat like couch, whispering in one another’s ear – and he looked at us and said, “Now you two MUST be sisters, you look so much alike.” That just cracked us up, but we just said “yeah, well we kind of are.”
The transplant nephrologist was also very kind and very helpful. She examined me a little bit more than the surgeon including feeling my pulse from many different points on my body including my calves and feet. I started to wish I had shaved my legs this morning.
My next appointment of the day was with my transplant social worker. This time, Anna was not allowed to join me as it was an opportunity for me to discuss my feelings about the transplant in confidence. It’s ok though – it gave her an opportunity to check in on my daughter. For me, this was the best meeting of the day. I got to hear about kidney donation from an entirely different perspective and it really calmed me about the process and encouraged me overall.
Next up I met with my transplant coordinator. I’ve been chatting and emailing with this person since the very beginning and it was great spending some time with her face to face for once. Anna was included in this meeting once again and I’m very glad because we discussed the surgery process and what we could both expect from a procedural and recovery stand-point. Again, I asked all the crazy questions I could and we were never looked at strangely.
After this appointment, I was supposed to head to radiology for another test
– but it was rescheduled due to some other issues for the following day. So Anna and I headed to the hospital cafeteria for a quick lunch break. Then we headed back to radiology for some more quick tests and then off to cardiology in another building for a really fun test and a great lab tech that really got a good chuckle out of my belly writing. He even let Anna take some pics of me while I was all hooked up to the machine – we laughed pretty hard at that test. I didn’t expect to have so much fun while spending an entire day at the hospital.
We returned on Friday to the radiology lab for one last test. This time we brought Issabel with us as it was just going to be one quick test and we wanted to let Diane get back home on Thursday. Now I have to tell you that Issabel has a case of the sniffles and she saw Anna
wearing a medical mask (think Michael Jackson) in the dialysis center on Wednesday. At the entrances to the hospital they have the same medical masks for people to wear if they have contagious coughs. The kid’s size has cute little Mickey Mouse ears on them and Issabel insisted on wearing a mask the entire time we were at the hospital. She was so darn cute, but everyone thought she was a very sick little girl. Anna and I couldn’t correct everyone so we just exchanged glances back and forth. Again – we were having a blast in the hospital.
run down to the ER to check on a patient so he was running late as well. I have to say that both Anna and I really liked the surgeon. He was kind, he was informative and he had a very kind nature that I don’t expect to receive from a doctor that primarily cuts people open. I was already feeling much better about this process overall. Additionally, this surgeon didn’t blink at my crazy line of questions – which made me feel like he had probably been asked that sort of thing many times so he was nice and experienced. He even agreed to take pictures of the operation and my kidney if we supplied him with an easy point and shoot camera. I’m pretty excited.The surgeon did a quick little exam of me and I had to instantly explain why I had remnets of writing on my belly. I had taken a shower that morning and done my best to scrub off the “in case of emergency” message, but it was still somewhat visible. I should have paid for the more expensive line of eyeliner. Luckily for me, the surgeon also had a good sense of humor.
Next up, we were to meet with one of the transplant nephrologists on staff. While we were waiting – a man looked at Anna and I sitting together on a tiny little love-seat like couch, whispering in one another’s ear – and he looked at us and said, “Now you two MUST be sisters, you look so much alike.” That just cracked us up, but we just said “yeah, well we kind of are.”
The transplant nephrologist was also very kind and very helpful. She examined me a little bit more than the surgeon including feeling my pulse from many different points on my body including my calves and feet. I started to wish I had shaved my legs this morning.
My next appointment of the day was with my transplant social worker. This time, Anna was not allowed to join me as it was an opportunity for me to discuss my feelings about the transplant in confidence. It’s ok though – it gave her an opportunity to check in on my daughter. For me, this was the best meeting of the day. I got to hear about kidney donation from an entirely different perspective and it really calmed me about the process and encouraged me overall.
Next up I met with my transplant coordinator. I’ve been chatting and emailing with this person since the very beginning and it was great spending some time with her face to face for once. Anna was included in this meeting once again and I’m very glad because we discussed the surgery process and what we could both expect from a procedural and recovery stand-point. Again, I asked all the crazy questions I could and we were never looked at strangely.
After this appointment, I was supposed to head to radiology for another test
– but it was rescheduled due to some other issues for the following day. So Anna and I headed to the hospital cafeteria for a quick lunch break. Then we headed back to radiology for some more quick tests and then off to cardiology in another building for a really fun test and a great lab tech that really got a good chuckle out of my belly writing. He even let Anna take some pics of me while I was all hooked up to the machine – we laughed pretty hard at that test. I didn’t expect to have so much fun while spending an entire day at the hospital.We returned on Friday to the radiology lab for one last test. This time we brought Issabel with us as it was just going to be one quick test and we wanted to let Diane get back home on Thursday. Now I have to tell you that Issabel has a case of the sniffles and she saw Anna
wearing a medical mask (think Michael Jackson) in the dialysis center on Wednesday. At the entrances to the hospital they have the same medical masks for people to wear if they have contagious coughs. The kid’s size has cute little Mickey Mouse ears on them and Issabel insisted on wearing a mask the entire time we were at the hospital. She was so darn cute, but everyone thought she was a very sick little girl. Anna and I couldn’t correct everyone so we just exchanged glances back and forth. Again – we were having a blast in the hospital. My test started with getting an IV. Ugh, I just hate the needle work. Again, the woman that stuck me was great. She got it in on the first stick and it barely hurt. She even apologized for the bruise I got the day before from my blood draw. I always bruise – no biggie. During this test, they injected me with some type of stuff that made me HOT all over and gave me the sensation of wetting my pants. I had been warned this was going to happen – but it still surprised the heck out of me. I was supposed to remain still but I know I let out a chuckle at some point. It was over fairly quickly and didn’t hurt one bit. I was free to leave.
I have a “make-up” test to do still but I can get that done here in Portland. Once all these test results come back – we get to schedule our surgery date. Right now we are looking at the end of October/beginning of November. It’s getting close!!
I have a “make-up” test to do still but I can get that done here in Portland. Once all these test results come back – we get to schedule our surgery date. Right now we are looking at the end of October/beginning of November. It’s getting close!!
Oh - and I did learn that I don't need to write messages across my body anymore. Even if I were to have a horrible car accident - my next of kin would be called before any of my organs were donated anywhere. So Scott would be able to let the fine organ donor folks know at least one of my kidneys was spoken for. Good to know for future road trips :-)
1 comments:
Nicole, you really crack me up. Writing across your belly is both really touching and hilarious! It's such a great thing that you're doing. I don't think that you can be told that too much.
Oh, and I'd love to know which "crazy questions" that you're asking all of these doctors (Boxers or briefs? Brittany or Lohan? etc?)
Post a Comment