Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Today's update (OK, not the catchiest title)

First of all, my mother is doing great! Less than 24 hours after receiving a new kidney, I swear, she sounded like she had spent the day at the spa, not in major surgery. She sounds great!!! The kidney is doing what it's supposed to be doing, but, not to full capacity just yet. This is not unexpected, but, all signs look good right now! As she wasn't allowed to have food yet, she had a liquid lunch today. That, in and of itself was a milestone! They gave her more liquid in one meal than, as a dialysis patient, she would have been allowed to have in a week!

My endometrial biopsy went fine this morning. Clinic C was very accommodating about offering to schedule me around Glenn's procedure, but, then didn't really follow through. However, when I showed up early this morning at, what turned out to be 3 hours before they had me scheduled and explained the situation, they were wonderful and got me out in about 40 minutes! And, I have to say, the biopsy wasn't nearly as bad as what I'd been led to believe. It wasn't a walk in the park, and I'm still having some after-effects, but, it was bearable and, more importantly, done quickly.

I was able to get back across town and get to the other hospital before Glenn was even taken in for his angioplasty. After a lengthy delay, they were ready for him. The best I can say is that it was moderately successful. The objective of today's procedure was to get more blood to the back part of the heart. The primary way of doing this was to clear a very old blockage. Well, they were not able to clear it. Stubborn sucker.... They did open another artery wider, allowing for more blood to flow, but, it's not enough. They feel they made enough headway on this nasty blockage that they want another go at it. So, looks like we'll be doing this again in a month or two. He feels fine and is in no distress, so, it's not an emergency, but, taking care of it now will stave off other problems in the future.

So, for tonight, we are camped out in a beautiful private hospital room overlooking the Hudson River and George Washington Bridge. I'm absolutely exhausted and pretty sure I won't make it until midnight when the Olympics coverage ends for the evening (although, don't be surprised if I fight to stay awake!). And, I'm looking forward to going to see my mother tomorrow, after we're discharged from here!

And, finally, thank you to everyone for your kind words, prayers, and well wishes!! I'm a tad behind in my blog reading, commenting, and responding, as you might imagine, but I will definitely catch up when things calm down (do they ever?)!!

9 comments:

Christi said...

all great news! I am so glad that your mother is doing well. It is beyond amazing what they can do with transplants!! I am so happy she found a match. Also, glad to hear Glenn is doing well. I'm sorry that he will need to do it again but it sounds like it is going well.

I'm glad the biopsy wasn't too bad. :)

Emily said...

Hoping you, mom and Glenn all have a restful and recoperative night! You all need it!

Glad everything went well, although I am sorry to hear Glenn's procedure was not 100% successful. You'll continue to be in my thoughts and prayers!

Bee Cee said...

So glad your Mum is doing great - she sounds like she's taking it all in her stride.

Hope Glenn is ok and they make more progress next time.

Hope you get good results too.

Whew...what a few days - Now have a lie down!

Kate said...

Wow, can you have anymore going on at one time?! I am glad everything worked out really well and that everyone made it through their procedures.

Ariella said...

Glad to hear it went well for you and your mom, I wish Glen's had been better but at least there were no complications. Sending you all lots of healing a healthy thoughts.

Linda said...

Glad to hear you have lots of good news today Lisa! I'm sorry that Glenn's procedure wasn't 100% successful but I'm glad your biopsy wasn't terrible.

Ms Heathen said...

Sorry to hear that Glenn's angioplasty didn't go as well as you'd hoped, but very glad that your mother's transplant went so well and that the biopsy wasn't as bad as you were expecting.

Wishing you all a speedy recovery!

Anonymous said...

Great news all around! I hope by the time this finds you that you are both home safe and sound!

the Babychaser: said...

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for visiting my blog. I dropped by to see what was up with you and discovered that somehow you managed to have your whole family have surgery at once! Not sure how you pulled that one off, but it seems that it's all gone really well.

Wishing you the best of luck in your, Glen's, and your mother's recuperation.