It really is all about me, isn't it????

So I have debated and debated and debated and debated and even debated some more about whether to continue this blog or not... I even started this post on March 20th and here it is April 12th and I think I'm ready to post this... I started my blog way back when to talk about Neil's pre-kidney transplant issues because it was extremely stressful and it was a quick/easy way to keep everyone up to date on the transplant status.... Not everyone has Facebook so it was better than updating FB... well now that Neil is doing really well... really, really well with his new kidney (Thanks again to the wonderful Candy, who donated her kidney to him!!!) I wish I had a reason to NOT blog... but I do and is it ironic that it has to do with the very same concept that I started this blog, ...in sickness and in health... ?????

Sadly, it is ME that is going through some rough sickness/health issues.... the hardest part is this has been going on since the fall... I think... I don't even really know when the symptoms truly started AND 'they' don't know what's wrong with me... :(

In a nutshell:

since october, i've had all over muscle twitching and muscle weakness in my hands/arms/legs and it's getting worse. The neurologist is not convinced that it's ALS nor is he convinced that it's not ALS... have had an EMG and having a repeat one on Friday to see if there's change. My 2nd opinion neuro doc blood tested me for Celiac Disease and it came back 'elevated' so I've been following a Gluten Free diet for a month and have digestively been A LOT better. I had a repeat blood test yesterday so I'm waiting for the results and I can't get into a GI doc until the end of June. I'm also awaiting an appointment with a neuro doc at OSU. My 1st neuro told me on Tuesday that he recently read an article where someone was diagnosed with ALS but it was wrong and was actually Celiac!!!

Soooooooooooooo, I'm very frustrated and am getting weaker and I'm hoping there's someone out there that can relate........?????

2 years already!!!!!!!

I'm so terrible for not updating my blog sooner.. Life has been awesome with Neil's new kidney! He has never felt or looked better! It's really been a whole new life for us! I just wrote this and posted it on my FB page but decided I should keep a good record and update the blog as well!

Jennifer Branson So, 2 years ago tonight I was sitting in OSU Hospital with Neil S Branson trying not to worry about what lie ahead of us. We were scared, nervous, and happy all at the same time! Tomorrow is the 2 year anniversary of Neil's kidney transplant and I'm glad to say all that stress & worry were worth it because he's incredibly happy and healthy today! Of course, none of it would be possible without the wonderful and selfless act of Candy Sue Clark! Thank you a million times over for giving Neil a new birthday, me a new husband and the boys a new daddy! You know we love you with everything we have! A special thanks to Neil's now retired Sgt Art Coval for making this beautiful picture to help celebrate this special time!!! ♥ Much love and thanks to all our friends and family who held us up in prayer as we went through this process! ♥

There's no place like home...

Neil made it home today!!! It's sooo nice to be home and resting and not running back and forth to the hospital!!! I did have to go back out and get some of his meds filled but it wasn't that bad... especially considering ice cream was on sale! LOL..
My in-laws have had the boys since Friday after school and they brought them home a little bit ago. It's so nice to see them and to start getting back in the swing of things. I'm really glad I have another week off work though.. I have to take Neil for his first blood draw tomorrow and then I can start going thru the mail, do taxes, catch up on my classes I'm taking at Ashland and whatever else comes my way... sleep.. that's def one thing I need to catch up on!
Thank you everyone for all the prayers, good thoughts, support and love shown this past week! It's amazing how many people were praying for us that don't even know us! I'm glad this week is over and we're on our way to a new life!!!!!

Update

Sorry for not updating sooner! Neil was moved to his regular room yesterday... he got up and walked with little problems. He had a few visitors last night and some tonight.
His Creatinine was 3.7 yesterday and 2.8 this morning.. it's so hard to grasp all this good news! His BP was 139/77 about an hour ago!!!!! I'm soooo happy and soooo thankful for Candy giving us this new life for Neil! Candy has been sleeping a lot and still feeling sick to her stomach. She is slowly getting better. It stinks to see her not recovering as quick as Neil since she's the one to sacrifice so much. But I know it's harder on them and she'll come around and be back to her 'ol self again soon!
Keep the prayers for recovery comin!!!!!!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Neil is back in the special care unit... sleeping on and off with the help of some Morphine!!! He's eating some ice chips and is begging for ice water but they won't let him have any 'til tomorrow! He's in good spirits when he comes around... joking for a minute or so and being silly then passes back out! He's producing urine and it's not super bloody, which is awesome!!!!

Thanks for all the prayers! I couldn't have survived without all of YOU supporting me and having my back when I needed it most! XOXOXO Jennifer

what a day

I am home and very tired. I have to be back at the hospital at 5am!!!!!

The news station did a wonderful job with our story! If you haven't seen it, here it is:

settled in..

We're here and settled in the hospital. Neil got his central line put in his neck and that was ok.. I actually had to leave the room for it.. I was more nervous than he was so I decided I would be no help freaking out so I went down to Candy's room to visit her. She was getting about a million tubes of blood drawn. She worked last night and is really tired so I think she's in her room resting now. Neil's room doesn't have a TV so we're going over to her room to watch the news since our story is supposed to air tonight!!!
Thanks to everyone who has sent emails, text messages and commented on FB. Knowing you're all behind us is awesome!!!! Also thank you to the parents at school who are sending home food with the boys... while I'm not there to enjoy it, I know it's good food!!!! I'll be home later so hopefully they leave me some!!!!
I'll update if anything else changes tonight!
Jenn

The final countdown....

This is it.. tomorrow is the day Neil will be admitted to the hospital for his surgery! Please continue prayers for him and his doctors & nurses, Candy and her family, all the people who have offered to help, the boys and me. I've not had much time to think about it because I've been soooo busy getting all my tasks done! I still have some schoolwork for my college classes that I have to complete and email to my professors tonight... laundry is still churning and I my list is slowly dwindling down...

I hear there's a big football game on right now but I just don't have time to sit and watch it so I can gauge what's going on based on Neil's outbursts!

For those of you who were aware, my mom is out of the hospital and recovering from her surgery slowly. She is not able to come and help out so I have several friends who are here and helping me this week.

At this point, I can't write a long-winded post because I hear the dryer going off and I have to get my school work completed by midnight.

NBC4 interviewed us 2 weeks ago and we are told they're airing it tomorrow (Monday) at 5p and/or 6pm. I believe you can watch their live stream on their website of their newscasts. Their website is http://www.nbc4i.com/ We were all so nervous for the interview and I feel like I totally babbled but if you know me personally, you know that's nothing new! :)

Depending on if I can take my laptop to the hospital and get WiFi depends on if I update here this week. If not, I'll be updating on my Facebook page. If you want to see my updates on FB, search for me and send me a request to be added. I had originally sent up a caringbridge site but decided I liked my blog better than using CB. If I am able to get online at the hospital, I will be updating here and on FB.

Thank you immensely for all the help and prayers. They've helped me through my anxiety moments and through the times when I felt like I was going to 'freak out'. My mantra this past week has seriously been, "I will not freak, I will not freak, I will not freak"... and I repeat it until I feel better... it's helped!

Hugs to all ~ Jennifer

More awesome news and prayers needed for friends!!!

YIPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEE!

Our donor Candy called me on Wednesday afternoon to let me know the Pretransplant Committee OFFICIALLY approved the transplant! I can't tell you how excited I was to hear this news! I pretty much knew it was going to be approved so it wasn't a total shock, but something about hearing that it was OFFICIAL just clicked in my head. I hung up the phone, told Neil, sent out a text message to some friends and family, told the boys, then sat down and cried. My middle child (8 yrs old) asked me why I was crying. I told him they were happy tears because I was so relieved to FINALLY hear it's official!!!! The sigh of relief was a years worth of worry. Even now that I'm writing about it, I get the chills just thinking of what has happened and what is to come. Our donor is so wonderful and our angel. She is giving us the best gift anyone could ask for! There's no way to ever thank someone for their selfless act of donating!!!! THANK YOU CANDY! XOXO

Now that it's official, we are still going forward with our date of January 26th. I freaked out a little bit on Saturday when I realized it's only a month away. I think that the time will fly by. I'm so glad I have another week off work to clean up the house, get caught up on grading papers and start planning for the next month. I don't want to fall behind in anything at this point. Time is very precious.

As far as needing prayers, I've blogged about my Internet friends, Mary and Amy, whose husbands are brothers, both suffer from PKD and BOTH need transplants. Mary's husband, Sean is having his transplant THIS WEEK (29th) and Amy's husband, Bruce, is having his transplant the 14th of January. It's so amazing to me that their husbands ended up having live donors and their transplants scheduled so close together. It's also amazing to me that I found these people through the PKD page on Facebook and got in touch with them and started blogging because of them. It's wonderful to have friends who are walking in my shoes right now. In fact, it's super cool that they're going thru this ahead of me so that I will be informed and know what to expect when it's Neil's turn!! Even though we don't live in the same states, I can see a meeting someday with them!!!

Please visit their blogs and please say prayers for them as they go through the transplant process this week and in the coming weeks! Please pray the germs stay away from them and that their transplants are successful!

* Mary & Sean (donor Jeremy) can be found at Living with PKD - Transplant December 29th in Nashville, TN

* Amy & Bruce (donor Ken) can be found at PKD Sucks - Transplant January 14th in Tampa, FL

Thank you and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!!!

More news!

Our kidney donor, Candy, called this afternoon while I was on the way home from school! She let me know that the nurse called her and said the Doctor reviewed her CT Scan and cleared her for surgery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You would think this is the last step.... but it's not... and like I said earlier, it's all tentative up until they're being wheeled into surgery! The next step is the Pre-Transplant Committee, made up of doctors and nurses, needs to review Neil & Candy's files to make a final decision about proceeding. We honestly do not see why they would say no at this point. The committee meets on Wednesdays to review all their pretransplant patients but ours won't come up for review until next week... so Merry Christmas to us, I guess!

The next step is to pray pray pray that Candy and Neil stay healthy through Christmas and up until it's time for surgery. There's always the chance that either one of them could be sick with a cold and we'd have to postpone the transplant. I was soooooo worried about Neil getting the flu and strep throat I had last week that I wore a surgical mask for 3 days and avoided him as much as possible!! When I talked to the nurse last week, she told me his Creatinine is near 9, which is 'usually' the magic number for dialysis... As long as we don't have any major setbacks, we should be okay for avoiding dialysis before the surgery. He actually has a regular checkup with his Nephrologist tomorrow so we'll see if it's gone up since it was checked in early November.

Thank you all so much for the feedback, love, support, prayers etc that have been offered. We really appreciate everything!!!! :)

I guess you could say it truly IS the gift that keeps on giving!!!!

WE'VE GOT A DATE!!!!!

this update (and news) is long overdue... But life has, once again, been hectic. The past 2 weeks have been really busy with school and all the stuff that comes with that.... working at my kids school... or better yet, having them attend the school where I work can be a little a lot crazy at times! It's always something... and I am always there to deal with things immediately.. which can/cannot be good at times.... however, I will survive... I always do. Actually, speaking of surviving, I thought I was "dying"... (not literally but close) this past weekend. I started feeling really sick on Saturday and by evening I couldn't take it anymore... I looked up the closest urgent care, made sure they were open, and drove myself there. With the multitude of symptoms I was having, I knew something was wrong. And that it was.... I have Strep Throat and the Flu... I am being treated as if it is H1N1 with Tamiflu and Penicillin for the Strep. I've spent the last 3 days in bed or curled up on the couch, catching up with hours of missed TV. (I love DVR). I have to say I'm starting to feel "normal" again but not enough to go back to work tomorrow. The Dr told me to stay off work through tomorrow so I'm actually taking his advice and doing just that! I just need 1 more day to 'make sure' I am up for it because I know once I commit to going back, there's no turning around. I get worn out thinking about going back to work actually... my throat is still pretty swollen and sore and thinking about all that talking I will have to do, just makes me squirm.

So anyway... back to the date.... The donor went to her all-day appointment and all went well... except that I was under the assumption that her CT Scan would take place that afternoon. I was wrong..... They don't actually schedule the CT until after the blood test results come back. When I talked to our NCM, she promised the CT would be the very last test. It is scheduled for this Thursday... however, they don't think there will be problems, so we were able to "tentatively" schedule the transplant in January!!!!!! The donor texted me today with the date!

JANUARY 26, 2010

She said they will need to do 1 more blood matching test on the 19th and then they'll both be admitted to the hospital the day before and then start the transplant on the morning of the 26th! Of course, this is all "tentative" up until the moment they are rolling into the operating room!

I can't even begin to express the relief that fell upon me the minute I read her text message....

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg...

This is my phone... and it ringing is what I'll be waiting on this week! Last week when our donor went to her appointment for the final stages of testing, OSU called me at school to tell me they needed Neil down there that day to also give blood. Apparently they wanted to run another serum test between his blood and the donor's blood. I told her I would call him at home and wake him up and get him down there by closing time. I was disappointed, though, and expressed that it was 3 weeks before we got the results from Cincy when they ran the same test this summer. She said she has no clue why it took 3 weeks and that they will know something in about 3-4 days... HOWEVER, since it was Thanksgiving week, it will probably be this week that we hear the results. She told me that all the results should be back this week and we should know FOR SURE if the donor is a go for the surgery!!!! I even made her repeat it just to make sure I heard her correctly!

Of course, I was sooooo relieved to hear this news but then all I could think about was getting through last week and getting to this week! I had been looking forward to having 5 days off and spending Thanksgiving with my family but my focus suddenly changed to this week... not like it's a suprise since I've pretty much lived "date-to-date" this year. When Neil went to give blood, they told him we should know on or before Tuesday if she will be a match. I'm trying so hard not to think about it but it's hard not to wait for Tuesday to get here...

Anyway... Thanksgiving was awesome... it was actually our first ever Thanksgiving that just the 5 of us spent together. In years prior, we went to one or both of our parents or they came here. This year, though, was just us..... and I really liked it that way for a change! We also celebrated our oldest child's birthday! He turned the big 1-0!!! Kinda funny how we say 3-0 or 4-0 but we never say the big 1-0! He was pretty excited and we had a great time taking him out to Dave-n-Buster's with one of his close friends.

I'm done with school for the quarter and waiting on my grades! I already know I got an A in my Middle School Methods class... just waiting on my Middle School Geometry grade.. pretty sure it's an A too since I aced the final!!!!!! Classes start back up in January and excited that one of the two classes is completely online! If Neil has surgery in January, having a class online will be a HUGE plus!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is ready to go back to work tomorrow! Hopefully the next time I'm updating this is to let you know we have a date for the transplant.....

I'm a little edgy tonight...

tomorrow is the big day for our donor! She goes for her all day appointment at OSU. She'll meet with the nurse and surgeon.... she'll have more blood drawn.. she'll hear all about transplant and be sent for a chest X-ray and CT Scan of her kidneys. please pray for this to be 'the one'. I really don't think I can take much more waiting. I know people wait longer than this being on the list but I just hope and pray so much that she's a match.

I don't think we'll know anything for a week or so... not even sure exactly how long but I know that once all the testing is done, the pretransplant team will have a meeting to discuss whether she's truly a good match for Neil. I think they only meet on Wednesdays so it could be several weeks before that happens. I really hate wishing away time but when what I'm waiting for is such a huge issue, I can't help but wait for time to pass!

Not much else is new.. just getting ready for thanksgiving. So thankful for this donor who is willing to go thru this for us! I'm also thankful for a 2-day workweek and 5 days off to spend with Neil and the boys!!!

I know I mentioned them before but two of my blog friends, who are brothers, both have donors and dates for their transplants! I've never met them but discovered one of them on Facebook and then from there found the other one: Bruce and Sean. It's been awesome reading about the process they're going through and hoping we are soon in that place of planning for the transplant!

Thanks again for all the prayers and well wishes. I'll update again when I know more! :)

YAY!

Yep, I'm doin the happy dance! Got a text message from the potential donor telling me she had too much to text and to call her!!!! Oh my gosh, I was so nervous as the phone was ringing! But it all worked out because she passed the latest test and was scheduled for her all day appointment with the lab, nurse and surgeon!!!! She'll get all the final testing completed at this appointment... chest xray, blood work and I think sent for a CT Scan of her kidneys!!! Her appointment is right before Thanksgiving!!!!! We're soooo excited and so relieved that she's moving on to the next step! I just hate that it's so far away! It seemed like I wished away time for it to be Oct 15th (Neil's appt) and now I have another month to wait.. I hate waiting for stuff like this!

Neil had his first transplant dream last night... he said it was weird.. he said he woke up and they still had a tube in his throat. I think the anxiety is setting in after seeing the surgeon. He told him 2 things that kind of freaked him out.. he'll have a catheter for a few days post surgery and he'll have a main port, I think they called it.. I think that's for dialysis if there's complications but I'm not sure. I suppose I ought to read up on that.. all Neil said was that he hopes both of those are put in after he's asleep! I hope he doesn't start having a lot of dreams about the surgery... I guess that's normal but I know how dreaming about stuff can sometimes make it worse!

All the boys are better, by the way.. thank goodness because I was getting sick of everyone being sick! And thankfully Neil didn't catch any of it! I guess his immune system is better than we thought!

I probably won't update much till next month because there's really not much else going on! We have done everything we need to do.. we just need to wait for the donor's appointment and then go from there! Pray for patience for me.... I'm going to need it! :)

The good, the bad... the ?????

"I have good news and I have bad news.. which do you want first?"

Ugh.. don't you hate that question? How do you pick? You know right off the bat that something is going to make you happy and something is going to make you sad/mad.. it's such a tough decision. Some people like the bad first, so that when they hear the good.. it's better than good! Some people like the excitement first, because they can't wait for the good news and want to hear positive first and leave the bad for last...

anyway.. today was a good day and a bad day... but for 2 very different reasons.. so I'm going to pick for you.. I'm going to give you the good first but you can scroll down to the bad news first if you just have to know!!!!

The good news is:
our appointment today was wonderful! We had asked if we could get out early so that we could get to school in time to get the kids (it was an early dismissal day). They said they would try their best.. and that they did! The first 2 hours were spent getting lab work done and listening to an 'education' class on kidney donation. Because we have already been through this with Christ Hospital, almost all of it was review. A few new questions arose and we learned a few new things so it wasn't a total waste! After we finished with the educational portion, they took us back to an exam room. We met our new nurse coordinator and answered a million routine questions. She left and brought in the surgeon!!!!!!!! It was so exciting to finally meet one of the surgeons.. I really felt like this was major progress! He spoke with us and did an exam on Neil.. he said while his kidneys are large at this time, they are not large enough to need to be removed before or after transplant!!!! :) He said that could change and other things could come up that would mean they need to be removed but as of now, they are good to stay in, he has room for a new kidney and he's ready for surgery!

*Side note* While we were meeting with the surgeon, our donor called me and left me a message saying she can't get the results of her glucose test till Monday because the nurse that needs to read the test is out sick. I just happened to mention this to our new nurse case manager and she said she would go over and see if she can read them.. and possibly sign off on them so that the donor can make her appointment with OSU.. We're getting so close to her being a match.. keep praying it all works out!

After the surgeon left, the social worker paid us a visit.. again this was all stuff we already knew so she skipped almost all of it and just got to the nitty-gritty... i.e. Medicare... UGH.. not fun stuff but if we have to do it, we have to do it. After she was done, the nurse coordinator came back and and we finished up and I think we were out the door around noon! We were so excited to be done that we decided to go to lunch! While at lunch, I sent a text message to my coworker at school to let her know we would be picking up the boys and not the other person we designated yesterday! We texted back and forth and all was well.

The bad news is:

While Neil and I were enjoying our nice lunch, my phone rang and it was my coworker.. telling me that the recess duty teacher checked in on child #1 and he was sitting on the carpet (it was indoor recess) and looked totally out of it. She said he felt hot and wanted to know what to do because she knew I was at the appointment and couldn't leave to get him. I informed her that we finished early and were having lunch but we would finish up and get there ASAP!

So.. we finish lunch and get to school to get the boys.. at this point, we're signing them all out because it's only an hour till dismissal anyway. Child #1's temperature at school was 101. The school nurse just happened to be there so I chatted with her about him and the whole H1N1 scare etc.. I decide that I probably won't call the Dr but just take him home and load him up with Ibuprofen and put him to bed. However.. when we got home, I checked his temp and it was now 103!!!!! So I called the Dr office. They are obviously inundated with sick calls because they put me through to a nurse to be screened first. I told her his symptoms and she said if it's the flu, there's nothing they can do and she doubts it's strep throat because he has a cough... but that it's up to me if I want to bring him in. I tell her he looks miserable and that I would feel better if he was seen. So she said they had a 615p appt avail! I was really surprised because they normally close at 430p and never take patients that late. She said the waiting room is full and they have to see their patients.

We made it to the doctor and went back into the room.. they took his temp with the head scan thermometer and say they need to get him some Ibuprofen fast.. they didn't even tell me his temp but I could still see it on the display... it was... (hold on to your seat)... 106.4

Whhhhhhh-------what????? Are you kidding me?? I looked at the Dr and almost fainted.. I thought kids died at temps that high! And here my kid has one THAT high! After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I felt really guilty for making him go to school today and wanted to cry! The Dr assured me that she didn't think it was accurate and that kids have high temps like that and it's ok... she said he looked and acted sick but didn't act or look like he was THAT bad.. she left to go get a popsicle and to get the flu test and I started in on the child... "When's your birthday", "What day is it?", "Where do you live?", "What's our phone number?", "How old are you?"... he answered every question correctly and asked me, "Why are you asking me this?".... I told him I just needed to know that he was OK...

The Dr comes back.. and makes his day with a Popsicle... but not before she can stick the flu swab up his nose and practically into his brain.. he complained it hurt.. it hurt me to watch her do it to him! She promptly came back to tell us he tested positive for Influenza-A and that they are considering that to be H1N1 since seasonal flu starts later. She said there is nothing they can do other than pump him full of fluids at home and administer Ibuprofen every 6 hours. She told me what to look for and call if I see any of it and also that he should be fever free by Sunday. She said to watch out for the fever going completely away for 24-hours and then coming back!

So we left and I took him home to get into bed... I went to the store and stocked up on all kinds of drinks and Popsicles for him! I had told the Dr about Neil and she advised I get on the phone with the nephrologist office and find out if they want to start treatment for Neil. On the way to the store, I called the answering service and told them what was going on and to have the Dr on call get in touch with me. He called me when I was in the store and I explained to him what just went down with the child and he said he honestly didn't know what they were going to do because it hasn't happened to anyone else before. He finally said that if Neil has any symptoms of flu, to get to his family Dr immediately for a flu test and go from there.

I've checked on the child twice since being home.. his fever has dropped to normal... which seems extreme to me.. so it either really wasn't that high or Ibuprofen is golden! At the 6-hour mark, I checked again and it was still 98... so i gave him another drink to sip on and more Ibuprofen in case it decides to come back in the next couple of hours.. while I'm sleeping! Tucked him back in bed and told him to holler if he needed anything.... poor thing.. he felt hot to me so I think the fever was going to come back.....but I hope the dose of Ibuprofen zaps it away!!!!!!

so yea, there it is.. extremely good news today...... and extremely shocking, bad news today. I really feel like 'it never ends'... or 'it's always something'... I try to have faith that it will all work out in the end but with days like today, it's tough to get over the hump of chaos!

The Big Day!

SIGH... tomorrow is the big day.. the ever so anxiously awaited appointment with OSU... errr maybe it's supposed to be 'eagerly awaited'... (YES I know the difference...)

Regardless of the feeling, it's seemed like eternity that this appointment would come. And it hasn't come without complications and scares...

First of all, I took last Thursday off to go to Neil's regular nephrologist appointment.. only to have child #3 with a high fever the 2 days prior.. and not being able to find someone to care for a sick child, I knew I would be staying home with him. To my dismay, I woke up last Thursday with the stomach flu!!!!! So I ended up staying home in bed with the sick child while Neil went to his appointment alone. I hated doing it but I told him he needed to ask a lot of questions and get details! He is so ornery that when he called me after his appointment, he informed me he was being referred to dialysis in 2 weeks. I was devastated and ready to burst into tears but didn't want to do it on the phone with him so I held back... only to have him say he was just kidding and that his appointment went really well! While I'm glad and relieved his appointment went really well, I was slightly peeved he played that joke on me.. NOT the thing to joke about.. let alone the fact I was already down and out feeling sick. The good and shocking news is that his Creatinine went down 2 tenths.. which seems rather odd to me but I'm not going to question or complain about that since that # is the key to his ticket to dialysis.. oh and he gained more weight which is either attributed to eating more, water gain or his kidneys increasing in size. The doctor wasn't alarmed that he's gained weight. (I'd joke about the weight thing more, saying I wish my doctor felt the same way about me, but Neil would quickly remind me that at least my kidneys are healthy.. so I tend to not joke around with him about that stuff... but ...)

So anyway.. all seemed well over the weekend and then Monday night we get home from school and child #1 complains of not feeling well! All I could think of was a repeat of last week and THAT'S not happening.. I am NOT missing this appointment nor are we rescheduling it so child #1 stayed home from school the past 2 days... and if that's not bad enough.. I WOKE UP SICK on Tuesday! Seemed the stomach flu decided to reappear! Not sure what's going on there but it came back and I stayed home Tuesday.. then today I woke up and had the worst headache ever along with all over body-aches and just extreme tiredness. I decided to stay home again today and rest up so that I'm better tomorrow. I am already feeling much better and have been eating normally tonight.

I have everything ready to go in the morning.. kids lunches are half packed.. I have breakfast to pack for them because I have to drop them off early.. thanks a million to my coworker who will watch them in the morning before school so that we can get to the appointment on time!!!! Love ya K!!!! I'm just finishing a school assignment and decided that writing would help relieve some of my anxiety over tomorrow.

Our donor, who has progressed to the next step, is still doing well and she's ready for this to happen! I think she just has to pass the glucose test she took this week and then I think the last step is a chest xray.. I think and pray we are close cause I'm tired of waiting.. I know other people wait longer and have a lot harder time with donors and being on the list but for me.. I'm tired of waiting and ready.. we are close and I'm excited but at the same time, I know that in an instant we can find out she's no longer a match and have to move on to the next person and go thru all this again.. I guess I will deal with that bridge when/if it comes..

Thanks again everyone for all the positive thoughts and prayers... keep 'em coming and I'll try to update tomorrow night.. but if I don't, don't be alarmed.. I might be too tired to get online.. but I will update eventually! <3

No news is still no news...

My math professor said in class today that some of the smartest people he knows are people who journal... people who write things down.. people who keep notes... reminded me that I should update.

Nothing new is going on. SIGH...


Neil sees his nephrologist this week for his regular checkup. He had his blood drawn this morning.. please pray his Creatinine hasn't gone up enough to start dialysis. He still feels really good so I would be surprised if that was the outcome of the appointment this week... but I never know what to expect at these appts.


Next week is the 'big' appointment with OSU.. the one that we waited and waited on this spring when we found out OSU and UHC were no longer in network with each other. Anyway.. now that we're back with OSU, I honestly haven't been 100% satisfied. Our coordinator is hard to get in touch with and the 1 potential donor isn't sure the next step as she's not had luck getting in touch with said coordinator. I'm really looking forward to next week's appointment though because we will meet with the surgeon AND get a NURSE coordinator assigned... the coordinator we've had so far isn't a nurse.


A good friend of mine, who is also a kidney transplant patient, sent me this link today on a new study on PKD... very interesting. Thanks Sue!


Please keep my other blogging friends in your prayers. Bruce has had quite a few complications while waiting for a transplant. He just recently found out he 'might' have a live donor as 2 people came forward to get tested! YAY! And his brother, Sean, has his transplant scheduled for Dec 29th.


Thanks for reading, commenting and praying. Your loving thoughts ARE appreciated!

Update!

It's been a while because it was the start of school and that is always a very busy time!
Also, nothing has really happened... However, today a lot changed!

I emailed Cincy to find out what's going on and they wrote me back telling me they hadn't heard anything... but that they would check with the lab again!

A little while later, they wrote me back and told me the results were in and they left messages for the potential donors to call them to discuss the results.. they wouldn't tell us the results.

I called OSU and they told me IF they had the results, they would tell us.. but Cincy had faxed the results to them and they hadn't received them yet.. so I called the one donor and left her a message, telling her to call them ASAP for the results! She called me later and said she couldn't get a hold of anyone by the time she got home from work... but that she would call first thing in the morning..

In the meantime, I get home from work and Neil tells me that the other potential donor called him to tell him SHE IS A MATCH so far... but there is still more testing to do and I'm not even sure of what the testing consists of.. but she "passed" the tissue-typing so it's looking really good so far!

Hopefully the other donor will find out tomorrow and we she will either keep on going or if not, we have someone else interested in getting tested!!!!

I hate how long this process is.. but it's part of it... hopefully it all comes together for us in the next couple of weeks so we can get it scheduled, get it out of the way and move on.. HA! sounds good and simple enough but.... we shall see! :)

quick + updates = good news!

spoke with the pretransplant coordinator from OSU this morning.. she confirmed she is the one who called Neil on Friday! She said she sent the medical releases in the mail to us so that Cincy will release the medical records to them! She said everything went thru with insurance and we went ahead and scheduled his appointment with them!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited it IS moving quickly!

His appt in in October and will be a day long event... I'm sure it's similar to what we've already gone thru with Cincy so I'm guessing there won't be a lot of new info given to us. She said they will only work with the 2 donors who have been tissue typed.. I was kinda disappointed because we'd like the other 2 to get started but she said they'll move on to them if the current 2 do not work out.... we should actually be hearing something this week about the first donor who was tissue typed 2 weeks ago today.

After I got home from work tonight, the medical releases were in the mail so I'm glad I can have Neil sign it and fax it in tomorrow!!!! The other 2 releases are for the donors to sign for their medical records to get released from Cincy to OSU...

I'm so glad and so relieved that the process is going along much smoother than what the past month has been.. especially with school starting tomorrow... during the rough times, it was really hard for me to have faith that it would all work out.. but God showed me that it would be ok and so far, it's all good!!!!

Thank you again to all my readers who have commented, emailed or mentioned Neil and this blog in person. It means a lot to have all your thoughts and prayers through this process. I'm so thankful and blessed to be surrounded by such sweet and loving people!!!!! God bless you and your families as well!!!! XOXO

Don't forget, the boys and I are walking in the PKD Walk on Sunday September 13th! If you'd like to donate to this cause, please click the "Team Branson Page" link to the right, under the picture!!!! Thank you! :)

moving right along..

Called the financial coordinator Friday morning to talk to him about OSU and UHC getting together again.... He confirmed he had our file on his desk to work on. In fact, he said he had several files to work on because of this 'reunion'... I explained to him that we have a nice donor list going and that the clock is ticking. He said they would be in touch with us in the next week or so..

At approx 2:20pm yesterday, the coordinator was already calling us to tell us she is sending donor info packets that will need to be completed as well as a medical release to sign and send in so they can secure all the records from Cincy!

Please pray this process continues to move quickly... :)