7-Day-Out Visit

Today, Candi and I made our final visit to the transplant center before our September 21st transplant day. This visit had three purposes:

1. The 7-day-out blood work

2. Final blood work and EKG testing to make sure we are fit for surgery

3. Meeting with our Transplant Coordinator to go over some of the specifics for surgery week.

The 7-day-out blood work is the same test we discussed in the 30-day-out blood work post. They will send the blood samples off to Johns Hopkins and Hopkins will do a final test to make sure Candi’s blood doesn’t reject mine. This test period will obviously be a lot quicker than the last one. If they see a problem, they will typically notify the Transplant Coordinator the day before our surgery. Chances of there being a problem with this test are even slimmer than with the 30-day blood work, so most likely we will just not hear anything back until surgery day.

To make sure we are both healthy enough for the surgery, we had to undergo a few of the tests that I went through early in the testing process. The Center did another EKG to check for heart health, drew some more blood, took another urine sample, and did some final chest x-rays. One of the vials of blood they took will be used to find matching blood that could be used in the event that I need a blood transfusion the day of the transplant. They put a medical band on my wrist with a number that matches the blood sample. I cannot remove this band for any reason between now and the surgery. If it comes off, the surgery will be postponed – scary! Needless to say, I will be taking great care of the band!!!

The final step of the day was a helpful meeting with our Transplant Coordinator, Chris. She walked us through the things we need to do pre-surgery, some of the details of transplant day, and then some details surrounding our recovery. I cannot eat anything after midnight the night before the surgery. This is actually better than expected – I thought the cut off would be a lot sooner!

Warning – nastiness alert!!! I committed to include every step of the process in this blog so I guess I can’t leave this part out. One of the steps for the night before surgery is the use of a Fleet enema to clean you out. Apparently this makes the surgery a lot easier for the surgeons. Happy, happy, joy, joy.

Candi and I need to be at the hospital at 6 AM on the 21st. My surgery will begin at about 8 AM and Candi’s will follow at about 9:30 AM. We should both be done sometime after noon. The surgeons will provide updates to my mom and Candi’s husband, so we should be able to keep you guys updated with how the surgery went. We should be moved to normal rooms before the end of the day (unless they have a bed shortage in which case we will stay in the recovery area). It shouldn’t make a huge difference as it sounds like we will sleep away much of that first day.

By day 2 we should be able to get up and start walking around. Actually, it sounds like we will be kicked out of bed and forced to walk around! That will be good – I should be able to pay Candi a visit to see how she is doing. It is possible, if I am doing really well, that I could be released from the hospital Wednesday but it sounds more likely that I will be released on Thursday morning. Candi will likely be released Friday.

Chris emphasized the importance of taking care of ourselves after the surgery. For me, that means taking it easy for about a 2-week period – including no driving. I shouldn’t lift anything heavier than 10 pounds for 6 weeks in order to reduce the risk of hernia. I will need to go back to the hospital around the 10-day mark for a check-up. This visit will be to check my progress and remove the glue holding together my incision (I’ll have to resist the urge to pick at the glue!). Hopefully I will be cleared to go back to work at this check-up. I will then need to check in with my PCP at about the 6-month and 12-month marks to make sure all is still well.

With that, we had our picture taken with Chris and said our goodbyes. Here we are at the 7-day mark: