Sunday, April 26, 2009

Jacob's preemptive 9th birthday party




Since we'll be in Gainesville for his birthday (May 10), we had his birthday party this weekend. 25 kids at Le Choclatier - making chocolate-dipped confections and chocolate "painted" pops. He also had a going-away/birthday party in his classroom.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

4/22- Two weeks until transplant

The transplant is scheduled for May 5 at Shands Hospital in Gainesville. Momma is giving Jake a kidney. We're expecting to spend most of the summer in Gainesville recuperating. We hope that Jake will spend just a week in the hospital. Jen may be out a little faster, but her procedure will also hurt more ('tis harder to give than receive).

If the kidney kicks in right away, we hope that he'll undergo minor surgery within a few weeks to remove his port catheter. We're told that it can sometimes take a few weeks for the transplanted kidney to start operation. He'll be keeping his two old kidneys for the time being. His existing kidneys do work for fluid collection, but they don't filter. The third kidney will get installed right in the middle, and will hopefully perform the filtration role. If the old kidneys continue to cause high blood pressure problems in the future, it's possible that they may get removed later on.

After Jen and Jake are released from the hospital, Jake will have post-surgery checkups every day for at least a month. At some point, the check-ups become farther apart. We probably won't move home until they are spaced a week apart. We've rented two adjoining corporate apartments for the summer - one for us and one for the inlaws. After the first month, Dad (me)will be in Miami M-F for work and will come back on weekends, while the in-laws are around during the week. I aspire to clean the junk out of the house (old toys, "heirlooms," etc.) while I'm home, but no guarantees.

Jake will be under quarantine most of the summer to avoid infection, and he won't be able to have visitors for at least six to eight weeks after the operation. After then, we'll need to play it by ear (masks, etc.), and make sure that visitors haven't been around sick people.

In the next weeks, I'm told that I need to configure the recuperation apartment with the basic essentials - Tivo, Playstation 3, Wii, and dual computer access. We'll be roughing it for sure.