A special guest post from the protagonist!

A guest blog entry from the chief protagonist:

Long time listener, first time caller. For a blog entirely dedicated to me, it's surprising that this is the first time I'm posting. As many of you are already aware the past few months have given me a couple of annoyances. After 14 years with my ex (my mom's kidney), I was cruelly rejected. The good news is that I found a younger flame (Remy’s 23 year old kidney).

In seriousness, it has been an eventful past couple of months between dialysis, transplant and recovery. I try to find outlets to relieve some of the pressure, so my days have been mainly occupied by Audible, chess, reading (mainly chess theory lately), Call of Duty, Yu-Gi-Oh and Lego. In other words, back to the basics. While the recovery process has been hard after dealing with dialysis for three months, the pain is quite welcome for the reward of getting back to “normal life” by next year.

 With that said, I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to thank everyone who got me here. The obvious being my wonderful parents. I wouldn't be here, or be the man I am today, without them. Also, huge thanks to my nurses, doctors, friends and support from all these different wonderful communities -- never did I think I'd make the prayer list for the three major religions, I guess my degree in Religion finally did something.  Words cannot fully extend how grateful I am to each and every one of you who helped me get here - whether sharing the kidney search or just being a friend. 

As some of you may know, right before I got sick I had just graduated college with a double degree in Philosophy & Religion. I even minored in Russian Literature (my only regret is not taking Russian I & II which would have put me on a triple major). Before I got sick, I was even a semi-finalist for a Fulbright. While I recover, I am considering getting a masters degree via remote study (probably in philosophy). My long term goal is still law school. In the shorter term,my goal is to try and reach a 1500-1800 ELO chess rating and finish the 10 Lego sets I have waiting for me.

Home again.

Jake slept in his own bed last night. He woke up this morning and had coffee outside on the patio.  So far, so good.  We'll be going to the transplant clinic for checkups M/W/F for the next few months.  He's splitting his attention between chess and large Lego sets, and is starting Mandarin on Duolingo (he's also doing intermediate Japanese).  It sounds like he's got the same activities as a Tiger Mom's two year old child. He's only missing violin.

I'm back at work. Yay.  The office needs an old guy.  L.A. Law is back on TV (Hulu) and I was saddened to realize that I'm now the same age as the senior partner (Leland McKenzie) on that show. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/23/style/la-law-hulu.html

Never forget that Susan Dey is very attractive. Harry Hamlin is now married to Lisa Rinna from Melrose Place and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Moving out 2 (Electric Boogaloo)

It looks like Jake will be discharged sometime today. Like most hospital stays, it will take several unpredictable hours for the documents to be processed and the crates of medications to be delivered. He seems to have some energy and the other symptoms have subsided.  He's looking forward to playing chess against me when he's not hopped up on painkillers - so he can avenge his hospital defeats.

He seems to be hooked on the TV show Fargo.  Over the past week, that has replaced Law & Order SVU as his hospital pastime. He's up to season 3, and has two more seasons to go.  I have not been watching, so I don't know how often they say "You Betcha".

Happy Cyber Monday.  Over the last two weeks, lots of stuff has been ordered online from the hospital room (out of boredom). I do have some self control.  For example, I haven't ordered:

The USB-powered Microwave. https://www.beanzawave.co.uk/?utm_source=thisiswhyimbroke.com&utm_medium=referral 

Tactical Christmas Stockings. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PCOHLLU/?tag=097-20&ascsubtag=default

AI-powered electric rollerskates. https://shiftrobotics.io/?utm_source=thisiswhyimbroke.com&utm_medium=referral

The Queen's Gambit.

Jake's stable. Still working on the dehydration issues (even with him drinking a ton).  They are fiddling with it, but that's what would keep him here for a few more days.  C. Diff. symptoms have resolved, but there's no negative test yet.  He could walk around the floor, but they discourage that until he tests negative. I had previously told him that the laps of the floor don't count unless he touches the end wall, but they don't want him touching anything. 

His chess skills are slowly improving.  He doesn't have a rating yet (he's only been playing one month). I'd guess 800-900. When I do interviewing at work, the summer associate candidates occasionally include competitive chess as one of their interests.  If they do, my partner (who has a 2000+ rating) will join the interview. More often than not, the claim doesn't hold water. 

My new Atari 2600+ arrived at home yesterday, but I haven't had much time to play with it.  In limited experimentation, the games are fun. I was afraid the old games would be too easy.  Nope. Ms. PacMan and Surround are very challenging at the faster levels. I need some spare time to clean the old cartridges (alcohol and Q-tips) so that they work. We know that blowing in the cart is not the correct answer. I have hundreds of Atari 2600 and 7800 cartridges (not a shock, right?).

We've been at the hospital so long that all of the cafeteria specialties have repeated. The food's good, but it's a medium size public hospital and they don't have separate grill or pizza stations like larger cafeterias or private hospitals. On the other hand, if they hadn't wasted all that money on a water park...

15 Minutes of Fame

Jake got his 15 minutes of fame. There was a "Fall alert" on the hospital PA system because Jake passed out and fell last night. The constant flow of fluids is wearing him out (8 bottles of water isn't enough), and his blood pressure fell low - leading to him passing out when heading into the bed. Unclear whether it's all a side effect of C. Diff., side effect of the drugs, or something else.  They are fiddling with his fluids, so it's unlikely he gets out before Monday.

Here's the fall alert:

When we were sitting in the room yesterday, a nurse stopped in and told him that he looks just like Leif Garrett.

It requires someone of a certain age to make that connection.

Black Friday

There's a Black Friday sale at the hospital gift shop! 35% off from 6:30-9:30am, and 25% off after 9:30am.  Lots of tchotchkes to choose from.  There are a few Hot Wheels playsets, but there's no point getting excited if I can't set them up in the hospital room.

Slow-ish day.  The primary goal is to check on Jake's hydration now that he's removed from the IV. If he's stable (which requires drinking a lot) then he can go home.  He's still got C. Diff., but they don't keep you in the hospital for that alone.

To kill time, I've been stuffing the ballot box in an online contest to name Lincoln Nebraska's new snow plows.

https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/City/Departments/LTU/Transportation/Maintenance-Operations/Winter-Operations/Contest/Form?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark&fbclid=IwAR02sMzIcZlWMnJ1I-b4VImcbtjJGJ6wgIird0Rm6CmKBF3xwZU5zHNQsDM

It's 80 degrees in Miami today, so there's not a lot of local snow plow activity. There's one company that advertises Miami snow removal. Weird. I'm guessing this is run by AI.

 https://www.landscapinginmiami.com/snow-removal

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jake's kidney is working fine. Still generalized pain and discomfort, but that could be C.Diff. or just post surgery. He's in his hospital bed watching the Thanksgiving Day parade, playing networked Mario Kart (as Link) on the Switch, and playing chess on his new computerized chessboard. 

It's a little early to do the two Thanksgiving traditions - 

(1) Listen to Alice's Restaurant:

(2) Watch the WKRP Turkey Drop:

Haven't checked out today's hospital cafeteria offerings.  Maybe a hospital tofurkey? Maybe not.

While Jake's here, the dogs are sad.

S&H Green Stamps

Since he's (1) been diagnosed with C. Diff., and (2) needs the IV to replace the prodigious amount of fluids that his new kidney wants (the equivalent of 10 bottles of water a day), we will probably here until Friday or Saturday.  He's resting semi-comfortably, and trying out the new chess computer ("ChessUp") that he got in the mail.  You can play him on the internet, and the moves are indicated on his physical board.

He was here three nights last week, and 5 nights this week.  He needs 10 stamps on his patient loyalty card to redeem it for valuable prizes (not really, but go with me here).  I immediately think of the Brady Bunch episode where the boys and girls couldn't decide what to do with their full books of Green Stamps.  The boys wanted a row boat and the girls wanted a sewing machine.  They settled the dispute by competing to build a house of cards, until Tiger (the dog) ruined it. They ended up compromising on a color TV.

If you're the kind of person who needs a summary:

Imagine attempting to live a normal life when this kind of conversation occurs in your head on an hourly basis.  On the other hand, I survived in law school through prudent use of the Subway punch card (ah - sweet memories of double-punch Sundays). 

Week at the hotel

Jake tested positive for C.Diff., so he'll probably in the hospital until Friday. It's a Thanksgiving party on the renal floor! He's tired, but generally improving. Kidney is still strong.  

Over the years, I have developed a taste for the Flanigan's Thanksgiving special:

I think it's dine-in only, but I'll check.  It's not really logistically possible or enjoyable to eat a full Thanksgiving dinner in a hospital room.  

Before this week's events, I mail-ordered this monstrosity --the "Pie-Caken" --  from Goldbelly:

 

It's like a turducken, except its a pecan pie, a pumpkin pie, a spice cake and an apple pie layered together with cinnamon buttercream.  It arrived at home today.  I'll bring it to the hospital on Thursday.

Morning report from the barristas

No definitive report this morning.  Kidney numbers are still very good.  Heart rate is back down to reasonable levels. Still some achey pain, but nothing piercing.  No C. Diff. test results. That test takes a little time to run,  so it's not likely that we would have a response today.

My job is to bring the oat milk iced lattes from the hospital coffee shop.  They have a neat machine that seals the top of the cold drinks.

Looks a bit like a reel to reel tape player.  For you kids, that was the pre-cassette tape mechanism for high fidelity. 8 track was lower fidelity. (Do I own a reel to reel deck? Of course I do.) The drinks come out like this:

You get a straw with a pointy end so you can pierce the top.  As an experienced hospital dad, I'd say their coffee vendor is pretty good.  For some reason, I give extra barrista points when the coffee vendor is a kiosk/cart as opposed to a permanent installation.  

C. Diff.? :(

Jake's getting re-admitted back into the hospital.  It appears that he has C. Diff (not certain, but possible). That's a hospital-bourne bacterial infection that causes bad colon stuff.  It's a common but unfortunate side effect of being in the hospital.  I'm sure there are a number of previous 2007 and 2009 blog entries about C. Diff.   Yuck.

I'm sad. On the other hand, if that's what has been causing his discomfort, it's good to have an answer and a solution. Jen will do the today and overnight shift, and I'll do the tomorrow shift. 

Jake has fewer medical issues than our older dog. Since this is a last minute thing, the dog will stay home and I'll give him his meds and shots.  Last week, it cost $500.00 a day to board that dog, due to all the medical requirements. His younger brother cost $50.00 a day to board.

 

Checkup

Jake went back to the transplant clinic for a checkup. He feels pretty crappy, but most of the blood tests are pretty good. A few medicine adjustments, a stop off at Jimmy Johns, and heading home. If he can eat Jimmy John's, he can heal from surgery.

One surprise. They want Jake to do a press conference tomorrow.  Details to follow.

Family (part 2.)

 He's home. He's stable. Hopefully no more hospital visits until the Monday scheduled checkup.

I only have one picture from the family lounge in the hospital. Thanks Alex!

 and, as promised, there's one video of Jake walking in the hospital - with sound!

A hot ticket

We spent the morning in the ER, but we are now home.  His blood tests show that the important things are working well.  There's no good explanation for the pain and discomfort.  We shall see. 1500cc of IV saline for good luck, and he was discharged.

We got there around 8am.  By the time we left at 2pm, the ER was completely packed.  There were beds and triage chairs in the hallways. None of that was there when we started.  Apparently Saturday morning ER is a hot ticket. Maybe we could have sold our spot on Stub Hub.

Back in gray.

Tough night. Feels yucky. Back in the ER for tests and such. A bunch of blood diagnostic tests this morning, but all blood tests are good and normal (so the kidney is OK).  His long awaited and one-year backlogged Yu Gi Oh ceramic pots arrived yesterday. To feel sick in the face of that acquisition is a downer.

PS - I have a hard time deciding whether to spell it gray or grey. 

The Eagle has Landed..

 Or Shady's back.  Whichever.

They took the catheter out of his chest today. It had been there for several months, and was quite painful.  That felt like the end of a long journey.

Once that thing was out, he had a few hours of recovery, and then it was time to go home!

Now it's time to celebrate with America's greatest national treasure (Liberace).

 

Slow and steady

 One of the many medications looks like honey mustard dressing. Gross, but tasteless.

Foley catheter is out. Dialysis catheter to be removed today. Hopeful for a hospital discharge today, but it could be tomorrow.

Bad news- since Jake and the other transplant patients are immunosuppressed, the hospital's emotional comfort dogs (Freedom and Honey) aren't allowed to visit. Maybe if we dress them up like medical staff?  Once they get to the room, they can reveal their true identities.

Hospital Status

 First and foremost, 13 minutes of Veterinarian's Hospital:

Now that's done. 

Jake is supposed to have both his chest dialysis catheter and his other (more painful and awkward) Foley catheter removed tomorrow at 7am.  Go ahead and Google/Bing "Foley catheter for men."....  Yup.  It's like stepping on a Lego, but as a medical treatment.

Cruising the floor.

Jake's been doing laps of the floor every few hours.  But he hasn't been racing against the other patients.

 The rules of the floor are clear. No wagering.  On the other hand, there are no rules against Zamboni racing.

The winner gets something from the ice cream machine, which has a very odd selection of treats.

Morning report - (spoiler alert)

The head transplant doctor came and said that Jake is on transplant "cruise control". That's a good thing - it means that everything is going according to plan.  It was a bad thing when my high school academic advisor said that I seemed to be on academic cruise control and not improving.  Context matters.

Later today, they are planning to take out his dialysis catheter that he's had for the past few months. That's welcome news - it's very uncomfortable.

I'm back to observing some of the unusual sights in the hospital.  First and foremost, I want any excuse to play with the pneumatic tubes that connect the different parts of the hospital.

I am starting to obtain some of the in-surgery pictures.  The kidney would have fit neatly into one of the pneumatic containers.

Yes, that's the actual new kidney! As you can see, you need to work through my dumb humor to get to the good stuff.