Update #13 - Day 1 Post-Transplant - Walking, but still in pain

Quick wrap-up of the days events.  In the last 20 hours the alarm has gone off twenty times...........ahhhh.....  I kid you not, as I just typed "twenty," the alarm started beeping again! .....ahhhh........... I'm really going to miss that when we leave here.

Karen has been in much pain and had much nausea for the entire day.  If she moves, she experiences sharp pain, which is intense enough to make her feel sick.  If she uses any of the pain med, it instantly makes her nauseous.  So, in trying to avoid the overwhelming nausea, she has been trying to avoid the pain med.  Which...makes her nauseous from the pain.  And so on.  Just can't win!

The greatest challenge for Karen has been trying to sit up, stand, and walk.  Who would have guessed that stuff would be tough following a transplant?.?.?  But...she's a trooper, and has gone for two short walks (100 feet) today.  The toughest part is going from a laying down position to a standing.  Because she was under anesthesia for so long last night, they say she needs to cough up some phlegm that developed in the lungs during the procedure.  The act of standing, for some reason, induces coughing...which is good...other than the EXTREME PAIN it causes her.  The poor woman just shakes from the intensity of the pain.  The second walk was better than the first...easier up and down...and almost no coughing.  Hopefully tomorrow's walks are frequent and pain free.

Some really GREAT news.  Her most current (noon-ish) blood test showed a creatinine level of 2.0!!!!!  I know numbers don't mean much, but if you consider that the creatinine level is an indicator of kidney function, In less than 18 hours, Karen recovered close to 10 years worth of kidney function that she had lost!  (When I met her it was 1.8 or so.)  Next blood test is 0600.  Can't wait to see what the level is! 

I have very high hopes for tomorrow.  I'm confident Karen will be up for a visit from her mother and sister, of which she was not feeling up to today.  I'll put $100 down that says Karen will WANT to go for walks, rather than being coerced by the docs, nurses, or myself.  And HOPEFULLY, she can start eating some solid foods and clear liquids.  I've been holding on to a box of Wheat Thins which she ordered me to have ready.  But they look soooooo gooooooood.  Just sitting there.  Waiting to be enjoyed.  Someone should send her story into the Wheat Thins company so they can do one of their recent commercials with her.  They can deliver a pallet of Wheat Thin boxes to her hospital room.  From what I understand, as long as they're not flowers, the hospital shouldn't have a problem with it.

That's all for now.  I'll be sure to update you with her latest creatinine level when we get it.  My money is on "1.6".  As a tiebreaker I say we'll receive the blood test results at 09:17.  If you have a better guess (or any guess) than that, post it as a comment.  The winner MAY get a call from Karen if she's up for it.  So there it is...post a creatinine LEVEL and TIME...and possibly win a phone call from my beautiful wife. 

One thing I am sure of tomorrow...she will not be 'overjoyed' at my plan that has been born out of boredom.

Cheers!

Bob