Update #6 - Day of Transplant - Pre-Surgery - UCLA Medical Center

Wow!  Things are moving fast.  Karen was told to check in at UCLA at 1330.  At 1230 she received a call asking, “Where are you?”  What the!?!?!?!  Apparently they wanted her here a bit earlier, but nobody called her.  Whoops!  We’re here now, and there doesn’t seem to be any rush.

Other than the phone call, Karen had another surprise today.  I left the house this morning about one hour before Karen and her mom (we drove two cars since we have a rental for visiting family).  On the way I stopped to pick up a special guest star.  Barbara and I arranged to have everyone meet at the end of the Santa Monica Pier at 1130.  I gave Karen a big hug, asked how her heart was, then had her look to her left.  There on the bench, looking like a homeless person feeding the pigeons, was Karen’s beautiful sister, Jenny!  Jenny had a major foot surgery last week and didn’t think she would make it out.  But two days ago, she felt a bit better, so Barbara and her worked the magic to make it happen.  Needless to say, Karen was VERY surprised. 

So it’s 1330, and they just told Karen she’s not supposed to be here ‘till 1600.  Oh well.  Her surgery is scheduled for 1630, so we have plenty of time to wait.  If Karen’s lucky, maybe they’ll find her a bed so she can take a nap!  Anyone that knows Karen, knows that would be heaven.

One more funny thing.  For those of you that know me as “Boucher”, you probably know how much “high-quality H-2-0” means to me.  And of course, how important it is to me that Karen stays hydrated.  If you don’t know the whole story – the gist of it is – Karen doesn’t like to drink water, Karen gets dehydrated, Bob gets upset that Karen doesn’t stay hydrated, Bob and Karen get in an argument, following argument Karen drinks water for two days, then Karen doesn’t drink water, Karen gets dehydrated, Bob gets upset, etc, etc, etc.  LATELY, Karen has been doing WONDERFUL at staying hydrated!  6-8 glasses per day, just as the doctor ordered.  The funny part is that Karen was told to NOT DRINK ANYTHING AFTER 1100!  At 1245 I see her taking a swig from her bottled water, after she just polished off a liter of Gatorade!  I asked her when she was supposed to stop, and her jaw almost hit the floor.  Hydration and electrolytes – even when against the doctor’s orders?!?!  I was so proud of her!  This is the best day of my life!! 

Okay…It’s 1336 and we just got an update.  Apparently Karen’s kidney is OUT OF THE DONOR, and sitting in Texas waiting on the flight over here!  If anyone in Texas wants to stop by and say “hi” to it, or sign it or something, you’re running out of time, so hop to it.

Okay...now it's 1355 and we are back in a pre-op bed.  Hopefully I can post this before we get any more updates.

Hopefully I’ll be able to send one more update prior to the surgery.

Love to you all.  Your prayers, thoughts, and words of encouragement have been a GREAT source of comfort.  Please keep praying.

-Bob