Healing

I just wanted to thank everyone for all of the love and support and healing energy that you've all been sending. I can't say it enough and I feel like saying it isn't enough. But thank you.

I was discharged yesterday evening. I won't lie, I'm in a lot of pain that the pain pills I am taking helps to control it, but it doesn't stop it. It's not good if I don't stay on top of them - thinking about setting an alarm clock in the night to wake me up and remind me.

Joaquin is doing so great. I've asked Chris to write a little about how he's doing because I haven't physically been able to make it down to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) to see him much. Just getting my updates through my family. The times that I have been able to make it down there it seems like the doctors are bugging him and making him uncomfortable or hurting him. I guess that's not the way it always is, but just seems like it when I am around. It's hard for me to see him. I don't like seeing my little guy in pain and I don't think he's feeling too much, but the other day Dr. Alexander (the main renal pediatric doctor) said that he's probably feeling about as much pain as I am feeling and I said, "That is not good." But at the time they had taken him off the drugs so that they could see how well he did without the breathing tube. He pulled that out by himself, mom said, the other day. Guess he didn't need that anymore!

But I think it's a good thing that the doctors are always around him bugging him... he's a priority. They have no complaints as far as his healing goes. They say my kidney (correction, OUR kidney, more his kidney) is a perfect specimen for kidney donation. The transplant went "very smoothly" in the words of Dr. Concepcion. He came into my room a few times after the surgery and seemed very happy - dare I say thrilled - about how well it all went. He' s a man who doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve and I was relieved at how happy he seemed. Cathy came in the day after surgery and told me that going into the transplant his creatinine - which is formed by the metabolism of creatine, that is found in muscle tissue and blood and normally excreted in the urine as a metabolic waste - was 4.5 and that is high for even an adult.

Adult female: 0.5-1.1 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL)
· Adult male: 0.6-1.2 mg/dL
· Adolescent: 0.5-1.0 mg/dL
· Child: 0.3-0.7 mg/dL
· Infant: 0.2-0.4 mg/dL
· Newborn: 0.3-1.2 mg/dL.

And right after the transplant Joaquin's levels were already down to 0.19 and are current at 0.2 - which is SO GOOD! Right now mine is at 1.1.

Mom says that while she was pretty angry at Cathy for what she put us through, she has to give her credit for being on top of Joaquin's care while he's been in PICU. Every time I walk into the room the doctors all said "Well look who it is!" And I can see Joaquin's lips curl into a smile around his NUK (a.ka. his pacifier). Mom said that when she came into visit him yesterday he had some little toys that he was playing with and that they played together for a little while and then he took a nap.

Everyone is hoping that he will be out of the PICU in the next day or so. Dr. Alexander said that along as he didn't "give us any more little surprises" then he would be moved to his own room on the west wing of 3rd floor. I would expect that he will be released from the hospital in around 2 weeks(3 weeks from the time of transplant).

I will try and get Chris to write some for the blog so you can get a better understanding. It's both physically and emotionally hard and painful for me to get down to see Joaquin. I do miss my little guy because we are usually glued to the hip at all other times. I cannot wait until most of the tubes are out and he gets to come home. But for now it's all about healing.

ps ~ Some people have asked for it so here it is, our address at the Ronald McDonald House:

Joaquin, Chris, & Meghan
Room M312
520 Sand Hill Road
Palo Alto, CA
94304-2001