The Fight Begins

This morning I woke up and had a cup of cafe con leche with my mom. She will be staying at our home with Jill while I am gone. She read Psalms 91 and prayed for safe travels and a great outcome for both Michael and Joe, "by His strips you are healed". After giving my mom a hug and kiss, my daughter drove me to the airport to catch a plane to Chicago.  She gave me a pep-talk, she knows that flying is not one of my favorite things. She loves to fly and travel, even though Michael is her step-dad, they are so much alike.  It was a beautiful day to fly, blue skies and no turbulence. The lady who was sitting by me in the plane was a research nurse who had worked at Northwestern Memorial and we talked quite a bit. Neat how God puts people in our paths. When the plane landed I could NOT wait to get to Michael. I took a shuttle to the hospital and with my suitcases and all ran to his room. While rushing through the hallway, I ran into Michael's father, mom, brother (Joe) and Heather. They were going downstairs to the cafeteria because Joe had to have an early meal to prepare for his surgery tomorrow. When I entered Michael's room I found him covered from head to toe, shivering under his blankets. Immediately a lump formed in my throat, the total body radiation had worn his already chemo laden body. He had a fever of over 103f, his blood pressure was elevated, as well as his heart rate. I put my heavy winter coat over his shaking body and started rubbing his feet and legs to warm them up. Eventually the nurse came in and per doctor's orders gave him 1600mg of Tylenol. After about an hour, his temperature went down as well as his blood pressure and heart rate. The nurse came in while Michael was asleep to tell me that he had a fainting spell in the shower. He passed out, hit his head and chipped his front tooth (I'd say that was a hard fall). When his dad Harry heard the fall, he immediately called for the nurses. Within seconds, Michael's room was filled with nurses coming to his aid. They aren't 100% sure why he passed out but they are attributing it to his weak state and taking a hot shower. I'm just relieved to know that he didn't have any serious head injury from that fall. This evening, Dr. Leventhal came in to talk to Michael before tomorrow's surgery. He felt both Michael's sides to determine which side of his abdomen he will be putting his new kidney, as for now, it looks like Michael will have his new kidney on his right side. He answered all our questions and to my relief had a fun sense a-humor. Michael has not eaten much today and is still fighting a fever. It had gone down to 101 but its back to 102. He is a bit nauseous and the nurse will be coming in to give him some Ativan to control the symptoms, it should also make him sleep which will be good since he does have a big day ahead of him tomorrow. Joe will go into surgery at 7:30am, it will take about 3 hours to remove his kidney. Michael will go into surgery at 11am, his surgery should last about 2-3 hours. Tonight Michael will be getting all his pre-op testing done.  Six vials of blood have been drawn and are on their way down to the lab. Tomorrow is a huge day, I just pray that Michael starts feeling better. I can't tell you how eerie it is to see him so still, he is normally so full of life and laughter. My prayer tonight will be that God will be with both Joe and Michael and that He will use the surgeons hands as His own hands to perform His work, for His Glory.  Amen

Flying over Chicago.

Michael, fighting the effects of the chemo and radiation.

Dr. Leventhal's visit.

I was told I could not use Michael's restroom......

Pre-surgery lab work.

To Michael.....Love ~ Me.

13 Hours to Transplant. May God's mercy and grace be with us all. You are not alone, and neither are we.

God's Blessings, Lilly