Dana Daily

Sal is anemic. They've been giving him hemoglobin during his stay to bring up his iron numbers, but today they officially classified him as such. It seems like this is a common issue, but it is concerning. His meds arrived at this house this morning so that piece of the "When Will Sal Come Home" puzzle is in place. The pharmacy at AGH also contacted me for payment for the meds that he will bring home with him from the hospital, so we're all set there as well. Now we wait. Will he be discharged today? Only time will tell.

Sal’s creatinine is a 2 today, not even 5 days post surgery. I don’t think anyone expected that. Still keeping an eye on the hematoma (it’s a bruise on his abdomen, side, and upper thigh). It could take a couple weeks to absorb/disappear. Walking and moving should help (which he’s doing a lot more of). Labs indicate kidney function is great and the bruising it isn’t painful so we watch and wait. BP has been great without meds (that he’s been on since his 20s). People don’t realize how important kidneys are to overall heath. Hoping to have the IV in his neck removed today, and at that point he’ll be able to shower and shave. That’s a big milestone to being able to come home. Shout out to to Sarah and Emily (and Seth too!) this week for being total rockstars. I’ve been in and out of the house all day long for 4 days now. If I ask them to do something, they do it. If plans / schedule change on a moments notice, they adapt. Sarah baked a pasta casserole that they heated up for dinner a cou...

I’m pretty sure if we hit the Mega Millions today, Sal would not be more ecstatic than he was when the catheter was removed this morning. His creatinine is down to 4 (another big drop)! Sal slept a lot today. His body has been through a lot and he hasn’t slept well in 3+ years so he has some catching up to do. We had plans this weekend to go to a couple Pirates games with Kurt and Kim. Obviously that isn’t happening, but they came into town anyway, and it’s been great having them here. We went to Middle Road Inn and Sarah waited on us. Then, we picked Emily and Seth up from Paige's pool party and came back to our house for a bit. Because they're car is in the shop, I ran them to their hotel (The Joinery) down by Point State Park.

Sal's creatinine is down from 18 (at check-in), 13 (yesterday), and 7 (this morning). Kidney is functioning really well. A hematoma developed near the kidney, but it’s not unexpected and they’ll watch it. Hopefully his body will absorb it, otherwise it’ll have to be surgically drained. Doesn’t seem to be huge concern for anyone. We should have a home health nurse coming in daily for blood draws and whatever, but agencies are understaffed so it sounds like we’re going to have to drive back and forth to the hospital for a few days/weeks. We met with the pharmacist and social worker today. Went over post transplant life at home. It’s daunting, but once we adapt to the new routine, I think it’ll be okay. Because kidney function is so good already, he gets to start off on a lower dose of anti-rejection meds (12 pills a day. We were trying to remember but he thinks the first time he went through this they had him taking 18). While he was on dialysis, he fought high phosphorus all the tim...

Everything is looking great with Sal’s new kidney. It’s working, he feels good, and they’re switching him from a clear liquid diet to solid foods. PT and OT were here to get him out of bed and walking (which went well). His creatinine levels have already dropped from 18 to 13. That’s significant and a good indicator of kidney function. I was able to bring Seth to the hospital today to visit Sal as well. I think it was good for both of them. Sal misses all of us, and it was good for Seth to see that Sal is doing well.

4:00pm - arrive at the hospital 5:38 - wheeled back for surgery 8:42 - surgeon called - Sal out of surgery 10:14 - hospital called with room number (834)