Today got off to a promising start. Babygirl woke up feeling well, with a good appetite. I had already planned on doing some laundry and getting a pedicure (mission accomplished on both counts) and then walking to the hospital (also accomplished).
We spent the day catching up on Citygirl's TV series, loading Disney + into her phone, and just generally killing time.
The transplant doctor said she could have her Foley catheter removed, and much rejoicing followed. Six days with a tube up your hoo-hah is no fun, for sure.
The biopsy results came in: Acute on Chronic rejection. This is not fabulous news, and no one really has any idea what tripped the trigger on this, since a month ago it appeared to be functioning just fine.
So a plan was outlined: High dose IV steroids tonight, followed by antibodies of some flavor (hey! not my specialty. I don't always need to know exactly WHAT they are doing as long as I am confident that they know WHY), additional dialysis (to clear toxins and get rid of excessive fluid), and plasmapheresis (to remove the antibodies against the kidney).
In order to accomplish all of this, they need an IV for tonight (since the last 2 placed at Lourdes both failed within minutes of each other), and they are going to place a port under her skin that will allow for dialysis, plasmapheresis, blood draws, and routine IV access.
Except that absolutely NO ONE can get an IV into her. Not the nurses, not the IV techs, not using heat, not using ultrasound. So....no steroids tonight. One more day to let the kidney function decline.
But they did the blood and Covid testing needed for the surgical procedure and got her on the schedule for tomorrow.
We get results on the MyChart app as they appear, frequently before the doctor sees them. One popped up in the late afternoon. "Hey, congratulations! You aren't pregnant!" We laughed a while about that one.
Then about 7 PM, another popped up. "Hey, it's the Covid test!"
Positive. Positive?
It was MotherDucking positive. It's at least the third test she's had since she's been here. The others were all negative, as was a test 5 days before she was admitted.
We stayed very quiet, recognizing pretty quickly that once the doctors noticed, I'd be thrown out and would likely not be allowed to return. And since her roommate had a kidney transplant TWO DAYS ago, we were pretty sure there would be some pandemonium.
It took about 15 minutes, and a nurse came and quietly closed the door. Within another 5, the nurses returned with a cheerful story about how they were rearranging rooms, and they had a BETTER room for Babygirl's roomie across the hall! Isn't that nice?
I'm pretty sure once this woman realizes that all of a sudden everybody was gowned and shielded to the gills, she will have....concerns.
I hung out for as long as I could, but at 8 PM the nurses could really no longer pretend I wasn't there, so I had to leave, which was gut-wrenching for both of us. She has let me know that they moved her to another room, with another Covid positive transplant patient.
They aren't sure whether or not they'll be able to the procedure tomorrow.
And that's all I have. I'm going to bed.
DeeDee
PS But my toes look and feel amazing.....
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