A Transplant Journey~ Hotel Recovery Week 1
After being released from the hospital on Tuesday, we moved to the Hilton at UAB. They work with transplant patients and give prorated rooms based on your income which I am so very grateful for. I would have to stay in Birmingham until early August. The number of tests and appointments plus the biggest need for care in the first month for complications or rejection made staying in town the only option.
The schedule I was given consisted of Monday and Wednesday blood tests at the Kirklin Clinic at 7 a.m. with blood work and a clinic visit on Fridays at the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Center. I also had physical therapy twice a week. That Friday, I did my PT intake after being given a few days to settle in. I was moving decently as I had been in the hospital. I did use a walker when I left the hotel room as I still had the drain and it hurt the muscles a lot.
Another issue I had to deal with was the side effects from the heparin shots given in the hospital. While they were able to take me off the drip, they had to give me subq shots three times a day. They started in my upper arms. This turned out to be a mistake. As at that point, I could really only move myself in the bed with my arms; we hadn’t started PT yet. My arms were insanely bruised, and the nurses couldn’t hide their faces when they saw them. After that we moved to my stomach. This caused bruises all across it. They got worse when I put on my PJ pants to go home (or any time I put something on with a band really). I had to change the whole way I slept and move around. As I publish this, the arm bruises are just a shadow, but my stomach bruises are still dark blue blossoms.
Tuesday night, my parents and I grabbed Subway (I had my deli mat heated as I am supposed to have now). Sleeping was still hard because of gas and pain meds but the bed was super comfortable and much better than a hospital bed. I could also get the room super cold as I had been hot the whole time (not unusual for me when I am sick or healing). The next morning, we made our first trek to Kirklin at 7 a.m. My orders hadn’t been called in when I got there, and it took half an hour to forty-five minutes to get the orders in and get my lab work done.
My mom had to go to the doctor to have her staples removed from her SI Joint surgery she had had two weeks ago. (She and my uncle had both had surgeries the week before me, so we were all on the mend.) Luckily, my friend Emily was able to come and stay with me. We hit up the hotel restaurant (getting me up and moving) and had a yummy lunch. Emily had brought some fresh fruit that rounded out our meal.
My meds made me tired but also disjoined. I never sleep great on pain killers, but I had taken something for relaxation as I was nervous about being out of the hospital (I would get nervous when I went home too; change of venues was happy but nerve wracking). We found Friends; a fun, comfortable show that I didn’t have to think too much about. I would fall in and out sleep. I would awake almost startled asking Emily a million questions: did my doctor call? Were the results good? Had I set out my meds for tonight? Had I taken my daytime doses? The answer to all of this was yes. Emily was so patient with me and devoted as much time that day as I needed. I am truly grateful to her.
Friday was my first post-transplant t visit to the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Clinic. We had to be in an hour early for lab work. Then I met with the pharmacist and went over my meds. She ensured I was taking the right doses at the right times (we also went over what over the counter meds I could and couldn’t take). We did vitals. I was below 200 pounds for the first time since I got covid in 2020. (It was a relief because in the hospital I was weight 215-220 from the fluids they were pushing). Then we waited to see the doctor. It took time for all of this and, until I get more stable, I will see all/any doctors in the clinic. I liked the first doctor immensely (she was also the doctor who put me on the transplant list), and she had a surgeon consultant look at my drain. He said it was ready to be removed. They pulled the drain which elicited my first out loud F Word of the entire process. And just pulling that drain helped the pain so much. By Saturday I was able to walk fully erect without the pain pulling me inward.
I was able to cut down on my magnesium. Having one less pill excited me; I had SO many to take. They also gave me a binder to help me feel supported while my abdomen healed. Overall, all looked well. The surgical site was good, and the kidney was working well. The only issue was that my blood pressure was still too high, and they gave me a medication for it. (This would kick my butt later). I kicked the walker goodbye!
We walked from the clinic to the cafeteria and back to the parking deck. For those of you that aren’t familiar with UAB, this equates to many a city block and one incline. I pooped. To be fair it was only a week after the transplant. I then took pain meds and stayed in bed the rest of the day
The only way out is through, Audrey
A Transplant Journey
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