August 7, 2009 (I)

Let me see if while it's quiet I can get a little done here...


The sunday, July 5th, we got called into the hospital was one of the longest days for both Scott and myself. We arrived at Emory at 2pm and the rest of the day was spent running tests and meeting various people with the transplant team. They wouldn't tell ...us if the organs had arrived at Emory yet, so we spent from 2pm until 8:15 pm waiting (let me stress the waiting part) for them to let us know if the transplant would happen that day or be postponed until the next morning. Finally (FINALLY) at 8:15 it was decided that the transplant would happen first thing Monday morning. In the mean time Scott's parents and sister were doing the first part of their drive from Florida and Scott's local aunt and uncle were on standby waiting to see when they needed to leave to arrive at Emory for the surgury. I was able to leave the hospital once the decision was made, to come back to the house to pick up the dogs and get them dropped off with my friend Tonya since we expected the next few days to be grueling. It was my Mom that pointed out to me that we needed to do something with them...and she was right. Thanks Mom and Tonya! I arrived back at the hopital around 10:30pm Sunday night. Mind you - Scott was asleep when Emory fir...st called Sunday and since we didn't know when the transplant might happen he didn't eat or drink anything. When I left the hospital he was one grumpy grump because he's not eaten since Sat night. The hopital wouln't let him eat until it was decided he would have the tranplant the next morning. On a personal level I noted that Emory realizes that family can be a great resource for information about the patient. One of the things I've encountered moving through the past three years is that most doctors only deal with the patients, excluding family most of the time when it comes to the illness. I think they for...get that family usually ends up being the sole caretaker for the patient - and in Scott's case that's me. I know his illness and history better at this point then he does. Emory's transplant team (all 8 or so that we met during our day and a half there) listened to me, asked me questions and then asked if I had any questions...I was floored. After three years I just got to the point that I thought all doctors and various medical staff personal were the same. Emory also have the transplant room set up for family. The room was very large. It included a full bathroom with a shower and a reliner that pulled out into a bed. This may all sound selfish on my part...but put yourself in my shoes. If it were your husband or wife, your child or a parent wouldn't you want to stay as well. Truely these small things make such a difference for the whole experience. when I returned to the hospital Scott updated me on the few staff visits he hd while... I was gone. I got the bed/chair ready and we were lights out by 11pmish. We knew the next day was going to be really, really long. As expected (no matter how comfortable the bed/chair is) the staff was in at least once an hour checking various things. Scott can sleep through just about anything, I however am a light sleeper (probably more so since Scott went into kidney failure) so I think I got one solid hour of sleep between 2and 3 am. Otherwise I was up everytime they came in. Scott and I both woke up around 5:30 expecting them to come and get him for the surgury at any time. I called his parents at 5:30 to let them know that they should continue heading north. About 6:15 they came to collect Scott to go to pre-op. I went down with him. It's always a bit sureal in the pre-op and post op areas. So much activity going on. With Emory the staff is doubled because of the students. for those of you that may not know Emory is a teaching hospi...tal. So always so many doctors, techs and students running around. Once we arrived we had an onslaught of people coming over and doing their specifics with Scott and I getting him ready for the transplant. We found out during this time that some of Scott's cardiologists records were missing from his file at Emory - and the surgeon wanted these resuts. Then the surgen came in to see Scott - this was the first time either of us had met him. One of the very first things I noted was that he wore a pin on his color that was a "Donate Life" logo - Loved it!! (continued in next post)