Where Were You On 11-1-11?

Tuesday morning was a little different then most days in our house.  Mark had no school, Chris was working from home and I was trying to figure out what to do with my day!  Mark and I decided to take a trip to BJ's.  Off we went to Leominster.  On our way out Mark spotted my Aunt and ran up to get her.  We chatted outside the store for a few minutes.  That was when we got the "call".  I had always thought we would get the call at night.  I was a bit surprised...Of course crying and panicking at the same time!  My Aunt helped us put our goods in the car, and off we were to get Chris and head to Boston.
When I answered the phone the nurse had said "It's time"....and I remember saying "are you serious?"  then I proceeded to tell her I was at BJ's and she told me to get dressed and come in?!?  She thought I said I was in my PJ's...hehe!  So from Leominster to Littleton, we packed our bags and off to Boston we went.  We made it to Boston within an hour and half of the phone call.

All packed and ready for transplant.

When we arrived in Boston we headed straight up to the Dialysis clinic.  This would be Mark's last dialysis treatment for now!  The only way that would change is if he has a sleeping kidney post transplant...and/or he needs another transplant down the road.  For now we can say it was the last treatment!!

The end of the last treatment!

While Mark was having his last Dialysis treatment he had some labs done and I headed to admitting.

Once treatment was done we headed up to 10south to get settled and wait for the go...This was around 6 or so Tuesday night.  Then the waiting game began...we waited and waited and waited.  It was rumor that we would go to transplant late Tuesday night.  We had company to keep us busy for awhile...

Talking to Uncle Den

Sad attempt to capture us together!

We were with My parents, Chris' parents, Evy and Bobby.  After waiting for a bit we all started to fade.  Some headed home and the rest of us tried to go to bed.  We just had no idea when we would get the go!

Night Night

I was up almost all night. Every time the door opened we thought it was go time.  At about 3:30am I gave up and tried to sleep.  Around 5 or the Doctor came in and said it was still a go and he would see us in a few hours :)  That gave me hope again.  They told us from day one we could get to the hospital, they could send us home because it wasn't the best fit.  That is why I was stressing as time passed.  Although we ended up in transplant around noon time it was all for good reason to wait.  There was a transplant just before Mark.  The other kidney was going to one of his dialysis friends.  Two happy families in one day.  Of course feeling grateful for our donor and hoping that family understands the gift they gave us.  I'm truly hoping they are at peace with their decision...we will never be able to express how grateful we are feeling.

10 Months

There is one good thing about all of this waiting...We have had the opportunity to not miss out on much this Fall!  My fear...spending another Christmas at Children's.  We were told he could be listed up to 100 days.  100 days will be on November 9th....That is close to the start of the holidays.
Tonight we will celebrate 10 months at the Franco in Westford.  A family friend is hosting a fundraiser for Mark.  Mark just keeps on saying he is so excited to dance the night away!  It will be a nice distraction to see people and have a good time.
Let's just hope I will be blogging about transplant when we hit 11 months.  Please keep your fingers crossed!

Field Trip Day earlier this week!

Thinking About Christmas

Yes I said it...Thinking about Christmas.  There are lots of reasons why this wonderful holiday is crossing my mind.  I know.... Can we get past Halloween and Thanksgiving first?  This all stems from the dreaded Endocrinology appointment and the "Toy book".  First the toy book (as Mark likes to call it).  Mark came off the bus with a toy catalog from the bus driver.  He wouldn't stop looking at this magazine.  He kept on saying "Can I have this from Santa?"  So I gave him a pen and told him to start circling.  He did..happily!  I thought the entire book would be circled when he finished, but to my surprise it wasn't to bad.  His prize possession out of all the toys in the book...The Tea cart.  Yes The Tea Cart.  I wish I could find the book so I could take a picture of it, but I bet Mark is sleeping with it at the moment!  It is a red cart that comes with tea cups, a tea/coffee pot, dishes..ect.  He thinks it will be fantastic to be able to serve his Mom and Dad tea and coffee on Christmas morning...and many days to come!  The book came home almost 2 weeks ago and the Tea Cart is still the favorite!
Moving on to the appointment.  I was dragging my feet not wanting to go to this appointment last week.  The Renal doctor had suggested we go to the Endocrinologist just as a check in due to his labs being off.  When we arrived the first thing the doctor said to me was "Why are you here? The doctor that sent you did not send a referring note".  At that moment I wanted to scream!!!  So I explained to her the highs and lows in his lab results.  She looked at me and said "Well maybe if he had a kidney that worked this wouldn't be a problem".  At that moment I wanted to high-five her.  I controlled my self...I thought it my be a little wrong...but I was happy to hear that was her solution!  These levels we are looking at have always been a challenge for him, so it's no surprise to me that we would see bigger spikes in drops with his current state.  Moving on with the appointment she brought up another subject...Puberty.  I wanted to crawl under my chair..I know childish...I'm a mother I can had this!  As I stare at my innocent sweet little boy that really only wants a Tea Cart for Christmas, I'm not grasping the conversation.  Needless to say I will spare you the details, but the process has begun.  It just seems weird that Santa will bring a Tea Cart this year and replace the bubbles in the stocking with deodorant.  God who knew parenting could be so rough!

Celebrate 60?

I always wonder about others, Is your glass half full or half empty?  I hate to admit it but I'm for sure a half empty type of gal.  I was thinking about this after I had a conversation with a friend last night.  When I think back at what I said I realized how negative I sounded!  We were talking about Mark (of course) and his progress.  He was saying how great Mark looked, and how positive he seems.  Then we started to chat about the wait...and the phone call.  I said "Mark has been listed for 59 days, tomorrow will be 60."  Then I mentioned so crap under my breath, "Not that I'm counting!"  Who I'm I kidding...I am counting by the minute.  Then I started to complain about how long it's been and how this all needs to end...blah, blah, blah.  We had talked about when Mark was listed they said the wait could be up to 100 days.  I'm feeling at this point will surpass that milestone.  I thought we would only wait about a month or so!  While this conversation was going on He just looked at me and said "You guys are so close, only about a month left, it could happen anytime now."  He is right.  Yes Mister half full...you are right!  I thought about this last night...I am seriously such a Debbie Downer.  I think I have come to terms with being a half empty girl.  I remember as a child playing with friends and cousins, and asking that same question to each other.  I also remember my answer..it was always half empty.  This is something I need to change...NOW!  So thanks to my friend I have realized I need to try to be positive.  So today I will celebrate 60 days.  We have come so far and will not have to wait much longer!  With hopes that my glass will be half full one day!

On a side note while I was writing this I looked at Mark and said...."Is your glass half full or half empty?"  With a big grin on his face he looked at me and said...."Half full!"