05.16.2008 - Details

From Julian's COTA journal.

I'm sitting with Julian in the dialysis clinic. 30 minutes to go. Clubhouse Disney is on the overhead television, and Dennis is keeping Julian entertained with purple balloons that bear a suspicious resemblance to medical exam gloves. Julian is laughing. The nurses here love Julian, and tell us that Julian is one of the sweetest little ones they've ever had in clinic.

Dr. Alexander visited with us this a.m. More details about next week's surgery. We'll report for dialysis on Monday morning as usual. Once we're finished here, we'll march right over to admitting and check Julian and Cheryl in. They'll start Julian's transplant meds on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday morning, they'll remove Cheryl's kidney; then at noon, Julian will go in for the transplant. The surgery should take around 8 ours, barring complications.

Once's he's out, he'll be in the PICU for a few days. Dr. A explained that their number one priority is making sure the kidney thrives during the first 48-72 hours. As such, it's very likely that he'll be sedated and intubated during that time.

Lots to think about over the weekend. In the mean time, we're going to do what we can to make this this weekend a special one. I have no idea what that means in practical terms, but I'm sure we'll think of something.

I'll be posting more over the weekend, as well as through the surgery. However, once Tuesday hits, it's unlikely that I'll have ready access to my laptop. So, the best way you can stay up to the minute is to visit me at Twitter.com

http://twitter.com/dphillips

I can post mini-blog entries via text messaging from my phone, so I can do it a lot more frequently. A handy tool in times like these.

Almost time to disconnect Julian from the machine. Will post more later.