The following week, on March 12, Tin Man was supposed to be admitted for a week to put him on a new medicine to see if it helped his kidney function at all. He was supposed to have several other tests done that week to get ready to list him for a kidney transplant along with a heart transplant.
We talked off and on that morning. We were trying to finalize the plans for the following week. Then at 12:05 PM he called me to tell me that Sarah (one of our favorite nurses) called to tell him they had a possible heart for him and that he needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible because they wanted to do a kidney ultrasound and some blood tests to see how his kidney function was.
That phone called turned my world upside down and inside out.
During the 15 months he waited for that call we made a list of everything we needed to do once it came. Stop the mail, who was going to watch the kids, what we needed to bring with us to the hospital. Who we needed to call.
Once that call came, those lists went out the window. I was trying to get our things together, get the kids things together, call people, along with trying to finish up what dishes were in the sink, go through the fridge, and make sure the garbage got out.
Needless to say, things got pretty chaotic.
We got to the hospital around 2 and we waited for what seemed like forever before they came to take Tin Man back for his ultrasound and blood work.
This is a picture of Sarah explaining what was going to happen in the next few hours.
I couldn't sit for more than 5 minutes at a time. I couldn't believe there wasn't huge worn paths in the waiting room from me pacing back and forth. Finally around 9 PM they had found him a bed. Well more like made him a bed in a room that was supposed to be private. That's when the fun began. IVs, more blood work, plasma transfusion, EKG, echo, everyone in and out explaining how things were going to go. Not to mention my constant calling my in laws trying to find out where they were so we could determine if they would be there in time.
Once the mad rush of people in and out of the room calmed down, we talked about what we were going to do once he was released from the hospital. Our plans. He was so stressed out because we had to live near the hospital for 3 months after transplant and he couldn't stand the thought of being away from the kids for that long.
I still can't believe that was 1 year ago today. Tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary of his transplant. It also marks the 1 year anniversary of his donor's death. We don't know anything about him. Just that he was much younger than Tin Man and his heart was much much stronger and healthier. I would love to meet his family, but I do know they may want to remain clueless as to whether their loved one's heart lived on or not.
I can respect that, and whether I get to ever meet them or not, they will always be apart of our family.
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