Back at stanford

Hello all, Anna here. I am feeling well enough to make a quick post (from my awesome iPad) thanks mom and dad. I had to go to my follow up appointments today and now have to report that they had to bring me back in to put in another chest tube to drain the crappy old blood that has accumulated in there. The good news is this isn't serious but the bad is that I have to be back, but the stay won't be too long (here's to hoping) and I have to do more dialysis so it isn't all in vain. Where did this positive attitude come from? It sure has not show itself for anwhile, but it is nice to get a glimmer of hope of my old self. Let's hope she sticks around the rest of the time. Signing off for bed now. Night night from Stanford......

Day 16 Post Transplant!

ANNA MODLIN IS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL! YAHOO!!!!

It finally feels like we are now officially on the other side of the transplant.

Phew! We did it!

Anna gets out of the hospital today!

It will be so great for Anna to get out of that darn place and back to more comfortable territory. Anna is going to be going back to the apartment that is just down the street from Anna's home. My mom and I have been staying there for the past few months as we were waiting for Anna's Tx and trying to keep her healthy. Anna is going there because there are no stairs so it will be easier for her to move around the house. The unfortunate thing about getting out is now she will have to have a blood draw EVERY DAY (OIY)! Which means she has to do the trek back to the hospital all the time. She also still is not done with dialysis and has to have that every other day. So Anna is going to be busy busy even though she is getting out of the hospital.

One of Anna's current challenges is wearing the mask. She feels like she is suffocating and it gives her a bit of a panic attack. I tried one on and even for me it was incredibly hard to breath in. Any of you transplanters have some tips for her?

Day 13 Post Transplant

Anna is continuing to do well. Yay again for pee! Although her kidneys are still not all the way back to normal and they will have to do dialysis again tomorrow. She was able to eat somewhat more substantial dinner tonight as her sensitive tongue has prevented her from eating anything more than cream of wheat. Tomorrow they are going to start with the medication education where we get to learn about what needs to be taken and why. The latest goal is for Anna to go home on Wed! Wow! That will be fabo! She has had a hard time sleeping here and I think her healing process will be easier once she can really rest. Thats the latest!

Anna PEEEED!!!!

YAY PEE! She has peed last night AND this morning! WOOOHOOO GOOOO KIDNEYS!!!!

Sorry for the short update, but I will post more later!

Day 10

Today Anna is up and wanting to move. She keeps getting stronger everyday. Its rough for her to be in the ICU, since now that is not the place for her. We are waiting on a room to be available in step down again, but looks like it might be one more night in ICU since things are full up. Her mind is back, but today she is starting to realize how hard this all is. Anna keeps saying "I had no idea how hard this really would be." Its hard for her to see all the progress she has made. Anna is now able to sit up and stand up all on her own, which she needed help with before. She also has a lot of edema and is weeping out of all the punctures she has had in her arm. This causes for her skin to get really sensitive and its uncomfortable for her. Last night she was able to watch Glee! I think that cheered her up a bit. Today I bought her a coloring book called "The Potty Book." I think she will get a kick out of it. Hopefully we can also take her for a spin in the wheelchair and get her outside. She is getting stir crazy as anyone would be who was sitting in a hospital room for a week and half.

Kidneys still havn't kicked in yet. Go, Kidneys, Go!

Day 9 Post-Transplant

Anna is back in ICU, but doing much much better today. She is still confused, but a little bit back to herself. She was up for walking around today and eating. All good things. Anna got moved to the ICU because she pulled out her central line while she was sleeping. Luckly the nurse had put on a bed alarm and they caught what she had done quick. They wanted to monitor her while she was so out of it and not her self. Once she really gets back to being able to take better care of herself they will let her go back to step down. Anna had to get a pick line and a new dialysis line in yesterday, and now she is up to snuff again!