Day 3

Hello Everyone, well its my third day after surgery and I'm feeling a lot better. I'm able to walk around very well and the incisions are healing up nicely. In fact I don't even need the pain meds anymore which is nice, because the side effects of the pain meds can outweigh the benefits sometimes, however that is probably not a subject that is 'blog' friendly.
Today we had several visitors, we saw Kevin's parents, Jim and Marjie, and his sister Kelly. We also saw our neighbor from San Diego, Larry Megan and my parents stopped by again as well. So it was fun to catch up with everyone and talk. Kevin is looking GREAT and will be released tomorrow in the early afternoon. He should make a guest appearance on the blog tomorrow or Monday to give his thoughts and experiences.
Tomorrow morning KM leaves to go back to ANC. That will be a total bummer as it has been great having her here. Not only for all her help and support but just so that the two of us had a chance to hang out with few distractions for the first time in a long time. I will definitely miss her for the next few days while I am here by myself, and I'm sure I will be bored out of my mind in about 36 hours. I will stay through Thursday. On Wednesday I see the surgeon to get the final okay to leave the area. Unless my progress suddenly stops or takes a serious turn for the worse I don't see any problems with the final check.
I think that is about it for this one. Thanks for reading and I'm doing great and just about ready to get out of here myself. Love, Storm

Friday Evening

Today went very well. We woke up, went downstairs to get some breakfast and then took a lap around the block...Storm slighty bent and shuffling and me turning my entire upper body to look at him because the 8" tall, hard foam, hotel pillows have fused my entire C-spine. If we would have been wearing little paper crowns we could have been mistaken for a couple celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary! :) After that arduous outing we hit the sack for a nap....how pathetic, Storm and me in bed in the middle of the day, in a hotel in So Cal, no kids and NO ACTION!!! Man, we are lame! :) (Yes, my mother does read this blog....and she laughed, so loosen up.) After our big nap we headed over to see Kevin. Kevin keeps thanking Storm for the kidney but says "all I needed was a kidney; not a Ferrari!" Kevin's told us his muscles do not ache anymore, his vision has improved, his skin does not itch and his creatinine (I can't spell this today) level has fallen to two. (Normal is below one and he was a three 8 years ago increasing to eleven since I have been married to Storm.) He told us today that he did not realize how sick he was until he started feeling this great...and it only gets better from here.

Many, many, thanks to our Alaskan extended family. Pat (Storm's mom) has been caring for our boys and she told us that our friends and neighbors have come over to walk Hattie, gone to the store to pick up food, dropped off homemade dinner, called to check on her, had kids over to play, and Mrs. Quiroz (Nick's teacher) and Ms. Sylvia and Ms. Tara (Alex's teachers) have all invited Pat and the younger siblings into their classrooms to help keep Pat and the young boys entertained and involved. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking care of our family. You have taken away the worry of those left behind and that is a heavy burden lifted. We owe you big!! Here, here to the Last Frontier, you guys are top notch! More later, much love to all of our family and friends; your support has been the bedrock. -Kerry

Hi everyone, its Storm. I'm continuing to feel better and better. The CO2 gas in my system is the thing causing the most pain, I hope that will go away soon. The walking helps a lot and that's what I'll continue to do. That's about it, thanks to everyone for all the help and support. Talk to you tomorrow. Storm

Some Pics

Hello again everyone, I'm feeling a lot better oh wait that's the vicodin. Just kidding I am feeling a lot better, mostly due to a 3 hour undisturbed nap in a comfortable bed. Its amazing to me that anyone makes any progress in getting healthy in that place(the hospital). Glad that part is over. Well the bad news is that KM's D70 seems to be TU so we have limited pictures. Yes, I did buy her new D200 for Mother's Day/Anniversary but its safely in a drawer at home so not helping us right now. But we did get a few pics before the surgery so here they are. See Ya, Storm

Storm's Back!

Hello everyone, I am back in my 'hotel' room and feeling better. I am really sore and my midsection is a little bloated but now that I am out of the hospital I can actually get some rest and start healing up. I don't know how anyone thinks you can get well in a hospital, that place is a nightmare. I think I got about 2.5 hours of sleep total last night. The Foley catheter was a total drag and once they took that out this morning things rapidly improved in my life. Then I was able to get up and walk around (slowly and slightly bent over) and things started to feel a lot better. I even walked the block and a half home from the hospital! Apparently on the OR table they had me on my side, bent in the middle with my arm over my head, so now my shoulder hurts worse than the incision and my lower back was absolutely killing me on the crappy hospital bed, it was a long night to say the least. But now that its quiet and no one is dropping things in the hall or barging in the room in the middle of the night I should be able to get some rest. Poor Kevin has to spend 3 or 4 more days in that hell hole. But the good news is that he feels better than he's felt in years, and looks a lot better too.

It hasn't been a cakewalk but seeing Kevin like that has made it worth it, and in a few weeks I'll just have a few scars (if you're wondering I have 4 small pencil hole scars on my left side and one 3 inch incision in the center below my belt line) and some memories but no lasting ill effects. Thank you to everybody that has called, written, blogged, visited or helped out in any way. You have all helped us work our way through this journey and we could not have done it with out you. I want to give a special thanks to my wife for supporting me in countless ways through this whole process and to my Mom who at this moment is in Alaska taking care of Nick, Alex and Max. Without either of you this simply could not have happened. It is very humbling to see how many people truly care about our family's well being. This has been an amazing experience, and it has taught me a lot about myself, a few years ago if someone would have told me that I would voluntarily step in the hospital for any reason I would've told them to go smoke another one, yet here we are.

A quick note about the surgery and then I'm getting some rest. It took about 3 hours and they actually inflated my midsection with CO2 so they had more room to work, now I look all bloated as that CO2 gets absorbed back into my body. The worst part has been going with out food from Sunday at midnight until 1030 on Thursday, I definitely lost some weight! I'm also out of energy so I'll write more later. Take Care, Storm

Good Morning

Just a quick note to all of our friends and family out there...THANK YOU!!! I am not sure if I can describe how much it means to both of us to hear from you. I had forgotten about the comments part of this blog and when I got back to the hotel last night and logged on there were several to read; you all are amazing. It is so comforting to know that people are taking the time out of their busy lives to send us a little strength; it truly does lift the spirit. Thank you for all the cards and pictures, Storm and I are really enjoying them. Your support has made all of this much easier. We look forward to catching up with all of you once we are back home. Happy Birthday to my brother Kevin today (not Storm's cousin Kevin, it can get confusing). It was Vera's birthday yesterday, so in celebration of that and the transplant we had a (A, one, uno, single) glass of wine at the Olive Garden right across the street from the hospital. When we walked back to see the guys I of kissed Storm hello (of course) and the first thing he says to me is "Have you been boozing it up?" :) Yeah, me, Kerry Carl "boozing it up". Storm has so many narcotics on board the Feds are going to be sniffing him out for weeks! So as I stumble around UCLA today I will keep you posted. Storm is "supposed" to be checked out around 1100 (read 14-1500 if lucky) and we go from there. Thanks again for all the love, you may never know how much it is appreciated. Stay safe, I'll be in touch. -KM

Honestly, as much as I love this technology....my Nikon D-70 keeps corrupting my cards (I only brought two) so no pictures from me and then I just tried to download another file photo (for your viewing pleasure) and was denied twice. It just chaps me a little. When this stuff works it is wonderful, and when it doesn't I am too stupid to get around it and it is extremely frustrating!!! SO, I will try again. :)No joy....well, off to the showers and then hospital, see ya' soon.

Things are looking up

I am finally back at the hotel....from 0445 to 2130 I was at the hospital (there was a break in there for dinner...). Storm looked like he got hit by a freight train for most of the afternoon. He was in a lot of pain and still very drugged. After I returned from dinner I saw a huge improvement. He has managed to joke a bit and even smiles. It is really quite painful to see Storm in that much discomfort. I never got anymore information about the surgery, although I did finally meet the doctor on evening rounds. His (Storm's) medical staff has been attentive and competent, so that is all I can really ask for. Kevin did not get to his room upstairs until 1715 (his surg started at 0830): but when he got there he looked awesome! (In pain as well, but still awesome!) His bloodshot sclara were already white and he was putting out 2 liters of urine an hour! That is the best news ever. What is really telling is that Kevin had just been to dialysis the night before and he should have been "clean". Dialysis is only 15% of a normal, healthy kidney function, so Storm's kidney got in there and started cleaning house! Vera and I tucked in the guys for the night and headed back to the hotel...no staying over night in shared rooms. It has been an amazing experience to see Kevin so happy and on the road to health, Storm will catch up fast and all of this will be a great memory. I just want to say that I am in awe of what Storm put himself through today for the benefit of another, he is an incredible man and I am blessed to call him mine. Good night Stormin', I love you with all that I am...sweet dreams Babe. -KMC

AWAKE!!!!

I FINALLY got to see my sweetheart! And boy is he ever bent out of shape about that Foley cath. Storm is awake, rough voice, and sore throat due to the breathing tube, states he feels like he has been kicked in the stomach, but the biggest discomfort is the foley. He is cranky and dropping the "F" bomb about that thing....very unlike my very mellow and curtious husband....maybe the drugs are bothering him as well. So surg is over, he is doing great (by their standards) and Keving is in the Recovery Room. The scary part is over. Now with enough pain medication we can start the healing process. The docs said that Storm's kidney began working the moment it was connected to Kevin, great news!!!! Thanks for checking in, we love you guys!! -KM