Think about it just one more day and I will be transplanted. This was my thought the day before the transplant. On Monday to start to prepare for surgery I had to drink that nasty lemon stuff. That was fun not really, but I am glad I got extra soft TP. Now I could not have anything to eat and was on liquid diet but I knew that it would be worth it.
Now it was time to get ready to go and get my last antibody infusion glad I could do it at my local hospital seems that I will be sitting most of the day but once again it will be worth it.
Is that my tummy growling well it’s just going to have wait. It won’t be long than I can eat things I have dreamed about. As I got up to get ready for the day these are some of the thoughts that were going through my mind. I got up around 7 and went to my local hospital to get an antibody infusion. Being that my donor was young and so was I this was needed for the transplant to work right. So, to the hospital I went and got the treatment started. As soon as I got started, they brought me a menu and said to pick what I wanted to eat. Trust me it was so tempting to get a plate of real food instead of chicken broth, but I kept me goal in mind and kept with the chicken broth. As I was doing treatment one of the techs stopped by to wish me well to which I thought was so kind of them.
My dialysis center I went to was actually located in the hospital that I was getting my infusion so once I was done, I walked down to the clinic as the staff said they would try to get me in early if they could. Once I got there, I picked up the phone one last time and said Ant is here. Spunky picked up the phone and said OK I will be there shortly. Within a few minutes she came back and said OK come on back. As I walked down the long hallway my mind went back to the first time, I walked the same hallway. The interesting thing is I had the same feeling it felt as though I was walking into the unknown. As soon as I walked on the floor to get my weight I saw my chair and it was decked out with balloons, a coffee mug, pack of gum and a sign that said Ant Congrats and Good Luck, Love your Dialysis team.
I knew it was going to be an emotional day and I was right the rivers of my eyes started to open up. As Jenn stuck me one last time and started that blood pump my mind started to relive some of those first days and the challenging times that I had faced and how I made it through. I put my music on and listened to songs such as The Impossible Dream, Whispers in the night, Faces, sheltered in the arms of God, and the songs that pulled me though. As the staff would leave for the day, they wished me luck and I gave them a gift tears were shed but also there was laughter and we talked about the good memories that we had all created. But it was not only the staff my fellow seat mates came by as they were getting ready to start or the had finished to wish me luck and say we will pray for you.
3 hours and 45 minutes later my machine made that sound one last time to announce that treatment was done. Spunky took me off one last time and as she taped up my arm, I got my things together and reached in my bag and handed her, her gift. That was when the rivers of my eyes opened up all the way and tears started to roll down my cheeks. I realized this may be the last time I saw would see them and they were more than my care team. They were family, they stood by me through the hard times, they had been there from the very beginning, they saw me get married, and buy a home. They saw me when I was sick and when I was well. They were with me when the patients planned a picnic, and we got in trouble because one of my fellow seat mates thought Lasagna would be a good idea before lab day. They were there when my wife and I found out we were expecting our first child and now we were here getting ready to walk out of the door for the last time.
The emotional were running high and as I walked out the door one last time, I knew deep down that this was the last time that I would be in that clinic to do dialysis, but it would not be the last time I would go through those doors.
In the next blog I will share what happened on the day of my transplant. Until then here is a few things you can do. First Subscribe so you don’t miss any new contact that is coming up and be encouraged because you my friend are one step closer to the next peak.
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