Committee Decision: May 25, 2012

Originally, when the committee met on April 26 they decided my urine test was an “undercatch” because it did not have 24 hours of urine, but instead of having me do it again they had me do the Glofil test which came back normal. When they met on May 11, one of the doctors on the committee looked at my urine catch again and noticed that my protein was 220, which is close to the cutoff of 250. He thought that was strange since it was an undercatch. So Kristi called me and said I needed to do the urine catch yet AGAIN.  She explained to me that high protein levels can be the first sign of kidney damage. It means that my kidneys are not catching the protein and filtering it out, but that they are spilling it into my urine. I was very upset when she said I had to do it again. I felt angry at her and upset that I still did not have an answer for my dad.

Mother’s day was that Sunday the 13^th, and as you know Hillary had to go to the hospital. So since I was already there, I got my bucket and did the test on Tuesday, May 15. This test is so annoying because if you leave you have to take the bucket with you and keep it on ice….gross. I turned in the results Wednesday morning, and had my blood taken.

Thursday afternoon about 1:00 p.m. Kristi called me and said that my protein level was 363, far greater than the cutoff of 250. I was shocked and speechless. I just sat there and started crying. She told me that the committee surprises her sometimes but she was 90% sure they would deny me based on my protein levels. Then she said that my kidneys may never fail, but with high protein levels like mine I need to be in the care of nephrologists pretty much for the rest of my life. I am so devastated with the news. Not for myself but for my dad. I am sure at that moment the only one who knew exactly how I felt was my sister and she was in the hospital.

I can’t explain the feelings I am experiencing right now. I was of course very scared to do the surgery and almost backed out because of the fear, but I spoke with my brother and he made things very clear for me. He said I have a great opportunity to trust God like I have never trusted Him before, and that if I back out and keep my kidney then I am trying to control things that are not in my control. This was on Wednesday before I found out I was not able to donate. On Thursday, before I found out I couldn’t do the surgery, I was feeling very much at peace with the decisions to go through with the surgery and then it all just changed. I know God is in control but I am very scared for my dad. He will stay on the transplant list for now, and will stay on it until he gets one from the list or from another person who is willing to be a living donor.

So now I am going to make a plea for all the people out there who are waiting for organs. Please become a donor. It is so easy, all you do is check a box when you get your license or you can sign up online. There are thousands of people waiting and dying. We can change that. You don’t need your earthly body when you die, why not save someone’s life? Someone’s dad, mother, or even child? Or if you want, you can become a living donor. You know exactly what to expect, I have chronicled it here for you. Please think about it, pray about it, and make your decision. If you would like information, I am sure I could get it for you. If you would like to help my dad, you have to have type O blood. I can give you any information you need from Kristi.

Thank you so much for following my story, and my dad’s and Hillarys. It is the end for Hillary and I, but I hope it isn’t the end for him. I believe God has a plan and I am praying it is to keep him around 20 more years. Thanks so much for reading.

Hillary's Hosptial Stay

This past Sunday, Mother’s Day, my mom, my brother, Chris, and Hillary were all at my house. We were all about to leave to go our separate ways but Hillary said she had to go to the bathroom first. A few moments later, she called for my mom and me to come into the bathroom. She was peeing blood and in immense pain in her back. She was unable to walk or stand up without being in intense pain. When she tried to urinate again we saw that she was passing blood clots. My mom and I took her to the hospital. This was around 3:00 p.m.

We took Hillary to the emergency room at Baylor All Saints where she had her surgery. Thankfully, there was no one there and we only waited a few minutes before she was taken back into a room.
Once she was in the room they did another urine sample and took her vital signs. Her urine sample was only blood. They started giving her morphine and something for nausea because the morphine was making her very sick to her stomach. I don’t know what they did with her urine and blood samples but they came back and said she would need to do a CT scan. A CT scan is the test were they insert the dye to see how your kidneys are filtering. The tech in the radiology lab said there was definitely something going on with her right kidney. Her right kidney was the kidney that they repaired on April 12.

Around 9:30 p.m. the ER doctor came back and said her kidney was filling with blood caused by a hemorrhage in the top of her kidney. I was not back there for this part but Hillary said he really scared her because he made it sound like she may lose her kidney. So the reason why she was passing blood clots is because she was bleeding into her kidney. At this point, she was not able to urinate on her own because the blood was blocking her kidney. Anyway, back to the doctor. The ER doctor said he would call her kidney doctor, Dr. Gould, and see what he wanted to do. Dr. Gould said he did not want anyone to operate her touch her kidney until he could come in the morning and look over her scans with the radiologist. He said her vitals were stable, so to keep her there until he could come in the morning.

Hillary was very scared and overwhelmed but she handled it well. On top of all of it, she was getting very nauseous from the pain medication so she was throwing up frequently. I felt so bad for her. I know she was scared, and was unsure of what the outcome of all this would be but her family was with her and I think that helped a little. We were all there. Tyler, my dad, my step -mom, Sonja, my mom, Chelsea, and her boyfriend, Cameron, and Natalie.

Monday, Dr. Gould came in and said he would be inserting a stint to open up her ureter to allow the blood to pass into her bladder. After the stint was put in, she started to slowly feel better. The pressure in her bladder and the pain in her kidneys started to improve. Tuesday she started to look much better and by Wednesday she was ready to go home for sure and I am sure her fiancé, Tyler, and my mom were too. They stayed with her all day and night.

Wednesday, she started to only urinate a rusty colored which from my understanding means she is passing old blood not new blood. This means that the bleeding has stopped. They do not know what caused it. They said it could be a hereditary, a trauma, or just a freak accident. Who knows, but I am so thankful she is getting better.

Today, Thursday, she was released to go home. I am not sure the details but I know she won’t be able to do much for a while but they think the bleeding has stopped. Thank you all for your continued support and prayers for Hillary. He was listening, as of now she is fine and going home. God is good J

My First Mother's Day

With Mother's Day coming up I thought I might write something that did not have to do with the surgery. I hope you enjoy it!

This is me with my son, Judah. He is only 6 days old in this picture. I cannot believe he is already 9 months old. These past 9 months have been the most rewarding days of my life. Being a mother is something I always wanted. I remember telling people the only thing I wanted to do when I grew up was to get married and have children. As time went on, culture convinced me that I needed to have a career in order to feel like I had accomplished something in my life. I remember sitting in the airport about to leave for our honeymoon, and Hayden and I had an arguement about me working once we had children. I told him I wanted to have a career and accomplish "things" before I had children and that I did not want to stay home. Hayden can be very convincing but at the time I thought having children meant I had to give up what I wanted to do.

Fast forward 9 months, I found out I was pregnant one semester into my first teaching job. I started wanting children pretty much immediately after I got a job. I felt since we had two stable incomes we should start our family. Hayden was hesistant and said we should keep waiting so we could pay off our debt, but I had my mind made up! I wanted a baby and I wanted one now! 1 month later I found myself counting days while I was doing my lunch duty at school. It was the Wednesday before we were about to leave for Christmas break. All day I kept counting and thinking "Holy crap....I think I am pregnant". I went home, took a pregnancy test. The digital kind. I bought them the month before because I thought I was pregnant. When I wasn't pregnant it immediately blinked "not pregnant." This time it blinked for what felt like an eternity. Maggie was sitting next to me on the bathroom floor as I stared at the test. "Pregnant!" Immediate tears started streaming down my face as I held Maggie rocking back and forth. Hayden was not home and I didn't know what time he would be home. I called him to check and he immediatley knew something was up. I said nothing, and he kept asking. So I blurted it out, "I am pregnant!" He drove straight home. I think we were both in shock like everyone is at first, but we got used to the idea. I got used to it much faster than him but when your belly is growing it is easier for you to accept that you are about to be a parent!

Judah Daniel Slack was born on August 18, 2011. We were in love. We had no idea what this journey was going to be like, but we were excited. Being Judah's mom is my biggest accomplishment, I know that now. It does not matter if I have a career, raising Judah is my career. He is my job now, and I would not have it any other way. Raising him to be a godly, respectful, loving man will be my greatest accomplishment.

I stayed home with Judah for 12 weeks. I loved every minute of it. I know there were days I wanted to rip my hair out but he really is the best baby. Being able to take care of him those 12 weeks was such a blessing, and I couldn't have done it without the support of my wonderful husband. I was not paid for the last 6 weeks of it, and I was worried about missing work but Hayden told me he wanted me to be with Judah and that Judah is the most important thing. Like I said, he is wonderful. I have such a godly husband. Judah is so lucky to have him as a dad.

Returning to work was very hard for me. I begged Hayden to let me resign because I couldn't think about leaving him with other people without bursting into tears. I knew he would be okay with others but he is my son and I wanted to raise him. I knew I would miss out on smiles, laughs, crys, and rocking him to sleep. I was a mess, but I committed to finish the year, so I returned to work but I knew I would only be finishing the year. Hayden and I agreed I would finish the year and then I would stay home. I told my principal in February. I know it was the right decision.

There are of course people who keep telling me I will be bored, I will want to come back in a year, or I will go crazy. To those people I say thank you for your opinion but secretly I think, "where are your priorities"? I want Judah to be the man I want him to be. How can he be that if I am not raising him? You cannot rely on daycare workers, teachers, or family to teach your kids what you want to teach them. Don't get me wrong, I know there are people who don't have a choice and I applaud them for their hard work. Working and taking care of Judah is very hard for me. I have been miserable. So to the women who work full time and have families you are amazing! But if you have the chance, and the money I think you should raise your children. God created women to raise their children. No one can raise Judah as well as I can. That being said, I am so thankful for my mom, mother-in-law, and sitter for helping me through this year. I don't know where I would be without them.

I so enjoy being a mother. I enjoy every bottle, every giggle, and even wrestling those little(ok he is not so little) legs while I try and change his diaper. The love I have for Judah is indescribable. Hayden and I look at him and still can't believe how much we love an adore him. I thank Hayden all the time for giving me this wonderful baby. I still tear up when I hold him at night when he is sleeping, my heart overflowing with love for this beautiful boy. I cannot wait to watch him grow up...ok I can. I hate that he is growing up. I absolutely hate it. Where is my tiny baby boy??? He is already crawling, eating finger foods, and trying to communicate with me. I love this little boy! Here are some pictures of my handsome boy.  Happy Mother's Day everyone!

One Glofil Test and a Little Clarity

My Glofil test was Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at Dallas Nephrology in the Baylor All Saints Professional Building. The beginning of the test did not start off so well. Hayden came with me, so I would not have to sit for 3.5 hours by myself, but when the male nurse came to call me back he told Hayden to stay in the waiting room. I asked the nurse if Hayden could come back with me and the nurse was a little rude about it, so I had to go do the test alone. I am one of those people who freaks out when plans change. I am definitely not a go-with-the-flow type of person. This threw me off and I got very upset. I was going to start crying but instead I just shut down and sat quietly until the nurse started the test.

I was not completely alone during the test fortunately. There was a man named Javier that had to complete the test also, but more on him later.
If you want the complete details of what a Glofil test is go here http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/35412.htm.

To start the test, you have to do a urine catch so that they can see how hydrated you are. The more hydrated you are the less water I have to drink during the test. I am so glad I drank about 120 oz of water Monday and Tuesday. I did not have to drink near as much as the man I was with. Then I had to drink a non-radioactive substance mixed in Coke Zero, but unfortunately the Coke Zero did not mask the horrible taste. Then, I was given the radioactive iodine in the back of my left arm. After that, I pretty much just went to the restroom, drank water, went to the restroom, and had my blood taken. It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Leave it to me to be super dramatic and think it was going to be horrible.

Now back to Javier. Javier was a 57 year old man who had a kidney transplant a year ago. When you get a kidney transplant you have to do a Glofil test every few months to check the function of your new kidney. The nurse told me he never sees people who are giving a kidney doing a Glofil test. I started to think God had a part in this! I thought to myself, “Very funny God. I am sitting in a room with a man who is my dad’s age and just got a kidney transplant."

We started to talk, and Javier asked me if my dad was on dialysis. I did not want to answer because when most people hear that I am giving my dad a kidney and he is not on dialysis they are a little judgmental. Javier said he was happy that my dad was not on dialysis because it is horrible. He said you feel so sick the day you have dialysis, and that you spend the whole next day recuperating before you have to start all over again the following day. You have to do it three days a week. Then he told me something shocking. He said he saw more than one person die in the dialysis clinic, and that some of them were sitting in the chair next to him. They die of heart attacks apparently.

I asked him how he felt now with his new kidney. He said that he feels like a new person, and thanks God everyday he got a kidney when he did because he was ready to quit dialysis. Then this complete stranger told me I was a great person for doing this for my dad, and that I must love him very much to go through all of this for him. I don't feel like I am any different than other daughters out there. I think that if anyone was put in a situation like this, they would do it. I do love him very much and this is nothing compared to what he has done for me the last 24 years. He has provided for me, sat through countless volleyball games, lol,  listened to me when I cried, hugged me when I was sad, and supported me in every decision I have ever made. He is the best dad.

I feel much more at peace with my decision to do this since the Glofil test. I wouldn’t have had to do the test if I would have done the urine catch correctly, so I am thankful that I did it wrong. I was able to have insight into exactly what my dad would have had to go through without my kidney, and I don’t want that for him. I don’t want him to feel even sicker than he feels now, and I don’t want to be scared that he will have a possible heart attack in the chair. This is the right decision, I know that now. Thanks Javier J

May 11, 2012 is the big day, so stay tuned.