The alarm went off at 5:00am yesterday morning. I slept well and was ready to head in. Kristen and I ventured out into the pouring rain with our overnight bags and some snacks and parked at Hahnemann Univ Hospital at 5:56am. I went straight into procedural admissions where I stripped into a gown, peed in a cup for yet another pregnancy test (negative, I can assure you!) and met with a cute doctor to go over everything. He said, "So, tell me what you think is going to happen." I laughed. Then the nurse came in to take 7 viles of blood to travel with the donation. That didn't go so well. I have very deep veins (see blog post about crappy veins) and I hadn't had anything to eat or drink in over 7 hours so after fishing in my elbow for a vein and not catching one, then sticking the vein in the top of my right hand, the blood wouldn't flow. We decided to wait for the anesthesiologist. So Kristen prayed with me and I crawled onto the bed and was wheeled down to pre-op.
In pre-op I was met by the second surgeon who would be harvesting, another nurse and the anesthesiologist. He tried Novocaine and still couldn't get the needle in the vein. So he tried another hole and then a third. At one point, I had 2 anesthesiologists, 2 doctors and 2 nurses trying to find a vein. Finally, they decided to complete the IV and blood draw after I was under. Thank God! After all that, they had me sign the anesthesia consent form. Ummm, yes please! Just before 8am they wheeled me into the OR. I was sitting there watching everything and staring at the lights and the next thing I know, I was being wheeled into the Recovery Room at 10am. They didn't expect me to wake so quickly, but they were great at getting me some pain meds right away and making me comfortable. I was in recovery for about an hour and a half waiting for my room to be ready.
Everyone at Hahnemann was really fabulous. They updated my sister on several occasions while she waited in the family waiting area. She met me on the 15th floor as they were wheeling me into my room. My hospital coordinator and a rep from Be The Match met me in my corner room as well. They sat with me for a while while I got set up and adjusted. Linda notified me that my marrow was already on its way to LG. They started me on percocet right away but funny enough it keeps me awake, so there was no sleep in sight for me. I had several visitors and had fun just chatting and resting. The hospital bed was comfortable and the food was ok.
In the late afternoon, they started to give me my 1 unit of blood. They did this through a "garden hose" that was the 16 gauge needle in my arm. It was at that moment that I felt the closest to LG. To know that in a matter of hours she would be receiving my blood through an IV just brought an overwhelming feeling of kinship and relief.
Well, I am home resting now and looking forward to feeling more back to normal everyday. I am pretty tired and I'm loving having company come to visit. I cannot express in words what a life changing experience this has been for me. God taught me about peace, patience and learning that not everything is within my control. It has been a wonderful lesson to learn and one I hope will make the rest of my days better. I'm sure I'll have some more deep and coherent thoughts later in the weekend.
I did want to update you on the 2 year old I do know about, LGII. I received an email from her Aunt via FB yesterday letting me know that they were praying for me. I responded tonight and just received a note back saying that her niece has halfway through her cells and everything was going well. What a fantastic moment to read that and to feel close to the process on the other side. The joy in the few lines she wrote brought peace to my soul. I would donate again in a heart beat to know that these little girls have a chance a long healthy life. There is nothing more worth it.
Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your love, prayers and support. Be encouraged that you don't have to have a hospital stay to make a difference. Your encouragement has changed my life.
Happy Weekend!
Erin
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