Bruce needs a Kidney

Bruce needs a Kidney This is our journey of finding a kidney for Bruce.

Bye-bye dialysis!!!This was what was left of Bruce's home dialysis supplies. They won't be needed here anymore!!!
06/08/2025

Bye-bye dialysis!!!
This was what was left of Bruce's home dialysis supplies.
They won't be needed here anymore!!!

All Bruce could talk about since they got his blood pressure up wednesday and he was feeling better was getting out of t...
06/07/2025

All Bruce could talk about since they got his blood pressure up wednesday and he was feeling better was getting out of the hospital and on to his lawn mower. Well they finally released him this afternoon and check him out!
I just pray he doesn't over do it.

Phew!!!! I didn't post when it happened yesterday, but we are back in the hospital. Please don't panic, docs say it's "...
06/04/2025

Phew!!!!
I didn't post when it happened yesterday, but we are back in the hospital. Please don't panic, docs say it's "not a big deal" and it wasn't an emergency, he was directly admitted by his team.
It started Monday night when he got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. As he was trying to sit on the toilet, he got light headed and fell forward onto the floor. No injuries, the fall was not the cause of this visit.
Tuesday morning, every time he would get up, he felt light headed, dizzy, and like he was going to faint. It was so bad that he could not get to the car to go to dialysis. Because of this, we called his transplant coordinator. While on the phone with her, she had us do lying, sitting, and then standing blood pressures. Laying and sitting were good, but when he stood up, it was 85/56.. Orthostatic Hypotension...
She told us to standby while she called the team of doctors to determine what to do. A couple of hours later, she called us and told us they had a bed for him at the hospital on the transplant floor as a direct admit. So we packed up our things and headed in. Because it was after 4 when we arrived, it was a pretty quiet night. Bruce requested and received "sleep privileges" which means the nurses and techs are not allowed to disturb him between 10pm and 7am except for lab draw at 5am. Today we spoke to the transplant team. He is/was anemic, and they gave him blood. They tell us his red blood cells count was low because the kidneys regulate the production and because the new kidney is just waking up, it's not telling his body to make enough yet. He has started urinating well. 2 liters yesterday, and I think we are close to that again today already. We are told the goal is at least 2 liters a day. They say he is definitely trending in the right direction. They were originally going to do dialysis today since he missed it yesterday, but since he has lost weight, and he's hitting urine output goals, they decided to not do dialysis today and wait and see what his labs look like tomorrow. They have upped the meds that raise his blood pressure, the have removed his fluid restriction, and taken him off diuretics because they think he might be "too dry" which can also play into the low blood pressure. Anyway, we are in the hospital, thankfully nothing critical, just need him to maintain a healthy blood pressure to heal properly and not have any more falls. Please keep him (and me) in your prayers.

Enjoying a little sunshine on the deck.
05/30/2025

Enjoying a little sunshine on the deck.

Bruce is sleeping in our bed at home tonight!!!He was discharged earlier this evening to finish recovering at home.Pleas...
05/30/2025

Bruce is sleeping in our bed at home tonight!!!
He was discharged earlier this evening to finish recovering at home.
Please continue to pray for him, us, and the donor family.
💚🙏💚🙏💚

A little PT before they send him home.
05/29/2025

A little PT before they send him home.

05/29/2025

Another uneventful day. Bruce had dialysis late, so his final immunosuppressent IV was started late. Right now, the plan is still to send him home tomorrow. Let's hope the last dose is uneventful. I'll update again tomorrow after rounds.
Continue to pray for him, us, and the donor family.
💚🙏💚🙏💚

05/28/2025

Post transplant day 3 update after transplant team rounds:
His kidney is still slow waking up, so they are taking him down to insert a hemodialysis port this afternoon, and then to have a round of dialysis. (It can take a few weeks of dialysis to help the kidney before it's fully functional). They also plan on removing his Foley catheter today. Giving him his last round of I.V. immunosuppressent, and hopefully going home tomorrow!!!!

Today has been a good day. Progress is slow, but any progress is good!We got moved out of ICU and back to the transplant...
05/28/2025

Today has been a good day. Progress is slow, but any progress is good!
We got moved out of ICU and back to the transplant floor. Bruce finally got solid food and a much desired shower. We are bedding down for the night and hoping for minimal disruptions from the nurses.
Please continue to pray for him, us, and the donor family.
💚🙏💚🙏💚

05/27/2025

Dr.s just made rounds. His BP is finally holding, they say everything still looks good, just working a little slower than we hoped. They are currently prepping him to get out of the surgical ICI and back to the transplant unit!!!
Definitely steps in the right direction!!!!!
Keep praying, they're working!
💚🙏💚🙏💚

Small bedtime update. We're still in Surgical ICU, but the day was pretty uneventful, medically. Bruce was awake and luc...
05/27/2025

Small bedtime update. We're still in Surgical ICU, but the day was pretty uneventful, medically. Bruce was awake and lucid most of the day, PT got him up out of bed for a little while, and he even had a couple of visitors. His BP still will not raise and stabilize without meds. His new kidney is "slow to wake up" so to give it a break and let it recover from the trauma of being transplanted, they have started him on Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (slow dialysis) which should only be for a few days until his new kidney is ready to function on its own. For now, he is sleeping, and I hope to be too, soon. Please continue to pray for him, us, and the donor family.
💚🙏💚🙏💚

05/26/2025

We had a "little bump" last night. Bruce's BP bottomed out, so they had to transfer him to Surgical ICU for closer monitoring. They say surgically there are no complications, cardio says his heart is fine. Dr. Just came in and said "this just happens sometimes" it's a rare side effect of the immunosuppressent iv he received. and it's just going to be a bit slower recovery but everything else looks good.

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