Matt is HOME.  He was released earlier this afternoon, just after lunch. 

Eileen and I got to the hospital about 10:45am and Matt & Andrew were both in Andrew’s room sitting up and talking to one of Andrew’s doctors.  One of many.  This particular doctor was explaining, in some detail, that all of Andrew’s ’levels’ were looking very good and once again, Matt’s kidney stood up and took a bow.  I will get the name of the something….but there is something that the kidney naturally produces that Andrew will have to get shots for until the new kidney kicks in and does it.  This is 100% normal and apparently, the new kidney is already starting to produce this something, just not in the amounts that it needs to be to operate at full function.  Even still, the doctor does not expect that Andrew will have to get these shots for very long, which is very good news.  The doctor also explained that Andrew would have to be seen twice a week for a few weeks, then once a week for a few weeks, then once every two weeks, then once a month until he hits 6 months.  At 6 months, he will need to be seen every six months for 2 1/2 years and then once a year forever.  The doctor also said that typicaly, anything that will go wrong typically goes wrong in the first 6 months.  So we have another milestone to conquer.

When the doctor left, Matt told us that he had been discharged and was just waiting for Dr. C (it’s just easier that way) to stop in and write the perscriptions and go over any last instructions before they sent him home.  Dr. C showed up about ten minutes later and said that Andrew could be released TODAY.  Today.  Released to go home from the major surgery that he had on Wednesday!  Andrew passed.  He said that he would feel better staying for one more day and we all agreed, but we were all pretty pleased with the news that he could go home if he wanted to.  Andrew still had the IV in his neck (yeah..it hurt just to read that didn’t it?????) that was used to administer his anti-rejection drugs and Dr. C. said that could come out right away.  Andrew’s catheter came out early this morning. Matt watched, held his hand and acted as his breathing coach. 

Dr. C said he would come by in the morning to release Andrew so we will have more good news tomorrow early on.

 When the nurse came by to remove Andrew’s neck jewelry, we all had to leave since he had to be in a prone position with no talking, moving or laughing for at least a half an hour.  Eileen and Chelle went to eat lunch while Matt and I went back to his room to see if they brought him lunch and wait for his ’scrips and discharge instructions.  He got lunch, I ran to the pharmacy and we waited.  Finally, Nurse Ratchett (her name for herself, not mine) came in and went over everything.  No lifting, no driving, take your percocet, eat soft foods for a few days and live your life.  CAN DO!

Andrew was pretty tired after all of the commotion of the neck IV and since Matt was ready to see the sun, we decided to leave. 

So here we are, back at Jenn’s house.  Matt is able to negotiate the stairs so we are down in the TV room.  He took a short nap in a reclining chair and was sound asleep until he had a coughing fit which woke him up in extreme pain.  The coughing can easily bring him to tears and the gas bubbles are still unbearable.  But other than that, he is really just fine.  It is amazing.   I am very thankful.

Rachelle is going to visit Andrew a little later tonight before she heads home.  Andrew really wants a good night rest before all the hustle and bustle of tomorow so we will likely hang out here with Matt and kee an eye on him.

We need to name to kidney.  Seriously.  We have all been joking for days about what to call it.  So far, we have 4Real (click name to get the story behond that one), Plus One and Harley.  Post your suggestions in the comments (Chris, you are limited to 5 a day) and we will pick our top three and let everyone vote.  A little interactive love!

And finally…..a BIG UPS TO MR. ZIEGLER “DAWG”. He came by to visit yesterday and I just left him right out of the blog post!!!!! My bad Mr. Z. !!  I was tired and all the hospital fumes got to me.  You are awesome and your smile just lights up (no pun intended) the entire hospital.  Andrew was thrilled to see you and Matt was sorry that he missed you but understood that you had to get back to work.  We all can’t wait to see you again and Matt is looking forward to a trip to the mountains!