Awesome Kidney Transplant (Religious)

Praise God for His goodness. He knew back 16 years ago who you were to meet and be together that your husband would be instrumental in the miracle giving gift of a kidney. God is always faithful. Now Father in the name of your son Jesus I remind you of your promise that Lori and her stepdad Joe shall not die BUT LIVE AND DECLARE God 's works. Psalms 118:17. I will be sending this on to my christian friends in Canada and my church. I am also praying for stamina and strength and peace for you and that the Father would continue to wrap his loving arms around you and carry you all during this difficult but joyous time.

I just want to share with this caring group that my special needs daughter, Lori, received her new kidney yesterday! Praise God! A couple of months prior to transplant, she'd lost 90% of her kidney function & we were down to the wire, so to speak & it appeared dialysis would have to begin. Her nephrologist had been waiting & trying to give her as much time as possible, hoping we would have a donor. To everyone's delight, my husband who is Lori's stepdad, was approved as donor for Lori just a few days prior to the surgery. However, we didn't get a scheduled date for surgery until last Thurs as when the surgery schedule was checked on Mon., there were no openings & in Aug the surgeon would be on vacation for 3 straight wks making it appear it would be Sept before there would be an opening slot. This meant dialysis would've had to begin at least temporarily til surgery could be done. It was truly miraculous that the surgery slot became open for Lori due to a cancellation.

Even more beautiful, my husband who is legally blind as is Lori, had no idea when we married 16 yrs ago, that he would be the one giving his stepdaughter the most unselfish gift any human could give another, the gift of life. I should add that 16 yrs ago, we did not know Lori would need a transplant, but God knows all! Joe is doing pretty well with the exception tonight of having a high heart rate of 188. They've ordered chest xray & EKG to rule out cardiac issues. He was put on percocet today & we're wondering if that could be causing this symptom.

If you would, please remember both Lori & Joe in your prayers. His kidney is functioning well in Lori, producing great amount of urine, however she is in the Critical Care Surgical Trauma ICU unit with a breathing tube, ventilator, central line w/3 ports, continuous insulin drip & many, many tubes. This is the 2nd day of her having the breathing tube which goes down her throat & they were hoping it could be removed today, but she was over sedated with anesthesia during the surgery. Before removing this tube, the patient has to pass a specific test...a score of no more than 105 tells the drs the patient's body can handle removal & hers was 600. The drs say she failed miserably & removing this tube too early has serious consequences. For now, she's unable to speak with tube down throat, lying flat on her back, hands are restrained somewhat to prevent her from trying to pull tube out & even tho overly sedated during transplant, she still needs some
sedation to prevent her from resisting & trying to remove tube. Kind of a catch-22. She has begun to open her eyes some, will give a smile when spoken to, & will grasp your hand a bit. So sweet! Blood sugars are running in high 200's due to steroids. I'm sure they'll increase even more as steroids continue to be given. They're hoping tomorrow morning they'll be able to attempt tube removal as leaving in too long can cause pneumonia to develop. I would appreciate your prayers for strength as well as I attempt to care for both Lori & Joe who both are in separate rooms in different areas of the hospital. Tho we take elevators to & from, the long hallways, twists & turns, make it seem like a marathon.