Friday, August 29, 2008

One Step Closer

Well, Derrek got the call today and he's passed all of his testing and Chris and Derrek's "case" goes to a vote by a team of doctors at the transplant institute on Tuesday!!! From what we can tell, they should be passed through based on test results but you never know what other doctors may see. Also, even if they make it through this process, their blood will be cross-matched a few more times before surgery (even the morning of surgery) and they could pull the plug up until that point. We are all really excited though and are all anxious to hear how soon it can all happen. We're all ready to see what's on the other side of this surgery. Keep us in your prayers!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Is that his foot?

Okay am I crazy? Can I feel the baby's foot when he presses slowly against my stomach? Or maybe its a knee and shin. He does it all the time and I love it. I thought I would be totally weirded out by this stuff but its very cool. Okay I'm going to post some tummy pictures. For the record, I was anti-tummy pictures until 4 months into it. I just freaked out that I wouldn't remember anything about being pregnant because it was going by so quickly. Anyway, I'm a hypocrit and I know it but I'm also pregnant and you get all sorts of passes for that. Being late, being sick, being forgetful. I'm soaking it up. Still, I can't believe I'm posting these on the internet based on how I felt about them 6 months ago. Whatever.

So here's the first "tummy" picture. This is at 4 months almost to the day. Oh man, I totally thought I was showing! Like legitimately. Now I hope that's what I look like around Christmas time.

Here we are at 5 1/2 months. Taking my own pictures because I'm still embarassed about the fact that I wanted to take them but, again, I'm posting them on the Internet?
So no bare belly pics lately but this is in NY so I was at about 6 1/2 months. I think having my fat sister in the picture helps to illustrate how much I've grown...even with her oversized purse.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The Waiting Game

So Derrek survived his test today...once he got some food in him. They injected a liquid form of radiation into his blood stream and took pictures of it going into his kidneys and his kidneys filtering it. Then they took blood tests right after to measure the radiation. Then he sat at the hospital for three more hours and they took a blood sample again to test how efficiently his kidneys were getting rid of the radiation. I think. Something like that. So now we'll just wait for Tina to call and see what it told them about his weirdness.

The kids are coming!

So they come every other Wednesday and stay until Monday morning. They also come every Thursday night but its exciting every time. The only thing that's hard is figuring out what to feed those two. I'm HOPING their latest decision to eat in the cafeteria at school will help them branch out a bit - I still have NO idea where that came from. Anyway, I did get to pick them up on their first day of school and I'm SO glad I did.

The good news: They both survived. Blake, as expected, had a fabulous day and he just seemed so grown-up all the sudden. I think he's been waiting to enter the land of the big kids for so long now (he has 2 older cousins and his big sister that live in Fredericksburg) that he feels like he might be an official person now. He didn't really remember "learning" anything but he remembers playing on the playground and that chicken nuggets were served for lunch. Oh, and he ate all of his pineapple!

Ashley didn't really have the BEST first day of school. I am even more convinced that that stupid Tadpole Camp was, well, stupid. What they tell you is that all the 6th grade classes are in the same building so when we left her to find her class (granted she does have a map in the planner they had to buy - but that didnt' really cross her mind in a panic situation) she kept looking at the numbers above the doors and they were all 100 numbers. She was looking for 601. By the time, she found a teacher to ask, the tears were flowing. The first teacher just spouted off some really quick explanation of room 601 assuming she had any direction or was familiar in the least with campus (again, what was Tadpole Camp for?). Luckily, her 5th grade teacher is now a counselor at the Middle School and she actually took some time and gave her some good directions. She was late to her first class but because the school didn't prepare any of the other kids either, she was still the first one there. Shortly thereafter, her cousin Cooper showed up and I don't think his day was going all that smoothly either. You'd think it would get better with each class but her locker combination wasn't working either so a teacher had to help her between every class and she was late to every class. I think yesterday was a little bit better. Today was okay but she lost her permission slip for PE and her mom had to handwrite a permission note to swim (they get to swim this 6-weeks!). Turns out the PE coach is a stickler and wouldn't accept it so she had to walk laps while everyone else swam. She was devastated. They have block scheduling so she just does PE every other day so she'll get to swim on Friday. So I said, well give me that permission slip so its signed and you're good to go! Uh, she left it in her locker since she has until Friday. So even after that devastation, the lights are not clicking. So the school's complete lack of preparation at Tadpole Camp mixed with Ashley's "huh?" attitude mixed with the absence of anyone really challenging her to think for herself up to this point are making middle school a little rough. She's gonna get there though. I believe in her.

Here's a pic of Blake on the first day outside his class (that's his faux hawk at a funny angle - I think a full mohawk would be too disruptive according to the dress code). And he's still having a great time and making friends but he doesn't remember any of their names but he does know what's on their backpack.

Hungry Derrek

Derrek went to San Antonio this morning to have his "weird anatomy" explored a little further and he has been fasting since midnight. He was scheduled for his test at 10 so fasting was doable. But when he got there, they realized that they'd made a mistake and, although, they told him the test was Wednesday, they put him on the schedule for Thursday. However, they scrambled to get him in today since he drove from Fredericksburg and is missing work anyway. In the meantime, I think he may have had a small panic attack about the fasting situation and the walls were closing in thinking about not eating for at least another three hours. But against his usual nature, he ASKED someone if it was okay to eat something and he had a little 30 minute window or something. Luckily you only need to fast for a couple of hours before this test. So crisis is averted but poor D is sitting in some hospital cafeteria in San Antonio with no Olympics to watch:(

Monday, August 25, 2008

First day of school!

So here are the kids this morning. Actually the first picture is before Meet the Teacher night last week at the Primary School. Then I got a shot of Blake in the car this morning (Derrek was SUPPOSED to get one of him in his class that I may have to post later). Then there's a fantastic shot of Ashley in front of the dumpsters at school. But check out the skinny jeans and sequined converse. Why did I grow up in the 90s? With the bulky high waists and plaid. Yuck. Anyway, she looks ADORABLE. So did Blake, but you can't see the whole outfit. Gayla's parents took them shopping and did a fabulous job.




Me, Derrek & Gayla (their mom) all took the kids together since it was such a big day for both of them. It really just hit me how old they really are. When I came into the picture, Blake had just turned 2 and Ashley had just turned 8. Derrek walked Blake in this morning (because we couldn't really find a spot to park for all of us to go in) and he was like "peace out, Dad." The teacher had to remind him to hug Derrek good-bye. He's READY. Ashley on the other hand, was a little on edge. I have a million complaints about the school already and how they had a "Tadpole Camp" two weeks ago to get the kids ready for middle school and how they learned NOTHING from it. They didn't learn where their classes were or meet their teachers or get to set up their lockers. What did they do for 3 hours? They played games that taught them about the school rules. For. Real. So this morning, she didn't even know where her first class was (but she also wasn't putting it all together that your schedule tells you what room to go to). We left her in a hallway full of 6th graders pushing and shoving to get to their lockers and classes to fend for herself. Find her class on her own. I'm pretty sure we do too much for her and she'll learn and remember much more if we let her go a little bit. But middle school is a scary place! Oh well. Luckily, I get to pick the kids up for Gayla today so I'll get the scoop before they go home with her. I'm sure they're both fine. Right?

Friday, August 22, 2008

So long, Summertime

Well, the summer flew by and somehow I feel like school starting usually makes time go even faster. Blake will start kindergarten & soccer soon and Ashley will start middle school (6th grade) and hopefully find some extracurriculars soon too (although texting and talking to friends is taking up plenty of her time these days). Our weekends until the baby arrives seem to be filling up. I just thought I'd post some summer highlights since it will all be over on Monday.

Most recently Mom, Traci & I took a quick trip to New York for Mom's 60th Birthday (it's not until Aug 28 but my dr. cut-off my long distance trips at Aug 15). It was fast and furious but so fun. Here's us at the top of the Empire State Building, then in front of the Broadway show Boeing-Boeing (hilarious!) and then during our night tour on the double-decker bus.




Here are some pictures of July - The Stonewall Peach Jamboree & Blake's last day of T-ball.








In June, we took a trip to Colorado. Derrek's parents bought about 150 acres in the San Juan Mountains in the middle of the Rio Grande National Forest last year. This was the first trip where the entire family got to go - all 14 of us. In fact, one of Derrek's business partners came with his family too to help with some projects around the cabin. It was great to get the kids outside and in the fresh air. Sometimes the fresh air was VERY windy. Sometimes it was swimming with attack mosquitoes. But it was open and beautiful and they got to run free and get dirty. Then we had to figure out how to clean them up with limited water sources. Well limited clean & WARM water sources. I'd love to take any credit for cleaning or cooking or being useful in any form or fashion but I was completely useless on this trip. I was a little bit out of my element. I promise to get better, In-laws! I promise to not be dead weight next time!





Other highlights of the summer:
  • Ashley's pre-teen "attitude" finally poppped out. Such good news, I know. I mean, last year, I thought she had a little faith in my intelligence but now, I seem to know very little. I know its payback because I feel like I remember being much smarter than my mom when I was 11. The good news is, in between knowing so much all the sudden, she still hugs me and kisses me and will cuddle too. She responds well to texting too...even if we're in the same room. So the 'tude is there but it didn't replace the sweet little girl from 3 months ago...completely...yet. She's gonna kill me if/when she reads this.
  • Ashley sailed through a size in clothes and finally gave skinny jeans a try. I mean if anyone could pull off skinny jeans, it's definitely her. I LOVE that she's found a little interest in fashion but she keeps it her own and she's so unaware of herself in the best way possible. She just wants to be comfortable. She's still not self-aware and I pray that it lasts a little bit longer. How I long to go back to the time in my life when I was not fully conscious of what I looked like. Of course, she's beautiful and I have no idea what she may find wrong with herself one day, but one day, the mirror will take on a whole new meaning. Again, just thankful we're not there yet. I was proud of her last year because she decided to not be friends with the girl that judged what other people were wearing. The girls she did decide to befriend somehow, at 11 years old, don't fight. Like ever. She's in the no-drama clique right now. Seriously, she's a smart, smart girl.
  • Blake seems to have become very self-sufficient and grown-up this summer. He's not quite tying his shoes or fixing his own mohawk (his new daily request) yet but he can do everything else. He's going to make our morning routine pretty easy this year...if we can just get him to talk less in the morning. Poor guy. Ashley and I just aren't really morning people. He's also worked this summer at becoming a gentleman and he gets the door for me now. So stinkin' cute.
  • Oh yeah, and Blake I think finally learned how to run! I think teeball helped alot. We were a little worried about his lack of competitiveness at the beginning of teeball but he actually got into it. So when he finally got into the game, he stopped thinking so hard about HOW he was running to first base and he finally just ran to first base. There's not so much focus on exactly how high he swings his arms and they seem to swing just the right amount now. He also looks ahead instead of down at his feet to see if they're going fast. It just came together. We're very proud.
  • Just in time to add an infant to the family, Blake and Ashley officially bicker more than ever. Good stuff. First of all, Ashley taught Blake the "I call" game. So they are "calling" everything non-stop. I call "middle" (of the back seat of the car). Derrek also taught them about calling shotgun. Blake still doesn't understand he doesnt' need to call it when he's alone or that its not an option when Derrek and I are both in the car. I don't really think Ashley expected Blake to be such a quick student because he sits in the middle ALOT. It doesn't help that Ashley's patience for Blake, which used to be much more evolved then mine, is gone. Poof. Luckily, he hasn't really noticed.
  • My belly grew.
  • Derrek and I joined a bowling league and our team placed 2nd. It was really fun but a HUGE bonus that you win cash money in the end! The last night we played I had my best (244!!!) and worst (94) game back to back.
It was a great summer.

Hold the phone...

Tina called Derrek today and said one of the transplant surgeons took a closer look at Derrek's CT scan and his "anatomy is kind of weird" (Derrek's translation) so they need to do a different kind of scan next week that will give them a better look. I'm not sure if it has to do with the anatomy of the kidney they want to take or where they're located in relation to other organs or how the arteries connect or something else. He's not either. He has to go to a different hospital for the test and they are supposed to call him to schedule it and they didn't do that today. So it looks like it will be at least Labor Day until this is figured out. It's good to know they're checking and double-checking everything.

Chris finished up his testing this week with an EKG and stress test. The doctors say he's "healthy" enough for a transplant.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

For. Real.

So Tina called Derrek back yesterday afternoon about the results of his urine test and the numbers we "very, very, VERY good." So his only strike so far is no longer a strike.
As I went to sleep last night I imagined the night before the surgery for me & Derrek and Chris & Wanda. I can't imagine the mix of anxiousness, relief, nerves and excitement that will be filtering through everyone. It's not official but I think it might actually be settling in with me now. Whoa.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

It's coming together quickly

So Derrek returned to TTI today to give them his second 24-hour urine test, take one more blood test and let them read his TB test. All of his tests had come back ruling out diseases, such as, hepatitis and his TB test was all clear. They also had the scans from the dye test on Monday and from that they know which kidney they would take. One kidney has two arteries coming into it and the other has one. They take the one that only has one artery attached. Path of least resistance kind of thing. All we're waiting on is the chest and abdomen x-rays to be sent to the clinic and the results of the urine he gave them this morning. Chris is there now as we speak finishing his final testing and it looks like it MIGHT all come together before the meeting this Monday.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Kidney for Kaiser


Just a warning but I'm pretty sure this post is going to get wordy. There are some friends and family curious about this and I'm thinking this is will be a way for me to tell the story in completion so I'm sorry if it gets long and/or boring and/or repetitive. Whatever. Here goes...

About 4 or 5 years ago Derrek's cousin, Chris Kaiser was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease. He's only 35 now but has known for a few years that dialysis and/or a kidney transplant were most definitely in his future. Well the time has come and Chris needs a transplant as soon as possible. For multiple reasons, they hope to completely bypass dialysis.

When Derrek and I started dating three years ago, he knew then that he wanted to give Chris one of his kidneys if he was a good match. Chris and Derrek are the same age and grew up in Fredericksburg together. They've made alot of memories together (some they'd probably like to forget) and although they don't spend as much time together these days (now that they're old farts), they will always be such a big part of each others' life. And even though the need for a transplant came much sooner than everyone anticipated, Derrek is still as sure as he was before. In fact, I'm not sure Derrek has ever been so determined and sure about a life choice as he is with this one.

About a month ago, Chris was finally able to get into the Texas Transplant Institute to get things going. He started all of his testing and got information for anyone that wanted to be a living donor for him. This is when Derrek realized he had some "competition". Five people close to Chris went through the initial screening to see if they were a match to donate: Wanda (Chris's fiance), Sean (Chris's brother-in-law), Tony, Jeff (long-time friends) and Derrek. The other three guys grew up in Fredericksburg with Chris and Derrek and they all really like to give each other a hard time. It gets completely ridiculous at times. They're all very macho, as guys like to be when traveling in a group. And just to make sure that the beautiful, sensitive, caring thing they were doing absolutely did not mask exactly how macho they are, they turned it all into a competition. Who knew you could talk so much trash about your friends' kidneys? They competed just making the first call to the Transplant Institute. Poor Tina (the nurse at TTI) was bombarded with calls before they went to get tested, then bombarded again after requesting results. Unfortunately, Jeff was the first "loser" because he was the only one that didn't match at all. You can only imagine how much crap he had to take for that. Wanda (who tested a week or so earlier when she went with Chris), Derrek, Sean and Tony all matched! At this point, the four of them had to choose the person to move forward in the process. It was a tough decision because there were definitely arguments for and against each one. After you choose who moves forward, they are tested further and if at any point, the doctors feel this person's health is too risky or that their kidneys are not ideal for Chris, then they can pull the plug on that potential donor. Then we'd move onto the next donor. So one of the deciding factors was that fact that it was anyone's best guess who could make it through the physicals for sure so essentially Derrek going first would be beneficial to us because of the baby on the way. If he goes first and gets knocked out, we know. If he goes first and makes it through, its very likely the surgery will be over and Derrek will be somewhat recovered before the baby comes. If, however, he was third in line and two others were tested then knocked out, the surgery and baby may be really close. Although we had talked about it and even if things were close, Derrek and I were not really worried about the timing. Of course, it's not ideal but if we could just avoid the two things falling on the same day, I think we're good. So there was much discussion and many things other things considered but the decision was made to send Derrek through first.
So the choice was made last Thursday night and Derrek was scheduled for the majority of his testing this past Monday. I decided to go to make sure he asked all the right questions and that he actually paid attention to the answers.

Here comes some gory details but re-read the first paragraph again. It's been a long time since you read it the first time.

Derrek had to do a 24-hour urine test from home before showing up to his appointment on Monday morning. Essentially, he carried a huge bottle of urine around in an ice chest for 24 hours. When we arrived they got him registered and took some blood. We were then sent to eat some breakfast, get a chest x-ray and an EKG. We hardly waited anywhere in the hospital. I was sure I was going to knock out a big chunk of my book but I don't even think I read one full chapter! Everyone just kept us moving. After those tests, we went back to transplant center and we both met with Tina, the nurse. We had the opportunity to ask all the questions we had and she asked Derrek a million questions about his health history and family history. She took his blood pressure 3 times during this interview (it was normal all three times). Then she sent in the doctor and he gave us the opportunity to ask all of our questions again. One of our main/only concerns is the likelihood that Derrek will develop high blood pressure at some point and be put on medication that is hard on kidneys (Derrek's brother is on the meds right now). He explained that they, of course, cannot guarantee anything but if you were to be on the medication with two kidneys that reacted adversely to those meds or the high blood pressure, you may have a month longer before dialysis or transplant with two kidneys versus just having one that couldnt' take it. The other thing is Derrek is now at the top of any transplant list if, God forbid, he ever needs a new kidney. So the doctor listened to his lungs and did a little bit more poking and prodding and then told us he really liked everything he saw except for one thing. The urine test had been tested and his protein levels were a little high. He said 250 is about as high as he likes to see but 200 is usually the cut-off they use for donors and Derrek's was 202. It could have been his diet (we realized he had beefed up on protein that day) so he's currently carrying his ice chest around again. So, he sent us through to the next test (sometimes they know enough that morning to just end it), the CT scan. This is where they inject dye into his bloodstream and look at his kidneys and their blood supply. We had a couple of hours before they could fit us in so Derrek met with the social worker in the meantime. They assign a social worker to each potential donor and ask questions about your financial situation (you have to take care of your travel and missed work; there's no help for those things), your situation at home and your emotional state.

The CT scan was the only physically uncomfortable test Derrek endured. The discomfort only lasted about 30 seconds but apparently, your body gets really hot very quickly when they inject the dye. He just tried not to throw up and luckily it didn't last very long at all.

Overall, the day went really well. Derrek had promised himself that this year was the year he was going to have a physical especially because of the heart disease in his family. So he got an extensive physical, pretty much for free. Tomorrow, Derrek goes back to return his urine test, have some more blood taken and let them check his TB test. Most of the results they know the same day but we'll have to wait on the results for communicable diseases. We're not sure what they saw in the CT scan either but Derrek may get some information on that tomorrow.
Once Chris is finished with his testing (he thinks he'll be done tomorrow) and all of Derrek's results are in and nothing comes in that automatically rules him out then the doctor will present them to a team of surgeons, nurses, social workers, and nephrologists (that meet every Monday) and it must be a unanimous decision to send them through and schedule the surgery. One vote against Derrek will rule him out. In fact, they remind you a few times that they could pull the plug even up until the day of surgery if there is too much doubt about Derrek's well-being. They really have Derrek's best interest in mind and it doesn't seem like they will leave any stone unturned to make sure there's as little risk as they could possibly foresee. So, at the latest, we should know with some certainty if Derrek will be the donor or not by Labor Day. There's a slight chance it could happen this coming Monday but alot would have to come together quickly.

Hopefully, my future posts will not be this wordy or long or contain as many sentences that start with the word, "so". Hopefully.

I'm blogging now. Whatever.

I have fought the blogging trend for sometime now. I'm not even sure why. I guess I didn't think I had enough interesting things to say or it was a time issue or it was too trendy or something. Now I'm pregnant with a busy job, two stepchildren having big years (one starting kindergarten and one starting junior high!), and a handful of a husband (I mean that in the best way, honey) who is possibly about to donate a kidney to his cousin, Chris, uh, before the baby is born. So life is a little stressful at the moment but I wouldn't change a thing!
So the intention of this blog is to HOPEFULLY keep friends and family better updated with the life and happenings of our small Penick clan. Hopefully this will be a great place to visit to see what's up with us as we welcome a new baby into our tiny house and all grow and collide. I promise I'll have a camera soon and post pictures often. Wait, I better not promise but I'll try!