Life is Good!

It's amazing how we will make time to tell people when times are difficult but time flies when your having fun. Things have been much better in the Oleson household. Nate has recovered well and his last few doctor's appointments have been perfect. Good labs and results. On the 28th of this month he has his SIX month post-transplant appointment. That appointment will have more involved "tests" to ensure his new kidney is working. He has a cocktail of medications that we are so thankful for. (See below) Nate is very excited about this summer and being able to camp, fish, and swim. He has put a mountain bike on lay-a-way and CANNOT wait to get it. :)

 

Gunnar and Gabbie are growing! Gabbie will be 2 in June and Gunnar turned 8 last December. Gunnar continues to do well in school and enjoys drawing, writing, and reading. Gabbie is sassy and challenges me everyday. :)

 

Nate and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary this past weekend and I am reminded that no matter how hard things get we always have eachother and we need eachother.

 

We are blessed!

 

 

 

 



Ups and Downs

Nate and I seem to put on a good face for everyone and most of the time that reflects our attitude but let's be honest...this recovery thing has turned out to be harder than we expected. It has been a roller coaster of good and bad days and Nate keeps telling me he's waiting for the good ones to outlast the bad ones.

 

Nate is still being seen in Denver once a week. He will have 2 weeks of good labs and then a hiccup. At his last appointment on Monday his creatinine levels were elevated again. A kidney ultrasound was done and it again shows fluid around the kidney. This is likely to come from the old kidney's being removed. BUT the kidney IS stable. Today Nate is going through a procedure in which they will insert a balloon into the peritoneal cavity to create a "window" in hopes the fluid will drain out the window instead of staying around the kidney. We are in hopes that this procedure works. If not another surgery will be required. One step, one day at a time.

 

Nate still tires easily and the anti-rejection medications have tons of side effects. (Tremors and irritability to name a few)

 

This situation reminds me of a quote I have kept written down in my office.

 

"Every thing's not OK but I am OK with everything."

 

We struggle, the kids struggle but we push forward to the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

We continue to thank everyone for your love, support, thoughts and prayers but more than anything for putting up with us. :) :)



Our Community AKA Our Family

 

 

The words THANK YOU will never be enough to express our gratitude for all the town of Potter and other surrounding communities has done for us. Our community has put together a benefit and fundraisers for us since Nate's transplant. An outpouring of love, donations, cards, thoughts, and prayers have been shown time after time. It is hard to keep up with thanking everyone but Nate, Gunnar, Gabbie, and I want EACH AND EVERYONE of you to know how thankful we are. We are loved and feel blessed that we choose Potter to be our home! 

UPDATE!

As I indicated in my last post creatinine levels help indicate how Nate's transplanted kidney is doing. Last week we had a little scare when his levels started to go up. Nate then started steroid treatments to help bring the levels down. On Saturday Nate became sick and was vomiting. Nate was admitted back into the hospital. Several tests were completed. Nate had a lot of fluid build up in his body from where the old kidney's were removed. Thus a drain was put in. Other tests show that the new kidney is NOT leaking. We celebrated Nate's creatinine levels on Sunday as they were 1.99 the lowest they have been and today they are 1.83.  Nate is expected to leave the hospital today and remain with his family in Denver to resume clinic appointments. We pray things continue to go well.



Just small bumps in the road...

I haven't updated for a bit so thought you might like to know how Nate is doing. Everything has been fairly smooth. He attends clinic appointments 2 to 3 times a week. During these appointments they check lab levels, medication doses, and overall health. One of the main things they check is his creatinine levels which lets them know if the kidney is working like its suppose to. Doctors want to see those levels go down until they reach a normal level.

Nate's levels have steadily going down until yesterday when they went up. This can be the first sign of rejection but don't panic...as it's treatable. So Nate is getting some IV treatments in the next few days and doctors are checking into a few other things. We had hoped that Nate would come home yesterday and stay for a few days and that was a huge bummer for all of us BUT we know the most important thing is that he is taken care of so as they say....absence makes the heart grow founder. Continue to pray that all goes well.

 

 

Looking good!



Recovery

Nate's recovery continues. Each day he is stronger and feels better. He has lost a total of 20 pounds. The tube in his nose was removed on Wednesday. One IV and his drain tube was removed today. It appears he will leave the hospital tomorrow but he will stay in Denver due to the numerous appointments he will have. The appointments are called "clinic" and this will start with every other day. As Nate improves the clinic appointments will lessen but he is expected to stay close for about 6 to 8 weeks.

 

 

We thank you all again for your comments, calls, thoughts, and prayers. I will continue to update.

 

Day 1 after transplant: Up for his first walk.

 

Day 2: Resting

 

Day 3: Today...lookin better!

 



Transplant..so..far so good!

Today Nate had his kidney transplant at University of Colorado Hospital. Everything went as well as could be expected. Nate had a very intense surgery due to removing his kidney's. He is expected to stay in the hospital for 5 to 7 days depending on his recovery. A mid-line incision was made along his stomach.  After the kidney's were removed the new kidney was put in and produced urine right away. Nate's donor is recovering as well. I am overwhelmed and amazing by this entire process. Long days ahead.

 

I've included some pictures and a few are graphic.

 

Nate and his donor Bing before surgery

 

Nate in recovery after surgery. (Looks pretty good I think) :)

 

GRAPHIC PICTURES BELOW:

 

 

 

 

 

The following pictures are of Nate's kidney's. It's no wonder he felt the way he did.