David's Kidney Donation Update 2

Chinn Kidney Donation Update: Installment II

Hello friends and family! Just one more day until the big day. I thought it was a good time to send out a second update.

After a few short delays on both legs of our flight, we arrived in Minnesota around midnight Monday (1:00am out time!) and promptly came back to Chris and Katie's and watched Sportscenter for a little until we could fall asleep. As tired as we were, we both had a lot of adrenaline at that point.

Thanks to Terri for driving us to the airport on Monday. On our way, we saw the most fabulous rainbow I've ever seen. No lie. It was beautiful. The purple and red were both so distinct... it was amazing. (The pic was taken with Jeanette's old cell phone which I'm currently using... not too bad.)

Seeing the rainbow for both David and I provided us a good sense of peace as it was an obvious reminder that God was with us.

Yesterday's Pre-op:

Early Tuesday was spent doing show and tell, as we got to go to the dialysis clinic and see where Chris has spent most of his time the past few years. We also went by Chris' office (he supervises a bank) and met his co-workers. Everyone wanted to meet the donor, so David was the subject of numerous "show and tell" conversations, and for those of you who know him, you can imagine he didn't like being the center of attention. :)

We spent the rest of Tuesday meeting people and doing two pre-op sessions. One was at the hospital, which is where David had a physical and some blood drawn, we met one of the surgeons, and we had a chance to ask questions and learn the specifics of what will be done, when we need to arrive, where to go, etc. This took about 3.5 hours.

We then hustled over to the University of Minnesota where David had his second pre-op, which was the first installment of a kidney study he volunteered to take part in. During this time, he gave more blood and had some measurements taken, and then he had to wait 2 hours. At that point, they drew blood every 30 minutes for 2 hours. I worked on my last school paper while he watched TV and completed the surveys that were part of the study.

After being there about 4.5 hours, everything was finished up and we finally headed to dinner (at 7:30 pm). We were both really hungry as we had only had one prior meal all day. Several of the nurses who work at the dialysis clinic Chris has attended the past few years made a big turkey dinner for all of us. We went and ate and enjoyed the meal and meeting some folks before returning home around 9:30 in time for me to submit my paper by midnight EST. What a long day!

Today and Tomorrow:

We pick my mom up this morning at the airport, then will kill some time at the Mall of America while Katie is at work and Chris completes his last (prayerfully) dialysis. We'll then all go out to dinner before settling in for the night. Both guys have to take laxatives and the earlier they start, the better!

Tomorrow, we have to wake up early, as we need to leave for the hospital at 5:00 am.

David will go into surgery first, and they expect to actually start the procedure at 7:30 am. (That's 8:30 for all you east coast folks!)
Once he's in and under way, they will start Chris' surgery. They expect both boys to be in recovery by 11:00 am.

I will send out an update sometime tomorrow. Thanks so much for all your prayers and support. We love you all and appreciate you so much.

Blessings,
-wendy