We have much to be thankful for. While the journey has been long and hard, the outcome is that God has chosen to heal me by giving me a successful kidney transplant. The doctors tell me that the kidney is stable and performing above their expectations. The past week, there have been many tests of kidney function, all of which tell us that the kidney is working great. God is faithful. There have been a couple of complications: the first is that the pain is getting worse, the second is that I’ve retained a lot of water (having gained 23 pounds since surgery). Regarding the pain, doctors said to expect it to last 4 – 6 weeks; they have put me on a diuretic to help my body shed the excess water weight.

The doctors do not appear to be that concerned about these complications, as they have chosen to release me from the transplant house and yesterday sent me home! So we are now home in Rogers, reunited with our little dog Murray. We are adjusting to continuing to recover and sleeping in our own bed. We thank you for your prayers and support during this long journey, which is now entering a different phase. Our focus is on avoiding infection and adjusting to all the anti-rejection and anti-viral drugs that have been started. For the next two months there will be weekly blood draws, along with consults with Mayo kidney transplant staff on the phone. I feel very supported by the Mayo transplant team and confident that any issues that come up can be addressed quickly. The next scheduled time at Mayo is at the four-month mark, where there will be an extensive evaluation of the kidney including a biopsy to detect if there are any signs of rejection.