Gift of Life

 Sean's Dad has been having problems with his kidneys for a few years now and Sean offered to go through the testing to see if he could donate one of his kidneys. This past summer he drove to Tucson and under went rigorous testing for two days and found out he is a very good match for his father. The middle of October he flew to Arizona to undergo the surgery to donate a kidney. He had to be there two weeks before the surgery date and two weeks after. I flew down there and joined him a day before the procedure. We spent the evening walking around, seeing some sights and eating with Sean's family that all flew in that day.

Max loves cactus so we spammed the kid with cactus pictures.

 

Super proud of this guy for doing this!

The morning of the surgery we were at the hospital bright and early and got checked in. Rich and Randi arrived and also got checked in but his surgery with the donated kidney would be a few hours after Sean's.

Jeremy and Rich

Randi, my waiting room partner.

The surgery took 6 hours which was quite a bit more than planned. It was a long, anxious day but everything went smoothly. Rich received the new kidney and it started working right away. His numbers were improving immediately. It was truly amazing. Sean was in a recovery room and I was finally allowed to go see him at close to 6pm. He ended up staying in the hospital for three nights before heading back to our Airbnb. 

When Rich was out of surgery they wheeled him past Sean's room.

Those three days that Rich and Sean were in the hospital recovering were pretty memorable for me. Randi and I went for walks each day. It was pretty hot out even in October in Arizona so we didn't walk real far but it was nice to get out and get some sun and laugh. It was so nice to laugh! It was a pretty anxious time so laughter was needed. We would get lots of cactus pictures for Max and go get drinks on our walks. I looked forward to it. Each morning before heading to the hospital Sean's brothers Nate and Jeremy and Randi and I would meet at the local breakfast joint to talk and stuff our faces. 

Speed bumps are called Speed Humps in Arizona. I find this funny.

 Sean finally felt decent enough to get discharged Sunday morning. It was time for him to recover at our little Airbnb for two weeks before flying home. 

Our little downtown bungalow Airbnb. Walking distance to a lot of fun stuff.

Soaking up the sun.

Sean spent the next two weeks lying down or pacing the apartment to keep circulation up. He eventually starting walking with me to get food downtown. I made sure to find an Airbnb within walking distance to many food options (and shopping). We were just a few blocks from the University and didn't know we were nearly next door to a frat house when booking the place. Combine that with Homecoming week and it was a pretty noisy experience some evenings. We aren't early to bed people so it wasn't a major inconvenience but it sure did get rowdy some evenings.....a bull horn was used several times. One evening I got out of the shower expecting the normal ruckus and it was completely quiet. I peeked my head out of the door to find a cop car parked in front of the frat house. They didn't make a peep after that!

 We hung out with Randi and Rich most evenings, bringing take-out to their place. It was nice catching up with them. 

 I was fascinated with some of the giant cactus and succulents I saw in Tucson. Especially the Agave plant. It's so massive and prehistoric looking! I really wanted to bring one home with me. I know they can't grow outdoors in our climate, but possibly overwinter it inside and put it out for the summer. I looked online trying to find someone selling some Agave pups but they were all selling larger plants, I needed something tiny to fit in my carry on bag. Seeing as these plants grow like weeds with tiny plants popping up all around the adult plants I decided to just find a public area and pluck a tiny agave pup. I plucked two and they came home with me in my luggage wrapped in a wet paper towel. I planted them when I got home and they are doing really well! I bought a baby Saguaro cactus at the Tucson airport too. It got its own seat on the airplane.

An adult Agave, aren't they fabulous!

Sean had his post op appointment where everything looked good and they told him he could fly home. We were both very excited to go home! I sure missed my kids. I am very thankful that my parents were able to watch them. The kids had fun with their grandparents while we were gone. 

I love happy endings!