Hanging with the celebs

Last night the misses and I went to a fundraiser for the state transplant foundation. It was hosted by NY Mets pitcher Tom Glavine. You could pay to play ping pong, pool, air hockey, or poker for fun with various professional athletes. Air hockey was against the world champion air hockey player if you so dared. My first game was pool against a member of the Atlanta Falcons. I was on the list to play against Glavine but that list was too long but I did end up having my photo made with him and my misses at the end of the night. The misses is a poker player. She played against Braves starter John Smoltz and some NFL player for Pittsburgh. It really wasnt that fair for her or for the other challengers. Athletes were given about 15 x the money as the challengers, so Smoltz just bullied his way through the game. Of course he was also being dealt great hands, too.

It means a lot that famous people would give up their time for free to raise money for such a worthy organization. Tons of celebritites were there. When the live auction was happening, the athletes really got involved with that, too. How is an ordinary guy supposed to outbid a pro athlete making 7 digits on a guitar signed by all of the Rolling Stones? Damn you Kevin Millwood! But like I said, the money went to a good cause...

It also means a lot when ordinary folks would volunteer to be tested to give an organ to someone they may or may not know... Of course thoughts and prayers for everyone involved with the process is important and means a lot too. In short, thanks for being there for me and my wife, just by reading this.

feeling a little sore

Had the operation Tuesday to switch types of dialysis. The insert something into my abdominal cavity. Went home from the hospital yesterday. Not as sore today and can get out of bed a whole lot easier today but decided to skip work today, anyway. Tonight going to a fundraiser hosted by Tom Glavine. You can play darts or pool with Glavind and other celebrities for a donation to the charity, which deals with transplants.
If you want more information on peritoneal dialysis look here http://my.webmd.com/hw/kidney_failure/tv6900.asp or feel free to ask me. It'll take a couple of weeks to heal but my last scheduled hemodialysis is Feb 11.

Newest update

So I did my transpplant evaluation this week. Mostly it was me sitting around and waiting for 2 days. Since I am young and healthy, I didnt have to do as many tests as others have to. I met the team of doctors that will perform the surgery. Should hear the definitive yes I am approved in a couple of weeks. Then they will begin to check the now 11 people that want to see if they are a match, probably starting with family first.

Part of the evaluation was me talking with a shrink. I overanalyzed every question and every answer. When he asked what caused my kidney failure, if I knew, and I replied with what happened, I kept waiting for him to ask how does that make me feel. Gladly he didnt ask that one. Mostly, he just wants to make sure that I am not suicidial or manic depressive.

This week I have the surgery to switch types of dialysis. It takes about 3 weeks for it to heal up before I can officially switch. When it happens, I am pretty much free to eat or drink anything I want or desire. I can already taste the Cheesburger, tater tots (with ketchup), and a chocolate shake.

more dates

You all know about my 2 days (January 18 and 19) for transplant evaluation. January 25 will be when I have the surgery to switch types of dialysis. 3-4 weeks after that I will be on the type of dialysis you do at home. I can hardly wait! And about the time I can start eating real food again I will be in Savannah with the wife and dogs just for a weekend getaway.

Next week I will post after the evaluation is complete. I need to rent or buy some more DVDs to watch during the evaluation (they see there is a lot of down time) and I have watched everything here at the house including the Muppets take Manhattan.