What to say....

So....it's 824 more minutes until go time (okay, 13 hours, but I have a flair for the dramatic :)

Today has gone surprisingly well.  My day started at 7:00am, and we've been going ever since.  In fact, I'm STILL here at Mayo at my last appointment, which is the IVIG infusion.  Here was my schedule:

• plasmapheresis
• on-call nephrologist
• surgeon
• dialysis
• IVIG infusion

This is the machine that I had today for plasmapheresis.  The glass bottles are the albumin that is replacing the plasma that they removed.  I'm not sure why albumin is in glass bottles, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that albumin is a protein.

After plasmapheresis, Annika and I went back to the hotel to have breakfast with Joacim and Izzy.  I still have my PD catheter to take care of, so here I am emptying my peritoneal cavity and flushing the catheter.

The appointments with the nephrologist and surgeon were uneventful.  The surgeon was a smaller man, so I'm guessing he had smaller hands.  Win.  He did say that they won't be using staples (another WIN) and that the surgical opening would only be 4-5 inches long (and the TRIFECTA of wins!!!!).

We then had a break for lunch and went to Jimmy John's.  For those of you at work who are reading this, you can commiserate with me.  Just kidding...it's close by, and not too heavy of a meal before dialysis.

Dialysis today was also, thankfully, uneventful.  We only pulled 1.5L of fluid off because they want my body to be well hydrated so Adam's kidney has something to work on tomorrow :)  Adam, Noel and Adam's dad stopped by for a visit and I was able to catch up with his adventures today.  I'll admit that I was a little weirded out (for lack of a better term) last night when we met up with them all for dinner, but seeing Adam walk around the corner with that infectious grin alleviated any weirdness I had.

And last, but certainly not least, is the IVIG (which stands for intra-veinous immunoglobulin).  Essentially, it's fake plasma with some great antibodies in it.  This is actually what I'm hooked up to right now as I type.  Another glass bottle means another protein.  They gave me benadryl before the drip started to ward off any reaction to it (just like the Rituximab treatments) so I'm a bit sleepy but still hanging in there.

So that's about it for me today.  Once I'm done here, I'll go back to the hotel to see Izzy and my parents (who arrived today), and then off to bed.  I'll check in to the hospital at 5:30am, which means I have to get up around 4:30am so I can shower with the special soap and get myself together.  Surgery is scheduled to start at 8:00am tomorrow, so be on the lookout for a post around then.  I've asked Joacim to post from my account when the surgery starts, and then again when the kidney is in.  Any other posts are all up to him :)

And lastly, but most certainly not the least, I want to send out a HUGE, immense, never-ending stream of thanks to all of you that have taken a moment out of your day to send Adam and I prayers/karma/juju/wishes for a successful #operationrelocation tomorrow.  Even in my best days did I expect this amazing outpouring of love and support.  I'm not going to go getting all gooey now as I'll save my babbling tears and emotions for tomorrow :)  Adam, you have amazing family and friends.  You aren't so bad yourself :)