Seattle Kidney Trip – Day 2

Ben, age 4, came into the kitchen wearing nothing but a t-shirt. Naked from the waist down, he politely bid me a good morning, and I did my best to act like everyone takes their Honey Nut Cheerios in the nude. It was really too early for me to care either way.

We got to the hospital just a little after 8:30 A.M. and headed for Blood Draw where Papa and Dede had been waiting for at least 15 minutes. Heather was overjoyed that she got the same Chong-clone laid back hippie doctor as last time. Papa and I made small talk about job hunting and Superman comics and, of course, cooking. From there we were off to our pre-op consult with Heather’s surgeon, Dr. Baktha, who is a bit less handsome but significantly more thorough than the tall Brazilian doctor who met with us in December. He showed us the vivid monochrome scans of Heather’s insides. She gazed in awe as her innards rolled out in front of her, from top-to-bottom, then front-to-back, one thin cross section at a time. My future wife impresses me daily with her courage. In less than 48 hours, she will have a major organ cut out of her body, and her predominant feelings are of wonder and curiosity.

The rest of my day was more or less a sleepy blur. Lunch at Aqua Verde. A quick stop at Border’s. Dinner with friends at Red Robin. Chasing the boys around the living room before bedtime. Tomorrow, we have no formal plans other than to sleep late and relax. I’ll probably spend the day reading and applying for jobs while Heather embarks on a 24-hour diet of nothing but clear liquids. Neither of us deals particularly well with low blood sugar, so it should be an adventure. At least we’ll have a half-naked toddler running around to lighten the mood.