We’ve talked a lot lately about finally being able to see the finish line.
Now, we’re really glad it’s getting closer.
Mom’s bilateral nephrectomy — the surgery to remove both of her kidneys — is officially scheduled for September 24 at Wake Forest Baptist.
She had her pre-op appointment today, and everything is still moving forward. Nothing came up that would hold up surgery, and she’s scheduled for early September 24.
The plan is to remove her kidneys, give her time to recover, and then move toward transplant. After everything it took to get to this point, just having dates and a plan feels huge.
And lately, we’re seeing more clearly why it’s time.
For a long time, kidney disease was something we knew was progressing because the numbers told us it was. Labs changed. Kidney function declined. Appointments became more frequent. But from the outside, Mom could still look like Mom.
That’s getting harder to say.
She’s tired. A lot.
And it’s not just the normal kind of tired after a long day. You can see it in her face now. There are days when kidney disease simply looks like it has taken something out of her.
More recently, we’ve started noticing some fluid retention, too. We are noticing some swelling in her legs sometimes, occasionally one more than the other.
That one brings back memories.
Fluid retention and swelling were a regular occurrence with Poppi as his kidney disease progressed. Seeing something we watched him deal with now showing up in Mom makes this stage feel a little more real.
PKD has a way of repeating itself through generations.
Mom watched Poppi go through kidney failure, dialysis and eventually transplant. Her sister has been through transplant. Now it’s Mom’s turn to walk her own version of that road.
Thankfully, her story is moving forward.
September 24 is the next big step.
First, surgery. Then recovery. Then transplant.
And somewhere on the other side of all of that is the part we’re really looking forward to — getting Mom back to feeling like Mom again.
This is also why we keep talking about living donation.
A living donor doesn’t just give someone a kidney. They can give someone a chance to get out from underneath the exhaustion, appointments, declining numbers and symptoms that slowly start taking pieces of normal life away.
And for our family, that living donor is Dad.
We have our donor. We have a plan. And the ball is finally rolling.
Right now, that feels pretty damn good. 💚