We had safe travels, but hardly said a word to each other. We were either on the phone or silently processing all that was happening or about to happen...
As I experienced on our January false alarm, I was calm until we were in downtown Baltimore, turning off of I-83 & could see Johns Hopkins ahead of us. For some reason, that view makes it seem more real. So, once we rounded that corner, we couldn't park fast enough for me...I wanted to move onto the next step.
In January, we arrived in the middle of the night & the hospital lobby & hallways were almost empty. It felt like I was the only patient there. On that visit, we went directly to the kidney/liver transplant floor. So, initially, it felt like more was happening upon our arrival. This time was different in that we arrived at a very busy time of the morning.
We walked at a pretty rapid pace, thinking that they were waiting for us. We got to Admissions about 10AM, I checked in, and they said "have a seat". After a short while, they completed some paperwork, and asked a ton of questions...did I want a mammogram or GYN exam while I was here?... have I been out of the country recently?...insurance questions...living will questions...on and on... I was compliant, but really just wanted to go upstairs because it seemed odd that in January I didn't go through this whole process--we went straight to the transplant prep process.
Needless to say, I wasn't too thrilled when we had been sitting in Admissions for 1 hour & nothing had happened. I called & texted people to utilize my energy. I called my transplant coordinator to make sure that she knew I was in the Admissions office. (this really made Todd shake his head.) He had no doubt that they knew I was there...I just wanted to make sure. I guess I was hoping they would say "come on up to the transplant floor instead of sitting in Admissions". Yes, they were aware that I was there but they said that I should wait there for someone to get me. Oh well...I tried :)
As I was anxiously waiting (& not utilizing their comfy chairs), I looked around at everyone else sitting calmly. This was one of the many times during this adventure that God reminded me that when we pass someone, we usually don't know their story. I had walked into the hospital on 1 of the biggest days of my life & right beside me could have been someone coming for a routine check up or for something very minor. We can never try to understand someone without knowing their story.
Finally, around noon (yes, 2 hours later) a transport came to wheel me to the liver/kidney transplant floor. When we reached our room, they were waiting for me. I still felt like everything was moving slowly. I got into a gown & they took my vital signs, did some bloodwork & EKG, and started an IV. Then we were told that they would wait for my test results to make sure I was ready for a transplant & to make a final check for compatibility.
So, the waiting continued... The nurse told me to just rest & they would tell us when they knew more. I had not slept well the night before, but I couldn't relax enough to sleep. I was calm, but my brain was on overload. Also, I knew that I would be taking a REALLY long nap during surgery. In many ways, the waiting that morning felt longer than the 2 years that I had been on the transplant list. Still, God knew the plans that He had for me...I just wanted to know some more details about that plan :)
To be continued on my next post....
With love,
Belinda
