As you know, once in a blue moon I write to you about what's on my mind….. usually I do this at Thanksgiving…….However, today I wanted to let you know about my daughter Kelleigh…….as many of you know Kelleigh has been sick with kidney failure and has long been staring down at a transplant…..….the transplant took place this past Thursday
……Kelleighs mom (the evil-ex) was the living donor…I am more than grateful for help sacrifice……as I am sure Kelleigh is…..….I am happy to report as of now (and hopefully going forward) Kelleighs transplant is a textbook example of success…..to give you an idea…
Creatanine, which is the level of toxins in our system that are always there waiting to be filtered by a healthy working kidney have a score of between 75-80 for a healthy adult…….120 would be toxic….Kelleighs creatanine prior to transplant was 800……..today….36 hours after the transplant, her creatanine is 72….!
All of this is good……and I can only hope the trend and recovery all continue to fall in place….in 5 or 6 days when she is released from hospital she will spend the next 5 months locked away in her house recuperating with her Mom (whose surgery was unfortunately very harsh…) ……this in and of itself could be one of the more dangerous parts of the recuperative process……
It is always amazing to me that even in the center of turmoil and tragedy there is almost always humour……..perhaps I am too Pollyanna…..perhaps I am slightly daft…..perhaps it's the glass half full vs. half empty way I look at things but throughout all of this episode some moments of light shone through…..
Kelleigh, her Nana (my former Mother-in-law) and myself hung out with Kelleigh before the surgery and then walked with her down to the operating room…….
Children's Hospital is brilliant as it gives both the parents and the kid the chance to confront their fears and anxiety in the most gentle of ways………when we got to the OR Kelleigh was understandably frightened….her Nana was ghostly white……..we kissed her goodbye and off she went to sleep…..4 hours later Kelleigh was in the Intensive Care Unit……..
Nana and I were allowed in immediately……we walked into a large, open ward with about 40 staff members and 12 patients….10 of which were newborns or under a year……massive tubes coming in and out of their tiny chests and medical monitors, beeping and brightly lit were everywhere……..
amongst the chaos were frightened and anxious parents waiting at each childs bedside…..truly helpless as their own helpless child was being tended to by absolutely brilliant and dedicated professionals……as we got to Kelleighs bedside…..it was a shock……12 IV tubes…half a dozen monitors, 3 renal surgeons, nurses and others were hunkered around Kelleigh, talking, watching, taking pulses and temps
……..all of a sudden Kelleigh had a spasm in her kidney and she screamed at the top of her lungs… "FUCK"…….now I firmly believe Fuck has a place in our lexicon….to me……creative use of profanity can have an effect on those around them that Shakespeare could only have dreamt of…….now Nana on the other hand has a different opinion…
Nana, was the prototype for Dana Carveys Church Lady….and is still lovingly referred to as the "Church Lady" by her kids…….I believe she suffers from arthritis in the right knee from too much vigorous genuflecting……anyways…I digress….to Nana…a good "Darn" is about as risqué as it gets…….however, after Kelleigh bellowed "FUCK"…Nana leaned over the tubes and across the nurses and said to Kelleigh….."Now honey….just say Ouch!"…..
Kelleigh, grimacing in severe pain quickly stated….."Ouch is for fucking wimps Nana!!" and then went into another very painful contortion….she was screaming….. as a parent ,it is a helpless feeling to hear your child scream in agony and be able to do nothing more than stroke her forehead……and whisper 'it will be all right"….not really knowing if it will be………
then another spasm came over Kelleigh….. she screamed.. "FUCKBALLSUCKINGSHITHOLE!!!"………Nana went white….as she was just about to hit the speed dial for the priest and surf the net for the download of the exorcism rites…..another bellow came fromKelleigh…"COCKSHITFUCKER"….
Now....even I have never heard any of these profanities strung together in such a manner before and I have known a few sailor's in my time….…….(as a parent I do not encourage swearing…Then again I probably don't discourage it enough…oh well…) …..I was struck by the horror of the moment and the extreme pain with which must have mustered up these profanities, but at the same time I was struck by the humour of the moment…….
My 16 year old daughter….gentle, kind, Kelleigh was expressing herself like never before…….it was like watching a Picasso or Jackson Pollack paint for the first time….wild and angry brushstrokes…..running off the canvas sides…colours splashing and colours clashing…….my daughter was working in profanity like a Van Gogh worked in oils……….
Soon, Kelleigh was started on the morphine to take away the pain….it took a while to have an effect……the spasms and profanity continued……until, softly and lightly as a feather the opiate took effect……..Kelleigh calmed down and drifted in and out……..a murmur came from her….. " I love morphine…" she said.. and then drifted off to a fitful sleep……..I looked over at Nana…….she at me…….I knew what the right thing was to say….." Swearing is genetic….it comes from my side of the family…" I said....... This seemed to relieve her……the business of getting Kelleigh back to the life of a normal 16 year old could now begin…….
……Kelleighs mom (the evil-ex) was the living donor…I am more than grateful for help sacrifice……as I am sure Kelleigh is…..….I am happy to report as of now (and hopefully going forward) Kelleighs transplant is a textbook example of success…..to give you an idea…
Creatanine, which is the level of toxins in our system that are always there waiting to be filtered by a healthy working kidney have a score of between 75-80 for a healthy adult…….120 would be toxic….Kelleighs creatanine prior to transplant was 800……..today….36 hours after the transplant, her creatanine is 72….!
All of this is good……and I can only hope the trend and recovery all continue to fall in place….in 5 or 6 days when she is released from hospital she will spend the next 5 months locked away in her house recuperating with her Mom (whose surgery was unfortunately very harsh…) ……this in and of itself could be one of the more dangerous parts of the recuperative process……
It is always amazing to me that even in the center of turmoil and tragedy there is almost always humour……..perhaps I am too Pollyanna…..perhaps I am slightly daft…..perhaps it's the glass half full vs. half empty way I look at things but throughout all of this episode some moments of light shone through…..
Kelleigh, her Nana (my former Mother-in-law) and myself hung out with Kelleigh before the surgery and then walked with her down to the operating room…….
Children's Hospital is brilliant as it gives both the parents and the kid the chance to confront their fears and anxiety in the most gentle of ways………when we got to the OR Kelleigh was understandably frightened….her Nana was ghostly white……..we kissed her goodbye and off she went to sleep…..4 hours later Kelleigh was in the Intensive Care Unit……..
Nana and I were allowed in immediately……we walked into a large, open ward with about 40 staff members and 12 patients….10 of which were newborns or under a year……massive tubes coming in and out of their tiny chests and medical monitors, beeping and brightly lit were everywhere……..
amongst the chaos were frightened and anxious parents waiting at each childs bedside…..truly helpless as their own helpless child was being tended to by absolutely brilliant and dedicated professionals……as we got to Kelleighs bedside…..it was a shock……12 IV tubes…half a dozen monitors, 3 renal surgeons, nurses and others were hunkered around Kelleigh, talking, watching, taking pulses and temps
……..all of a sudden Kelleigh had a spasm in her kidney and she screamed at the top of her lungs… "FUCK"…….now I firmly believe Fuck has a place in our lexicon….to me……creative use of profanity can have an effect on those around them that Shakespeare could only have dreamt of…….now Nana on the other hand has a different opinion…
Nana, was the prototype for Dana Carveys Church Lady….and is still lovingly referred to as the "Church Lady" by her kids…….I believe she suffers from arthritis in the right knee from too much vigorous genuflecting……anyways…I digress….to Nana…a good "Darn" is about as risqué as it gets…….however, after Kelleigh bellowed "FUCK"…Nana leaned over the tubes and across the nurses and said to Kelleigh….."Now honey….just say Ouch!"…..
Kelleigh, grimacing in severe pain quickly stated….."Ouch is for fucking wimps Nana!!" and then went into another very painful contortion….she was screaming….. as a parent ,it is a helpless feeling to hear your child scream in agony and be able to do nothing more than stroke her forehead……and whisper 'it will be all right"….not really knowing if it will be………
then another spasm came over Kelleigh….. she screamed.. "FUCKBALLSUCKINGSHITHOLE!!!"………Nana went white….as she was just about to hit the speed dial for the priest and surf the net for the download of the exorcism rites…..another bellow came fromKelleigh…"COCKSHITFUCKER"….
Now....even I have never heard any of these profanities strung together in such a manner before and I have known a few sailor's in my time….…….(as a parent I do not encourage swearing…Then again I probably don't discourage it enough…oh well…) …..I was struck by the horror of the moment and the extreme pain with which must have mustered up these profanities, but at the same time I was struck by the humour of the moment…….
My 16 year old daughter….gentle, kind, Kelleigh was expressing herself like never before…….it was like watching a Picasso or Jackson Pollack paint for the first time….wild and angry brushstrokes…..running off the canvas sides…colours splashing and colours clashing…….my daughter was working in profanity like a Van Gogh worked in oils……….
Soon, Kelleigh was started on the morphine to take away the pain….it took a while to have an effect……the spasms and profanity continued……until, softly and lightly as a feather the opiate took effect……..Kelleigh calmed down and drifted in and out……..a murmur came from her….. " I love morphine…" she said.. and then drifted off to a fitful sleep……..I looked over at Nana…….she at me…….I knew what the right thing was to say….." Swearing is genetic….it comes from my side of the family…" I said....... This seemed to relieve her……the business of getting Kelleigh back to the life of a normal 16 year old could now begin…….
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