Date is Set

February 1st is the official kidney extraction!

I actually found out the date a few weeks ago but have been too lazy to write about it. It is so weird how there are so many emotions and so little at the same time. There are some very brief scary moments where I realize that I am having surgery. I am perfectly healthy, better in fact than most, and I am risking that health. These moments generally come on dramatically and last a few seconds. I also have moments of intense excitement. This should very well change my sister's life for the better. The rest of the time there is a sort of numbness. Not that I don't know what is going on but that it is what it is. My sister needs a kidney and I am the best candidate. This is the way things are so this is the logical next step. I am interested to see how my emotions will be afterwards. I know many people go through a sort of morning period for the lost organ, and I feel like this will probably be true for me. I don't expect it to last all that long but I would imagine it has to sink in sometime. Who knows, maybe it won't.

As far as the preparations, these have pretty much all been completed. Since the hospital is about 4-5 hours from my parents house and we have to stay near the hospital we have gotten an apartment for two months, or longer if needed. The surgery is on Friday so I'll fly in on Wednesday night for pre-opp on Thursday morning. My parents and sister will drive down on Wednesday too. The money budgeted for my flight through NLDAC was for a round trip ticket so I booked a flight home on February 20th. That's about a week and a half earlier than they would prefer but I'm flying with Southwest and there are no additional fees to change the date. My boyfriend's birthday is on the 21st and mine on the 23rd. He'll be staying in Kansas the entire time so I would like to be back with him so he doesn't have to spend it alone. He is staying behind so he can still work and we don't have to worry about finding someone to watch our dog and cat. Plus, with family and friends I think there might be a lot of people coming and going. I've also taken all of my time off work. I'm taking a week before the surgery to go on vacation and requested off the entire month of February. I put in the application for extended medical leave through the department of labor so I have up to 12 weeks if I need. It will all be unpaid, but I have been planning on that. They tell you to plan to be out of work 4-6 weeks baring there are no complications, but I have a desk job so I think it shouldn't be too bad.

So everything is finally set and there is nothing to do but wait. Three weeks and counting :)