Hello everyone. We are here on Monday just counting down the hours to when Amelia can *hopefully* come home. Her medications and the new kidney are playing havoc with her body; all of those electrolytes and other minerals are still trying to figure out why they don’t need to be so high anymore. That and she needs to drink 3.5 liters (116 oz, not quite a gallon) of water every day so they don’t have to do any more IV’s. Or an NG tube. She doesn’t want a tube in her nose.

Other than being a bit lightheaded and dizzy from the immunocompromising meds she is feeling better today. Her appetite is coming back and she ate actual food and not just the snacks that she has been subsisting on.

We had our education with the pharmacist (over zoom) about all of the meds that Amelia will be taking. There are not many more than she has been on and those will be reducing over the next couple of months, so we will be good.

Amelia also got to go to the playroom today and do some crafts. They are only letting one person at a time in there, so she was good and isolated. She did the dreamcatcher below and some fun “dump painting” art.

Amelia’s Unicorn Dream Catcher!

Now is the part where I get to dash some hopes and dreams. Many of you didn’t know Amelia back when she had her first transplant, and some may have forgotten, but when she comes home she will be extra immunocompromised. They are keeping her immunity very low so that she doesn’t attack this new kidney. Over the next 3 months they will back off on the suppression medication and she will only be as immunocompromised as she was before. During these next few months though, we will be living in a sanitized bubble. Much like all of us have been doing this past year anyway. We won’t be able to have any visitors over to the house for a while and we will not be going out and doing much where there are people around. Amelia will still be available over Skype! That is a good thing that has come from the pandemic as I have said before. She can talk to anyone on the phone and over Skype or Zoom.

Yet again I want to thank everyone who is watching out for us, and keeping up with Amelia. She is doing really well considering major surgery less than a week ago, and I am convinced that all of your prayers and well wishes help with that. Thank you again.

More to come as we know it, and hopefully home tomorrow,

Still coming to you live 6 days into the new kidney,

-Justin