Tomorrow will mark two weeks from Evan’s transplant surgery. We have gone through a lot of adjustment now that we are home and in a routine. Evan is healing from his surgery and able to move around more, he is still sore to get up and down, but getting better every day.

Now that we are officially post transplant, there’s a lot of things that go into Evan’s day, monitoring his intake and output is most valuable, his nephrologist said she wanted the new kidney to look good and not like a raisin so water intake is very important. If you know Evan, he doesn’t mind drinking water which is a blessing!

His day starts at 8:00am with weight check, temp, blood pressure and meds!

We’re still trying to find a rhythm within his body for anti-rejection and kidney function, unfortunately, there are a few side effects. High blood pressure is one of them so he gets it checked twice daily, his weight to make sure that he’s not retaining water and his temperature to make sure there’s no infection.

The kidney is still waking up. His creatinine yesterday was 1.82, we are shooting for under 1.00! We are close! The next hurdle will be red blood cell count, his is very low and they are watching it. If you remember, Evan had a iron transfusion about a month ago, he was already struggling to keep his levels within normal. There might be some intervention coming next week to help his body start making it, steroids, sometimes help.

As far as Evans mood and mental well being, he has leveled out and things are good. He’s been able to go to the car wash, Dunkin, fishing with a friend (don’t worry, he didn’t touch any fish) and sit outside in the sun. He has also started a new project being an Amazon affiliate and promoting products! (it’s not mowing grass, but it still gives him something to do, and add a little change to his pocket!)

As a family, we are feeling better about our current journey, and everyone has pitched in to make this new chapter easier!

Thank you for all the blessings and the prayers. We are truly grateful to be in the situation.

We will still have our weekly visits at UNC on Monday and routine bloodwork on Wednesday and Friday. I will keep you updated on any changes.

The McGuire Gang