Steve, Jacob and I will fly up to Pittsburgh the Thursday before to sign consents for surgery and then the adventure begins! 

The day of transplant, Steve will undergo surgery at the adult hospital while Jacob is under anesthesia for his surgery. They’ll grab Steve’s kidney, put it on ice, then transport it to the Children’s Hospital via ambulance! Amazing!

Jacob’s surgery is anticipated to take 4-6 hours. He’s expected to stay in the PICU for 5-10 days. Steve should only be in the hospital for a day or two. 

There are numerous moving parts and A LOT to coordinate, but basically Jacob and I will need to stay in Pittsburgh for 6-8 weeks, while Steve will be cleared to travel back to Florida roughly 1-2 weeks post surgery to return to our other son, Carter. He will not be able to return to work for 6 weeks post-op. We are in the process of finding flights, researching lodging, and lining up help from family and friends throughout each leg of the process. To say we are overwhelmed is an understatement! But we are chipping away at things a day at a time. This is one instance where my Type A personality comes in handy! 

Jacob is in good spirits. The other night before bed, he said to me, “Mom, I’m kinda excited about getting dad’s kidney…I’ll finally be able to grow taller!” 

We will keep everyone updated along the way. Thank you for your continued encouragement for Jacob and our family. We are truly in awe of all of the people who have offered their love and help. It is an enormous relief to know we will be surrounded by family and friends in Pittsburgh. I always lean heavily on Steve when Jacob has a surgery, but in this case, he won’t be with me. So I will absolutely need all of the encouragement I can get!