time flies when you're having a new kidney!

hello all (well, to anyone who checks this anymore),

i promised i would update this occasionally and this is my first attempt at fulfilling this promise.

i am back at work at the hospice, part time, and beginning the job hunt. currently i am looking the round rock/austin area and would prefer something in the non-profit field, but honestly, anything will do :)

mel finished summer school with "flying colors" (she will be mad at me, but i think she should be proud that she earned 2 a+'s this summer while recovering from major surgery) and will be starting her last year of grad school next week on her way to earning a masters in social work.

as for the actual kidney, it's doing fantastic! as they were before my surgery, they are amazed that i am doing so well and bouncing back so quickly (their average patient is probably 55 and has at least one other major health risk, so my young age and relative good health has made this whole process much easier). i have a check up with my local nephrologist next tuesday and one at the transplant center in november.

i will do my best to update this every time i have a check up so everyone is still in the loop, but those will begin to spread further apart, so email me if you are concerned or want to check in!

thank you everyone who has read this for all these months and who has been here with an encouraging word and hug.

much love and big hugs,

cam

UPDATES!

hello all,

you will all be glad to know that mel and i are both doing very well. we are both driving and in 3 weeks we will be fully released to all normal activities: job, exercise, lifting more than 5lbs, etc.

we are still a little bit sore but there is pretty much no pain and our incisions are healing up very nicely.

mel started summer school yesterday and she is having a lot of fun! i'll be starting the full-time job search in the coming weeks, so if you know of any openings, i'll take pretty much anything at this point :)

let us know if you have any questions!

lots of love and hugs,

camel

updates

hello all,

a quick update:

mel is doing great. she's up and moving around a lot and the pain has decreased every day!

i am up and moving around as well and the pain is also decreasing. i have labs every tuesday and friday to monitor my medicine levels for a while and an appt with my nephrologist here in round rock on tuesday.

we'll update soon, but for now thank you so much for all of your love and support!

love and hugs,

camel

yay!

hello all,

mel was released today and is feeling much better. she is still in some pain which is to be expected -- her incision is right in the middle of her stomach. she will continue to rest up in austin in the coming weeks.

i will be in the hospital until wednesday (most likely). this morning was a little rough from nausea but i feel great now and have done a lot of walking today.

thanks again for everyone's love and support and we'll keep you updated!

love and hugs,

camel

Movin' On Up!

Cam will be moved out of ICU and onto the second floor in about an hour or two!

His room will be just a few doors down from Mel's, so they will be able to see each other more easily!

Mel is still in a bit of pain, but she is sitting up right now and eating her first real meal!

Please continue praying for their recoveries.

Love,

Katy

"letter from the editor"

hello all,

first off, thanks to katy for a job very well done! she will continue to update this weekend on what's going on, but as I am feeling great, I decided I would let everyone know!

i have been in ICU all afternoon and will be tonight as a precaution and then will move to a room up on the second floor near Mel. they are hoping to get me out on wednesday and mel on monday (but no guarantees).

keep sending thoughts and love our way as we have a whiles to go until we are back to our normal lives.

as always, thanks for everything and much love.

back to you, katy.

cam

Good News!

Both Mel and Cam are out of surgery!

Everything is going well - Mel is still in recovery and Cam will go into the ICU for monitoring.

Please continue to pray as they both recover.

Love,

Katy