Kevin's Blog

Hello Friends,

I am writing you from my home-away-from-home: the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center.  As indicated by my post title, this is the third time now I’ve been hospitalized just this month.  What a drag!  While I have been busy dealing with kidney issues; both from my current transplant and my upcoming one, this visit caught me totally off-guard.

Sunday, the 27th, I woke up with chest pain.  It wasn’t very intense, but enough for me to realize something was going on.  I thought perhaps I had just slept weird, and that I should just get up and move around; go about my day as normal, and the pain will go away.  So, my friends called me up around noon and invited me out for sushi lunch.  “Perfect: this is what I needed”, I thought to myself.  “I’ll get out of the house, breathe some fresh air, and this pain should go away.”

Well, by 2pm when we sat down for lunch, I was in such incredible pain that I was having severe problems breathing, and could hardly eat any of the food in front of me.  My friends were worried, too, but we decided to power through lunch and then walk around the mall for a bit.  That didn’t help.  As we walked around different stores; my friends trying on clothes and shoes, I could hardly stand or see straight because I couldn’t breathe right.  Something was clearly going on…

After finally leaving the mall and heading back to my friends’ house, I immediately got in my car and drove home.  I called ahead and asked my mom if she could set an Oxycodone pain pill out for me so I could take it the instant I walked in the door, which was at 4:30pm.  I got home, took the pill, and went downstairs to lie down in bed.  I couldn’t even do that.  After being up all day, the pain got even more intense when I tried to lie down, and the pain pill wasn’t helping much.

OK, time to go to the ER.  This isn’t right.  By 6pm, dad and I were in the car headed to Torrance Memorial to check into the ER and find out what’s going on.  Once arriving and getting checked in, they did lots of blood tests, started and IV, and did X-Rays and a CT Scan.  Well, long story short, the CT scan showed a small amount of pneumonia behind my heart.  Pneumonia?  How the heck did I get that?!  Goodness… one more thing to worry about.

So how did I end up at UCLA?  Well, after the doctor saw me at the Torrance Memorial ER, he decided that I was a little more “complicated” than most cases, due to my extensive medical history, and the fact I am close to getting a kidney transplant.  Which is why they decided to send me to UCLA via ambulance early Monday morning around 2am.  And that is where I’ve been since then.  I have been receiving large doses of antibiotics through IV, and they have been helping.  The pain is much better, and I am able to breathe normally again.  The doctors are continuing to keep an eye on me and make sure I’m getting better and receiving the right medications.  It is looking like I will get to come home either Thursday or Friday.  It would be great to be able to celebrate the new year at home!

Thank you all for the encouraging emails, facebook comments, phone calls, texts… everything!  Such a blessing to feel so loved from such a miserable place.  Let’s hope this is the last time I’ll be here before my transplant!

Dear friends, this is Jeff filling in for Carrie and Kevin on the e-mail update. The bad news with me writing is that this will not be as well written. However, the good news is that it will be much shorter.

The transplant surgeon, who was also going to be removing Kevin’s kidney tomorrow morning spent 45 minutes with us discussing the risks involved in this surgery. Kevin’s workup has indicated that the surgery would entail considerably more risk than originally thought and also that necessary transfusions might cause Carrie to be lost as a donor. The surgeon and transplant team have just finished a lengthy discussion (now 10pm) and it has been decided to cancel the surgery, step back, and attempt to reach a consensus on where we go next.

Starting high doses of steroids again and hoping for a better response. We will be coming back next week to consult with all the specialists involved and further evaluate Kevin’s options. There is a chance that we could move forward with the transplant or we could find ourselves facing this same surgery in a few weeks. We pray for the transplant, of course.

We want to express our sincere thanks for all your thoughts and prayers and feel that this last minute change of plans was for a purpose. Sorry this is so short but Carrie will be returning with the usual three page update soon. Jeff.

Hi Friends,

It has been quite a whirlwind of a week, and there is a lot more in-store, so I thought I would update you all.

As you may recall, I was supposed to have two tests done on Friday, December 4th.  These two tests were the only thing I had remaining in order to schedule my kidney transplant.  Unfortunately, I had been experiencing pain in my side where my current kidney is, so the doctors thought it would be best for me to get checked out before having the tests done.  Well… long story short, just as I was about to be put out for my procedure, my blood results came back and showed that I had an infection, and the procedure needed to be canceled.  This subsequently led to me being hospitalized that evening at UCLA, and spending 5 days in the hospital.

Surprisingly, this is the second time I had been hospitalized for this pain, and similar to the first time, the doctors thought that giving me high doses of steroids would fix the problem.  Well… this worked the first time, but unfortunately, it didn’t work this last time.  After three days of IV Solu-Medrol, the pain and swelling was still there.

Obviously, something needs to be done.  The plan now is to remove my kidney.  Because it continues to act up, this could cause complications for my upcoming transplant, and that’s not a risk that either myself or the doctors want to take.

So, next Wednesday, December 16th, I will have a procedure called a nephrectomy at UCLA.  It will take approximately 3-4 hours, and I will be recovering in the hospital for 4-5 days.  This also means there will be a 6-8 week delay in the transplant as my body recovers from this surgery.  Although I had been hoping to avoid this surgery, it is agreed that this is what’s needed to keep me healthy not only now, but also in the future after my upcoming kidney transplant.

So we continue to move forward!  Thank you all for your constant prayers, encouragement, and support throughout all of this.  I have never felt so loved and cared for.  I look forward to continuing to bring you updates!  I always welcome your comments; just click on “Contact Me” at the top of the page.

-Kevin