Lois's Kidney Transplant

After reading this web page please feel free to sign our Guestbook. Lois has now seen the web page and is looking forward to replying to everyone's comments. She will undertake this task after the surgery. She was shocked, tearful and overjoyed all in the same breath  when she found out about the website and the comments.

Thank you all and yes ANGELS DO EXIST......

We have both had two looking out for us over the past few days, weeks and years that we have known each other.  

Remember LAUGHTER is the best medicine....

December 20, 2006

First report after surgery. Gary was under the knife for five hours and has had some side affects such as lazy eye, cold hands and an irritated ulcer and is coping well with the pain. Lois came through with flying colors and the doctors say it was a "textbook" surgery. Finally she did something right. The kidney is working wonders and the toxins are down to the normal levels. When she went into surgery it was over 500 and it is now in the 70 range. Both of us are recovering well, happy to be at home and finally having a decent meal hahahahaha. Lois' mother is doing an excellent job looking after us both. As time goes on we will continue to upgrade our progress. Thanks for all the love and support from all family, friends and even those who cared to write a comment about the article.

DECEMBER 13, 2006 transplant date....  so far so good .. Blood cultures recently done have come back Negative... 2 Ports were changed and a new one installed... OK  I mean surgically placed in Lois, upper body...Now we are starting to sound like football teams announcing injuries... hahaha  " Upper body Injury "...  We are planning to spend the week before in seclusion to avoid risk of infection and virus we will be at home but not receiving visitors.... It is important at this time just prior to surgery to remain virus and infection free to avoid another postponement. 

If you get the Record, the local Kitchener paper, stay tuned for a surprise.  Here is the link to the paper and it is free online.. http://www.therecord.com/  We will notify family and friends when an article about Lois is published. 

Look for something towards the latter part of next week closer to Dec 16, 2006 lets say.

Wish us luck, and hope that no further delays happen. To all our loving friends and family....  MERRY CHRISTMAS and  a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

October 13, 2006 UPDATE>>> Sorry to let you all know but we are in postponed mode again. a Blood Culture was done pre-surgery as required and Lois had a positive result meaning a virus is present in her system and blood in her stool and as a result SURGERY IS POSTPONED.. No set date as yet has been determined. 

UPDATED >>> SEPTEMBER 18, 2006<<< .......Hello everyone, This is to bring you all up to date on what has gone on. Well, tests are completed, and a new date has been set. It is October 17, 2006. We have Doctors appointments yet to go to but all indications point to a go for surgery. Lois's knee has not swollen up like it did in July and August ( we are pleased that it has remained normal and no signs of infection) October 17 is a Tuesday so a few changes are being made to this web sitge but not many.  

Hello everyone, this web site is dedicated to my wife Lois. Let me give you a little background about Lois. By the way, my name is Gary, I am her husband. This quick note is from me to Lois, darling there is no other in this world that I would line up first for to give you my heart, my love and in this case my kidney. I love you sweetheart.

Lois worked for the City of Kitchener up until she took ill from a rare hereditary blood disease Aceruloplasmenemia. This blood disease causes an Iron Overload in her blood stream and was depositing Iron on to her internal organs. Treatment has now seemed to stabalized her, but the iron is still prevalent within her blood stream as she does not have enough of the blood product Ceruloplasmin to mobilize the iron within her body. Treatment includes regular blood plasma that contain a higher than normal concentration of the product Ceruloplasmin and the occasion removal of blood.

A few years ago, however, Lois developed another rare disease called Rapidly Aggressive Crescentic Glomerulonephritis, which caused her kidney's to start to fail. Well, to make a long story short her kidney condition digressed to the state where she had to go onto dialysis in April, 2006. A year or so ago, it was determined that Lois would need a kidney transplant eventually, and as a result the hunt was on, so to speak.  

A BIG THANK YOU ...to  Dr. Gowing (Cambridge Memorial Hospital) He was the first to discover Lois's blood disorder and take a special interst in her. The Nurses at Cambridge Memorial Medical Day Care for the constant weekly abuse she put them through ( hahahaha they know what we mean). Dr. Carlisle (St. Joe's Hospital Hamilton) for helping Lois through her Kidney Disease. Dr. Vitou and Nurses (K-W Hospital) for her dialysis treatment care. Dr. Russell ( St. Joe's Hospital) for all the prepwork for this upcoming transplant. The Transplant Co-ordinators at St. Joe's Hospital. And every other medical staff member that have had to look after Lois.  Your care and concern has touched our hearts.

A special THANK YOU to Gary and Lois's families for their care and support. Big Hugs to all of you !!!

Gary should be home in 3-5 days after the surgery, he was told that he will be up and about the next day and not to do anything strenuos. Now this is for a guy that has spent the last few months, essentially rebuilding our new home. He has had a lot of help from a lot of great friends and we are very appreciative of all the help people have given us during this time leading up to our surgery.

Lois on the other hand will be in hospital for probably a week to 10 days. This is to ensure that the medication is adjusted and that no infection sets in and the kidney functions as it should. Mother Ruth will be our care-giver when Gary and Lois are discharged. We are expecting visitors and relief caregivers sometime in January. Maureen  ( Gary's sister ) and husband Rick will be here to help for a week  they will becoming in from Winnipeg in early January, as well as a weekend visit from Gary's daughter Gillian and Grandson Colby, also from Winnipeg. They will be here to help in travel requirements as Lois will have to go to Hamilton 3-5 times a week for blood tests and check-ups to ensure that all is well.

We suggest that if you planning to visit at anytime after the surgery you call St. Joe's Hospital at       1-905-522-1155 to enquire about visiting hours which are currently posted as 2pm.- 8pm. daily. Should you need a map go to www.google.ca click on maps and type in St. Joe's Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario. The response that you are looking for will come up as "C"  St. Joe's Hospital 50 Charlton Street.

Surgery will be done in St. Joe's Hospital located on James St. South and Charlton Ave. E. Hamilton, Ontario. Parking is available by driving up James St.S. passing the hospital, passing St. Joseph's Drive and turning left into the parkade that is just behind the hospital. Go to the 3rd floor of the parkade, you will enter a hospital wing and need to walk through a few corridors then you will walk across an indoor bridge to the main hospital, go to the 1st floor (use elevator) and then find your way to the reception desk and ask for our room. At present we are not sure of visitation times or rules but we do know that no one is allowed to visit first 24 hours after surgery, but if you are there the day of surgery a doctor will come to a waiting  room to provide an update on how the surgery went.