2nd Day of Transplant Work-Up
Had to be in hospital by 10am today. Another long day today, we were still so tired from yesterday's stuff.
First thing this morning was a Psychiatrist Assessment for both my hubby and me. We both spoke to this Senior Consultant (who also had a bunch of 4th year medics in his clinic), as opposed to our previous Psychiatric Assessment in Brunei, where we were questioned by this junior doctor who totally assessed us using the very basic 4th year psychiatric assessment questions (believe me, I know!), ie. name 3 fruit beginning with the letter b, name 3 pieces of s**t that is yellow....bla, bla, bla... what a load of BS man!!! (After the assessment we suddenly remembered that the dr. and I used to be in the same batch whist studying medicine in Scotland!!!) Jeezzz...! I could've done our own assessment! Haha!!! (Note sarcastic refrain).
Anyway, I digress. The consultant asked my hubby and I really basic stuff, some personal stuff (definitely nothing about 4 letters beginning with the colour bananas!! - bah adang tah!). He even got the students to ask us a few questions. Then, he asked me to leave so he could speak to my hubby alone. I pretty much guessed what he was gonna be asked anyway, just to get the ethical issue aside, ie. that my hubby is not donating his kidney for purely selfish reasons, such as personal or financial gain. Well, all in all, this assessment was one of the easiest, rather than having tests involving blood and needles ie. PAINFUL!!
Next on the itinerary, my hubby had to go for a Renal Angiogram http://www.stjohnsmercy.org/healthinfo/test/urology/TP077.asp (in Layman's terms; to view the blood vessels leading to his kidney). Unfortunately, this does involve needles and blood => PAIN! Kesian my hubby.... Fortunately, the procedure in Singapore was waaaaayyyyyy better than the traumatic experience he had in Brunei (which required he be admitted in hospital for 2 nights, and made us miss half the 1st day of raya, but worst part was that it was really painful).
Ok, so I've got to stop dissing our public health facilities, but hey, I'm just stating the facts here. Don't get me wrong, I, my husband and my family fully appreciate the opportunity and assistance our Government has given us for my New Lease on Life, without whom I would still have this extra appendage dangling from my abdomen, and I'd still be attaching myself to my 2litre bag of dialysis fluid 4x a day, for about an hour each session. But as always, I have to say Alhamdullilah! Everything comes from Allah.....
After lunch, we then had to meet up with the Director of Renal Transpalntation. She was really nice, and quickly put us at ease. We had a long consultation, she made sure we understood what was going to happen and was really thorough with her explanations of pre and post transplant.
Then, we had to meet up with the Medical Social Worker. Basically, this involves finding out about our background, ie. family, work, studies, financial status, hopes after transplant etc. Another easy session.
Last, we had to meet up with our surgeon, the man who basically holds our future in his hands. He explained that the operation would be feasible, although it would be a rather complicated one, as my hubby's kidney blood vessels had an early split, which means a more difficult transplant into my abdomen, but the surgeon assured us that it can be done.
Well, it was another load of info to absorb that day, we were looking forward to getting the weekend off. We both needed a break to recoup.
First thing this morning was a Psychiatrist Assessment for both my hubby and me. We both spoke to this Senior Consultant (who also had a bunch of 4th year medics in his clinic), as opposed to our previous Psychiatric Assessment in Brunei, where we were questioned by this junior doctor who totally assessed us using the very basic 4th year psychiatric assessment questions (believe me, I know!), ie. name 3 fruit beginning with the letter b, name 3 pieces of s**t that is yellow....bla, bla, bla... what a load of BS man!!! (After the assessment we suddenly remembered that the dr. and I used to be in the same batch whist studying medicine in Scotland!!!) Jeezzz...! I could've done our own assessment! Haha!!! (Note sarcastic refrain).
Anyway, I digress. The consultant asked my hubby and I really basic stuff, some personal stuff (definitely nothing about 4 letters beginning with the colour bananas!! - bah adang tah!). He even got the students to ask us a few questions. Then, he asked me to leave so he could speak to my hubby alone. I pretty much guessed what he was gonna be asked anyway, just to get the ethical issue aside, ie. that my hubby is not donating his kidney for purely selfish reasons, such as personal or financial gain. Well, all in all, this assessment was one of the easiest, rather than having tests involving blood and needles ie. PAINFUL!!
Next on the itinerary, my hubby had to go for a Renal Angiogram http://www.stjohnsmercy.org/healthinfo/test/urology/TP077.asp (in Layman's terms; to view the blood vessels leading to his kidney). Unfortunately, this does involve needles and blood => PAIN! Kesian my hubby.... Fortunately, the procedure in Singapore was waaaaayyyyyy better than the traumatic experience he had in Brunei (which required he be admitted in hospital for 2 nights, and made us miss half the 1st day of raya, but worst part was that it was really painful).
Ok, so I've got to stop dissing our public health facilities, but hey, I'm just stating the facts here. Don't get me wrong, I, my husband and my family fully appreciate the opportunity and assistance our Government has given us for my New Lease on Life, without whom I would still have this extra appendage dangling from my abdomen, and I'd still be attaching myself to my 2litre bag of dialysis fluid 4x a day, for about an hour each session. But as always, I have to say Alhamdullilah! Everything comes from Allah.....
After lunch, we then had to meet up with the Director of Renal Transpalntation. She was really nice, and quickly put us at ease. We had a long consultation, she made sure we understood what was going to happen and was really thorough with her explanations of pre and post transplant.
Then, we had to meet up with the Medical Social Worker. Basically, this involves finding out about our background, ie. family, work, studies, financial status, hopes after transplant etc. Another easy session.
Last, we had to meet up with our surgeon, the man who basically holds our future in his hands. He explained that the operation would be feasible, although it would be a rather complicated one, as my hubby's kidney blood vessels had an early split, which means a more difficult transplant into my abdomen, but the surgeon assured us that it can be done.
Well, it was another load of info to absorb that day, we were looking forward to getting the weekend off. We both needed a break to recoup.
posted by Thaaniya at 5:44:00 pm
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