Month: March 2015

Garrett slept a lot yesterday so last night his sleep was off and on.  His body is generally just sore from being in bed. 

This morning he ate almost a whole breakfast sandwich, by far the most food he has eaten at once.  He then walked a couple of laps with mom.

He took his morning meds and again he felt nauseous.   He was given a shot and it calmed his stomach.

The doctors decided to keep him one more night and are adjusting his medication.   Since this medication will be a part of his life the doctors want to get this right.  Hopefully we can get it right and get him feeling better.

Garrett is looking forward to his brothers returning to the hospital today. He will get to visit for several hours with them before Trevor has to fly home.  We were lucky Trevor was given Friday off of the academy so he could spend the weekend with his brothers.

Before Justin and Trevor come to the hospital they are going to visit with their new brother, Jerran.   Garrett is bummed he won’t be there, but like he said, “June is right around the corner and we will all be better and together. ”  He is always so positive.

Garrett thanks everyone for their wishes and prayers.

Garrett spent most of the day taking naps.  This afternoon both of his brothers, Justin and Trevor, got to the hospital. That always lifts his spirits.

Garrett, his brothers, his grandparents, uncle Joe and Kayla all played a game of hangman on a whiteboard in the waiting room.

Around 5:00 pm Garrett was moved back to 9 Long.  It has been fun to see the great nursing staff again. They all have come by happy to see Garrett but wished it was somewhere else.

Garrett was able to walk a couple of laps tonight.  We meet with the doctors in the morning and will see if we get to go home. That’s the plan anyway.

Garrett with brothers Justin and Trevor just before playing hangman.  These two are the best medicine for Gbaby.

A couple of laps with mom.

Saw the doctors at UCSF. They say everything looks good. Super kidney is SUPER and there is nothing wrong with it.

Garrett was admitted to another floor, but staff is moving Garrett back down to 9 Long, the Transplant Unit. This floor has old school TVs!

Most likely just a reaction to one of the new meds. Fever is always a concern but they are not worried. Blood work, kidney function and everything else is completely normal!



Garrett had some vomiting and chest pains late tonight. We took him to the local ER, where they did a CAT scan and chest X-ray.



He moved during the CAT scan (no doubt he was uncomfortable and in pain) so they weren’t able to get a good reading.

At this point, they watch for blood clots, so to be careful, he’ll be transported by ambulance back to UCSF where they will do a thorough check.

We feel like maybe he just over did it a bit and this is a hiccup on the road to recovery. But it’ll be a long night for everyone, and we ask for your continued prayers.

Garrett’s first walk around the block!

He and Jerran have a healthy competition going. It’s a good thing.



Incredible! Just 72 hours ago, Garrett was in surgery getting a new super-kidney. Today, he made it home. 



All is going well.

Keep him and his family in prayer. Tonight and the coming days will be tough. He has to wake up every hour or so to use the bathroom because doctors want urine to run through and not yet accumulate, which will put too much pressure on where they connected the kidney and bladder.



Garrett cleared for discharge



Outside for the first time since Tuesday morning



Stop taking pictures of me!



We can’t ever say thank you enough…to everybody.



Jerran is doing well at home. He got out for a half mile walk along the route that he will soon be running his regular 4 to 6 miles.

Before Jerran was discharged yesterday, this sweet med student who also volunteers with a Music for Healing program came and treated us all to a song. See the video below.



I mean, come on? Tears everywhere.

http://youtu.be/FzNsua9LIWo

Garrett has done 14 laps walking around 9 Long at the UCSF Transplant Unit. What an overachiever! 

They took his catheter out and are monitoring his urine output. He’s finishing up his last IV meds and will transition to pills.



Garrett’s brother Trevor got in late last night from Kansas, where he was able to leave the police academy there just for the weekend. Friends picked him up at the airport and delivered him to the hospital where he saw his baby brother for the first time, dialysis-free.

Garrett’s other brother Justin will arrive tomorrow from out of state.





Jerran had a pretty good night at home. There was the initial pain and panic of getting into a regular bed, not set up to make it easier on patients like at the hospital. But he’s worked out the right strategies and pillow support and is doing great. He enjoyed three hours of deep sleep at a time throughout the night, waking to his one kidney telling him it was time to use the bathroom again. Eventually that will go back to normal, which for a 48 year old man is probably not much different than this!

He’s got his appetite back, but is taking it slow.

This morning he FaceTimed with Garrett and the Ramos family as they did their laps.



A group of Garrett’s friends paid him a visit tonight. His face lit up when they walked in.  It didn’t take long until everyone was laughing. Garrett put a stop to this very fast because it hurts him to laugh. Its pretty funny watching them be so silly but not being able to laugh.
They got him to walk a couple of laps. Liz got them to play a game of sequence,  not a surprise.

We dearly miss Jerran but am so happy is at home and resting comfortably.  He gave Garrett a great t-shirt

“Recycled parts inside” classic Jerran.



There’s no place like home, especially when those crazy Ramoses paper your house in banners and leave blankets and signs to say thank you.

It took a lot out of Jerran walking out of the hospital, riding home, getting upstairs and into bed. But a little home made soup and having his kids close helps.

Looking forward to some real rest.