Spirits are high! The doctors came in about 20 minutes ago to inform Izaak and Doug that everything was a go for tomorrow. All of the tests that they ran on Doug did not indicate any problems beyond the obvious recurring need for a kidney.
A large group of friends, family, and colleagues have been coming to the hospital all evening. Prayers and thoughts from all directions–all around the world–have been flying into Knoxville this evening. Emails of well wishes and phone calls of support have been made all day, so now the night of great anticipation is all that stands between Doug and a new kidney.
By Izaak’s request, the nurse agreed to snap a shot of the kidney for our viewing pleasure. They requested a disposable camera though, so you are going to have to wait for that goodness.
Next Steps:
Izaak will be admitted to the hospital at 12:00 am, and then they will run a series of tests on him throughout the night. Needless to say, he is going to have another sleepless night.
At 6:00 am a local television station is going to come and conduct interviews on both Izaak and Doug. The operation will likely begin around 8:00 and they expect Izaak to be in Surgery for approximately 4 hours. The kidney will actually be out of his body for about 1 hour and then they will begin the task of attaching the kidney to Doug. Doug’s surgery is expected to take a bit longer but they should both return to their respective rooms by late afternoon. They are trying to place their rooms side by side, but that has not happened as of yet.
Odd fact: Doug will have the kidney on the front beside his stomach. Stomach punches will be strictly forbidden after the surgery, but kidney punches will now be allowed–who knew?
I will be updating through the day tomorrow, so stay tuned.
FYI: I have had a few requests about flowers etc. Doug cannot have any organic material in his room because of the immune system suppresents that he will be taking, Izaak may however receive these items in his room–if you are so inclined.