-- I'M FREE! --

That's right. As of five-o-clock this evening I have officially been staple, drain, and dialysis catheter free! If you guys can't tell I am extremely excited about this. Not only are my kidney transplant related booboo's healing, but the "thorn in my side", or chest rather, has finally come out. If you guys are reading this and are totally confused, let me shed some light on it for you.

When I initially went into the hospital in late February, they installed a hemodialysis catheter in my right chest. This has been used as my access point when I have dialysis. As you can imagine, after having this thing sticking out of my chest for nearly nine months, it was becoming an annoyance. But I can surely say "Thank God" that this thing is out of me. My doctor seems to believe that the new kidney is working incredibly, so much so that he doesn't see a need to have the catheter anymore.

So what I thought was going to be a minor surgery turned out to be really nothing at all. I was admitted into the hospital late this afternoon and taken up to room. I waited there for almost hour while a nurse cleaned and prepped the catheter site. When the doctor came in, he gave me a few shots of Novocain to numb the area and then proceeded to tug at the catheter. After about a minute, the catheter simply slid out. They put some gauze on, taped me up, and I was out of there. I have to admit that it does feel strange, as if I am missing something. The truth is I am missing something, but I am so excited it is gone.

I felt wonderful again today. It seems as each day goes by I feel better and better. It is getting hard not being able to go out places and do things when I feel this good. But it is something I have to do in order to stay healthy, especially throughout this season.

Thank you again for your prayers and your comments. I really love reading them.