almost out of the woods

greetings from the marriott at the albany medical center. a big day for us. by about 1:00p they wheeled my uncle out, and he was in good shape. by the time i got to albany (about a three hour drive from boston), he was alert, interacting with family members, and his kidneys were producing urine, which is ultimately one of the best signals. it's amazing how far the technology and procedure have advanced just in the ten years since my brother and dad's transplants. in 1999, my dad was virtually out of it for at least a day or two. he was in the ICU, which meant just about no visitors, in a fair amount of pain, and loaded up on intense immunosuppressants. tonight, you would know that my uncle had come out of surgery, but it could have been knee surgery if you didn't know better. we were huddled around him, cracking jokes, making him smile, and feeling some sense of relief. he's not totally out of the woods yet, but with every passing hour, as his kidney function strengthens, the risk of immediate (i.e., acute) rejection gradually diminishes.

most of the fam, my parents included, are going to stay here for awhile. most of the cousins were today, with a few exceptions. i imagine they'll troop in over the course of the next week or two. i'm flying out on the 6:40 flight tomorrow morning. nashville becksons, and then austin for the annual UT tournament with the big h alumni team. staying with bloodninja, mrs. bloodninja, and their bloodninja clone.