Just Lauren

Let me tell you, it has been a crazy few months, what is up with the 2nd half of 2018?! The craziest part of my life has definitely been Gene donating part of his liver to my dad. We had been dealing with the possibility since July and it finally all came to a head on September 26th when they went into surgery. Both surgeries went well thanks to lots of planning and extremely smart and talented people. Gene had a minor complication with his lung after the surgery but the doctors fixed it no problem. My dad had to get a second surgery on the 27th as the surgeon couldn’t finish the transplant in one day but it went well too. Gene stayed in the hospital until October 1st and my dad is still in the hospital (hopefully he’ll get out Monday). Recovery will be months long for both of them. Gene is mobile, can eat food, etc, but he gets tired very quickly and very often and he’s dealing with a bit of pain. I’m so happy he’s home. The new liver within my dad isn’t draining fluid correctly quite yet (this is normal I’m told) so he’ll hang out in the hospital until the liver can get itself into gear but he is making great progress.

I don’t remember much about the day of surgery or the day after – it was a sleep deprived, emotional two days but I made it through, everyone did, and I’m doing much better now. I stayed at the hospital for the majority of time Gene was in there. It was such a weird period of time because everything else in the world just stops and you’re living in this moment that exists outside of time. I did, however, take time on Saturday morning to volunteer at the Botanic Garden. Gene had encouraged me prior to the surgery to keep my engagement so Saturday morning Elisabeth and I hung out at the gardens and helped people purchase bulbs and plants. It was pretty fun and I’d like to volunteer again. We got free pizza and chips, learned how to run the cash register, and chatted with the other volunteers.

During this weird period of time Kaitlin was extremely thoughtful and dropped off a variety of goodies for us. Gene and my dad each got their own set of gifts, Kaitlin gave us a generous fall gift basket for the house, and she even got me my own care package! It was exactly what I needed three days in. I’m wearing the cat slippers she got me right now!

The fall gift basket was awesome – she made it herself and it looked so professional, she could make this a business if she wanted. She even made an adorable fall sign that says “Happy fall y’all”, which will be going up somewhere in the house very shortly. We got a pumpkin & marshmallow candle on top of a cute little cake holder, some fall themed food, fall plates and napkins, and a cute little white pumpkin. What a sister!

Life is slowly going back to normal now. Gene will stay home for the foreseeable future but the rest of us continue to work. Lydia is with us through next week to help Gene’s initial recovery period. It is so nice to have her, she’s been doing grocery shopping, feeding Gene, keeping up with his medication, and making us dinner. So glad she is here.

Hopefully I’m in a place to start posting more often!