Poppys Home!

Dad got out of the hospital yesterday morning and went straight to his first outpatient dialysis session at Lancaster General’s Health Campus. It was a very stressful morning after rushing out of Hershey, getting all of the discharge info, and trying to make it to LGH by his 11am appointment. Everyone at LGH was amazing. Ginger Herr, a family friend of ours, is the nursing director at the outpatient dialysis center, and I can’t thank her enough for how supportive and amazing she has been already. I am confident that dad will be spoiled and loved and very well taken care of here, even if I need to be a little farther away for a few months. That means the world to me, knowing that he is in good hands, and so what if he is the favorite patient here...I wouldn’t have it any other way :) I told him he needs to start wearing his VIP pass when he walks in the door so people know...He’s not just some other Joe Schmo off the streets, he’s Ken Walkowiak baby! (phrase credit goes to Mike Gallo (baby)).

It was a hectic, stressful, emotional morning, but dad made it home, got some much needed rest, and ate a huge delicious dinner followed by a soft pretzel and donut at 10:30 pm :) It was great to see my dad back in his little spot on the sofa where he belongs. He even let me have one of his donuts, so it really was like old times.

This morning, we are now finishing up his second round of dialysis at LGH. Since it is a Saturday and early in the morning, it has been a much calmer start to the day. Mike and I are just relaxing with him, talking about job stuff and sports and hearing funny stories -like the time my aunt Marcia almost got hit in the head with a hockey puck at a Flyer’s game, but how she ducked just in time, watched it slam into the guy’s soda who was taking a sip behind her, soak him with his drink, and land in uncle Louie’s hand. The best part is that uncle Louie kept the puck. Dad is loving my pink neck pillow, and when I told him I’d get him a more manly one, he said this one is just right. The nurses all smile at him and laugh and swoon over their new favorite patient. Not every man can pull off a pink neck pillow, but this one sure can. 

It is incredible how much he has been through in the last couple months, but even more so in just one week. Last Friday he lost a kidney, this Friday he came home. He is amazing. It is still a long road to recovery, as he fights through the weakness and pain and healing, and as he starts to gain his appetite back. But more importantly, it’s going to be a journey establishing a new “normalcy” as he learns a whole new routine and way of life. He’s got his family behind him 100%. He is definitely our VIP and we are prepared to do everything to get through this together!

Sunrise on the way to dialysis this morning

So glad you're home Poppy

Poppy and Calvin