Saturday, July 20, 2013

Welcome to The Dudonis Diaries

Welcome to The Dudonis Diaries!  We have created this blog to keep our family and friends updated on our surgeries and Ron's condition as he heals.  We hope this blog will not only keep everyone informed but also help us share this experience with those we love and help all of you share your love, support, and prayers with Ron as he faces this major challenge.

In case you haven't heart, on July 16th Ron underwent a kidney transplant using one of my kidneys. (I told him he can only have one). See, we are matched in more ways that one!  For those of you who don't know the full story, here's some background:

In 2001 (we were engaged at the time) Ron was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease. [I will not bore you with the details so feel free to google or go to www.pkdcure.org if you are interested in learning more---or feel free to ask us about it]. We have known since then that he would need a transplant one day and he has just been monitored ever since.  In the last year his kidney function has gotten to the point where we needed to figure out what to do about it. I volunteered to be tested and it has been a long road with that (again, I can bore you about that at another time if you are interested) and I got the clearance this spring. My sister is a teacher so doing it in the summer works out for us so she can take care of Kelly while we are both in the hospital and I recover. Speaking of Kelly... she doesn't know anything about what is going on. We will tell her one day, but for now she doesn't need to know anything.

So that is the backstory - the status right now is that we are both out of the hospital and recouperating already!  We'll share more with you as we travel this road....  please feel free to share your comments and support here, we would love to hear from all of you!

Crissy

p.s.  While we are recuperating our friend (and blogmaster) Andrea will be posting blog entries

3 comments:

  1. Hi Crissy! My name is Melissa and I heard about your blog from Rosemary Wolff - I hope you don't mind me reaching out! I'm also a kidney donor and I thought it'd be nice to connect in case you have questions or if you just want to chat! First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on a successful surgery! What an incredible thing you've done for your husband!! Feels kind of weird knowing you saved someone's life doesn't it? I donated my kidney on March 8, 2011 to a stranger to start a six-person chain. I've since met my recipient (she came to my wedding this past fall) and we keep in close touch. If you ever have any questions about whether or not something is normal, what you can and cannot do/eat/drink, etc., please do not hesitate to reach out!!!! All the best for a relatively pain-free recovery for you and your husband and kidney hugs from a fellow kidney sister!

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    1. Hi Melissa! Rosemary told me about you and I am so glad you contacted me. I am new to this blog thing so I apologize for the delayed response. How do I contact you?

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  2. Thanks for sharing w me Crissy! U had mentioned something about surgeries...which I was slightly puzzled about (esp the plural aspect of it!) since we never had a chance to talk. Now I understand what's going on and I'm happy everyone (including Kelly!) is on the mend.

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