Transplant tomorrow…

Here’s the deal, since I don’t want to have to repeat this 2252 times and sound like a broken record.

My mom was diagnosed with renal failure in 2004 or 2005ish and has been on dialysis since then. There were a quite a few times over the past few years where she was really sick with related illnesses – infections and complications from numerous surgeries, pneumonia, etc. – and came close to dying. As much as she annoys me, like, 90% of the time, she’s still my mom so I felt obligated to try to help if I could- especially after almost seeing her die a few times. A majority of you would probably do the same in my situation.

I made the decision to donate my kidney to her and took the appropriate steps and tests in order to find out if I could. Over the past two to three years, I have gone through the testing process three separate times at two different hospitals, and finally it is to the point where a date for the transplant is scheduled: Tuesday, December 29th- TOMORROW. The transplant nefrologist (kidney doctor) and surgeon told me that I will probably be in the hospital for 2-3 days, and the recovery period where I can’t drive and do other stuff is approximately 4-5 weeks but maybe a little shorter.

Have I gotten “cold feet” about the whole process? Absolutely. I’m tired of going for these damn tests over and over and over again, and I’m tired of this one nurse/transplant coordinator constantly calling me with news about something else I have to do. Most of the time, it’s bad news or an inconvenience. I went to New Brunswick for blood labs on Christmas Eve and was called by the doctor right after I came back from the tests, and he freaked me out with the possibility that I might be at risk for diabetes, because my glucose levels have been high… or that the test could have been an anomaly.

I don’t want to think about the pain, or the fact that they will be moving my intestines aside in order to get to my kidney and cut it out (that’s what I was told – actual words – from the surgeon.) Frankly… all I wanted to know before the surgery is that I would be really, really doped up before and after they cut into me, and I would be drifting away into a magical world of sugar and gumdrops with penguins and rainbows… but no. I was given a play-by-play of what was going to happen, including the fact that my intestines would be moved aside and that there were two arteries to be cut on my left kidney. It is good to be informed… I guess. I think they make it out to be worse than it probably is.

Also, I’m not thrilled about missing New Years Eve – one of my favourite holidays – and being out of commission for my 21st birthday. Don’t tell me that I’m “doing a great thing for my mom, so it’s okay” because it’s not- it sucks, and this was the only time I could schedule the transplant and be okay to go back to school at the end of January. If I moved it back a week, it would be a few days before my birthday; if I moved it back two weeks, there might not be enough recovering time. If I move it all the way into summer, there is a chance that my mom could get really sick again like she tends to over the winter months and not be healthy enough, and also it would interfere with any plans to maybe have a summer internship somewhere. See my predicament?

Overall, I’m more nervous than I’ve ever been about this, partly because it is almost D-day and party because I’m almost TOO informed about the process- lol. I’ll probably be okay, unless I am in the small percentage of donors that die, but I don’t think that will be the case. I’m just not thrilled about missing celebrating my birthday and NYE, and the possibility of pain and whatnot. By no means am I scrounging for sympathy, because I know a few of you have gone through equally as intensive surgeries in your lifetimes, so I’m just writing this to keep people informed and express how I’m feeling. If anyone has questions about anything, feel free to ask me, but that’s about the gist of it.

Chickpea stew

I did a Google search the other day for vegetable stew because I was in a “stew” kind of mood since it was chilly out, and I found a great recipe for a Middle Eastern-inspired chickpea stew. Of course I added to the recipe and changed a few things, but overall it turned out wonderful served over couscous. This is supposed to be a hearty stew, so don’t chop the vegetables too fine. I stuck to a medium dice on most of the vegetables and cut the carrots into half-moons about 1/4 inch thick, and everything turned out to be about the size of the chickpeas and cooked evenly. I bet cashews would be excellent in this dish, too…

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 white or Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
2-4 carrots (depending on their size), cut into 1/2 inch thick half-moons
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
1 32oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 16oz can diced tomatoes (recommended: Hunts)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup raisins
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon cardamom*
1 teaspoon cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon allspice*
1 tablespoon paprika*

*spices were added to taste, so these are approximate measurements

Saute garlic and onion until translucent. Add bell pepper, celery, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and saute for another 5 minutes. Add chickpeas, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, vegetable stock, and spices; stir. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. If too thick, add water or vegetable stock as needed; if too thin, add tomato paste as needed. Before serving, add raisins and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Serve over a bed of couscous or rice, if desired.

Homemade gifts for the holidays

Since I don’t have a hell of a lot of money to buy holiday presents with this year, I decided that I am going to give almost everyone homemade cookies as gifts. Baking is one of my better skills that I love to share with my family and friends, and a damn-good amount of time and effort is required when it comes to baking. With that said, it is my hope that my homemade gifts are going to be more heartfelt than some store-bought gifts would ever be, and besides… everyone loves cookies.

Between yesterday and today, I think I already put in a good 4+ hours making and freezing doughs so I have them ready to bake next week. Currently in my freezer, there are: two discs of plain sugar cookie dough to roll out, cut with cookie cutters, and hand-decorate (last year I hand cut and decorated about 3 dozen snowflake sugar cookies, a process which took at least a few hours not including the time to make and freeze the dough); two logs of mint chocolate chip cookie dough to slice and bake; and chocolate chip cookies already portioned out and ready to bake. The sugar cookie dough recipe was from Alton Brown and can be found on the Food Network website; I’ve used it before and it came out good, so I’m hoping for similar results this time around. In addition, I’m probably going to make some butterscotch chip cookies, since my mom really likes those, and some spiced oatmeal raisin and/or gingerbread, two holiday essentials if you ask me.

After the cookies are baked off, I bought some cellophane bags (a pack of clear and a pack with a cute gingerbread pattern on them, to use alternatively) to individually pack the cookies in, and some holiday ribbon (red, green, and white polka-dots) to tie the bags with. Originally, I was going to buy tins to package the cookies in, but I decided that bags would be much easier to transport, maybe using a festive holiday basket (they have them for 50% off at Michaels already.) I might also include little notes with each bag of cookies, but I’m not sure yet.

I’ll try to get pictures next week of the finished products, and I’ll also try to get a picture of myself thrown in there, too, since I am sure that I will be covered in flour and other baking ingredients by the time I am done with all of this damn baking.

Four Foods On Friday #99

1. How do drink your hot chocolate? Marshmallows? From boxed or scratch?
I try to make it from scratch every so often because it tastes so much better, but I also have some Godiva hot chocolate on hand that is a good substitute for scratch. I like mine with whipped cream or marshmallows, depending on my mood. :yummy;

2. Do you prefer cider hot or cold?
Cold.

3. Do you like egg nog?
Yes, every once in a while. I find that if I buy a pint of it, though, I never drink the entire container; one or two small glasses is usually enough, then I am good on it for the rest of the season, lol.

4. How do you make punch?
We used to make punch all of the time on New Years Eve at my house using lemon-lime soda, fruit punch, frozen fruit, and a container of sherbert.

Four Foods on Friday

Four Foods On Friday #98

1. How many cookbooks do you have? (1-10, 11-20, 20+)
Oh man, probably more than 20. (Speaking of, I’ve been looking for my Bon Appetit cookbook – the newer one with the orange cover, I think it’s a 25th anniversary edition or something – but I can’t find it. I think it’s in a box somewhere from when we moved, and I never unpacked it.)

2. Where do you keep your large utensils (such as slotted spoons, spatulas, etc)?
In drawers. I had my drawers neatly organized and arranged, but they are in complete chaos right now.

3. What is your countertop made of?
Not sure. Formica, I think.

4. Do you use canisters in your kitchen?
I have big Tupperware tubs for things like flour, sugar, etc. but I’d love to buy some nicer-looking ceramic or acrylic plastic canisters with hinges one of these days.

Four Foods on Friday