Hope everyone had a great Turkey day. I ran the turkey trot at Stratton in the morning with the girls, yes they kicked butt, I finished, but I realized quickly how out of shape I am. Back to the gym I go. Bridge had a good time with all her cousins on Thanksgiving. We stayed at my mom's house and now are in dialysis early Friday morning. Colleen and Paul leave for Disney in a couple of days and will be back on the 6th, the day before we have to go to Boston for more testing. Then Bridge and Mark and I go again on the 9th to be admitted. Colleen and Paul also come this day for more testing, and then Paul gets admitted first thing Thursday am for surgery. Bridge seems to be doing well. She is retaining more fluid it seems in between dialysis even though she is not gaining much weight so we really need this transplant to work. I want to say hi to all my nursing buddies at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, I miss everyone so much, hope all is well and I will be back come April. Sue and Laur, save me a spot!!! Tell Meg V. I have been praying for her, and Nicole call me, congradulations on your new baby girl!!!

Hi everyone, last time I wrote I told you about the swelling in Bridgette's neck, well we went for an ultrasound to check if there were any clots or if there was a mass and they found nothing so that is good news. Bridge still has some swelling but no respiratory compromise, so we are leaving well enough alone. If she still has some swelling post transplant then we will pursue it further. The transplant is still set for the 10th of December, we are so very happy. We are spending Thanksgiving at my mom's house in Delmar and I think I will run the turkey trot again up at Stratton before we leave. We are also getting our Christmas tree this weekend due to the fact that we really won't get to enjoy a tree this year, so even it is for only 1 week, it will still be festive. Stratton is not opening until the 4th of December it looks like, so no worries with work. I probably will start after we get back from the hospital. We will have to travel to Boston 2x a week after the transplant for testing so we will see how that is going to pan out, I still don't know the schedule for that yet, but I'm sure it will all work out. I miss work but life is getting in the way. We want everyone to know that the National Kidney Foundation has moved the drawing for the 1 week Naples trip with round trip tickets, courtesy of my Uncle Craig and Aunt Phyllis, forward a week or 2. The drawing will be held in mid December. They have sold 82 tickets so far. If you want a chance to win you can go to the National Kidney Foundation of Northeast NY page or you can go to www.firstgiving.com/bridgethegap and look it up and print a ticket. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving everyone, and will update as soon as there are any changes. Love to all, Megan

Good morning to everyone, today we are at dialysis early this morning due to the fact that Bridge has some more noticable swelling in her neck. She has 3 distinct symetrical rolls that are fluid filled looking that wrap around her neck. The pediatric nephrologist took a look at Bridge and now has set her up with an appointment with an ENT doctor. The nephrologist states that this is very unusual and hasn't seen this before. Bridge tends to drift her head back somewhat to get a better airway. Her oxygen levels are good and she has no respiratory problems, but still very concerning(wondering with the last surgery if there were any more complications with the intubation other than we were told?) Everyone cross your fingers that nothing is wrong. The weekend was good, I took the kids to see the movie "A Christmas Carol "with Jim Carey and it was good, somewhat scary at times for the kids but they had fun. Sunday got in the back hoe, yes you heard it right, the back hoe, and picked up huge logs on our property while Mark used the chain saw and cut them up, oh my god how fun was that!!! Now I'm hooked, what a fun toy. Well we have 24 days left until the surgery, coming fast. The surgeon called Paul to see if he had changed his mind or not and of course it was a big NO. The surgeon also told Paul that after review of the CT scan that they would be taking his right kidney for Bridgette. There was also a boy this week who we have met since coming to Albany Medical Center for dialysis, who was put on the list on Monday and received a kidney on Thursday, we are so happy for his family, congradulations!!! Once again thank you to everyone for all your continued love and support, we couldn't do this without everyone of you. Will give updates when there is anything new. Much love, Megan

Good morning everyone, today is the 9th of November, 1 month to go. Bridgette and Paul have to go to the hospital on the 7th of December for more testing and blood work. Then on the 9th if everything goes fine with the new testing, Bridgette gets admitted and starts the process for transplant. We have chosen a drug regimen that wipes out all her white blood cells so she has no immune system. We sat down with the team and discussed the 3 options for medications that she will need for the rest of her life and this 3rd regimen is the newest and most advanced. We asked every imaginable question and then asked if it was their child which would they use, and they chose the one we decided on. It is a little scary in the fact that we have to wipe out her entire immune system, but there is less chance that she will then reject Paul's kidney. One thing that we are crossing our fingers with is that when they wipe out her immune system, if she wakes up the next morning, the day of transplant and has a slight fever, they will cancel the transplant. The team stated that this has happened in other cases, but out of the 5 year study, only 1 kidney has ever rejected. So if she has a fever, they will postpone the surgery for probably a week. Scary stuff, but we are very positive, and as we all know the mind is a powerful thing, so hopefully if we all think positive thoughts it will happen the right way this time. Bridgette is still going to dialysis 3x week in Albany. It is so much harder without her kidneys. We really are on top of whatever she eats and drinks, which is not much anymore. Bridge has grown about about 1.5 inches since July, the growth hormone as well as the filtering of her blood has helped immensely. Since her last surgery though Bridgette has slight tremors now, hopefully with the new kidney these will go away. Bridgette still has some bruising to her left groin area from the first surgery, but her incisions in her abdomen look good. The only complaint still is just the groin area. So some good news, Bridgette has been skyping with school. It is a way that she can keep in contact with her classmates, it is so cool. She can actually see and speak to them through the computer. If anyone wants to join it is free and easy, just sign up under skype.com and type in Bridgette Eichhorn, under I believe, the directory section and she should come up, if we are on the computer we will see that someone is trying to contact us. I want to send out best wishes to my new friend Tracy Black and her family. Her sister-in-law is going through the same thing as Bridgette and I believe that she is having her transplant this week(Tracy's brother is able to give his kidney to his wife). It is so strange, it is like when you are pregnant, everyone around you is pregnant. Since this has happened to Bridgette, we are meeting many people who have had transplants or have some family member going through the same thing. It is amazing how there are over 100,000 people out there who need a kidney transplant. Best of luck Tracy!!!! Hope to be back at yoga soon. Love to everyone, Megan