Extra Information

Day of Surgery.

Cory and I will be going into surgery early in the morning on November 21. The surgery usually lasts 5 hours. We are asking that everyone stay put until family or Maria has given the go ahead for visitors Maria can be reached at (206) 458 0905 but will have both of our phones as well. I have heard from past transplant donors and recipients that it is a very very very tiring surgery and although we would probably love to hug all of you - for our own good, we need to sleep, unless we have said otherwise.

As Thanksgiving is the next day - we understand that you all have families. We would LOVE to see all of you, if time permits and you are able to make the trip down. I plan to be in the hospital 3 days and Cory more like 5.

For the second day, the mom's are in charge of visitors - my mom Joan (206 295 7834) and Cory's mom (206 779 3222) Erin will be available to contact via text to let you know if it is okay to visit.

Where will we be?
University of Washington Medical Center @6am we are to check in
Please keep yourselves up to date via our facebook page facebook.com/findcoryjonesakidney

Here are directions that will help with finding our location within the hospital:

If you park in the Surgery Pavilion parking garage, take the elevators up to the 2nd floor.  Exit elevators and turn right to the Surgery Reception Center.  You will check in there for admission.  Your visitors can come with you there, where they will be able to wait in the lobby during your surgery.

If you park in the Triangle Garage, you will enter the UWMC Lobby on the 3rd floor.  Turn left, cross the sky bridge to the Surgery Pavilion.  Take the Surgery Pavilion elevators to the 2nd floor, turn right off the elevators.

Lastly - as you probably have realized at this point I like to document everything. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you take any photographs within the hospital tag us or email them to me at tessaquigley@gmail.com - this will be the most important day of our lives. I need to remember how that felt :) 

it's almost time!

Hello all!

This is where you will find most of the updates from me personally for the next week or two.

My wonderful friend Maria will be taken care of questions/concerns and updates via facebook as well as my cell phone & cory's.

If you have ANY questions the day of surgery- she is your go to gal. She will be up to date with the most immediate information as I will allow her back with family in order to get the word out about our transplant.

The facebook page will be updated by her hourly or as often as necessary. I have embedded our calendar within this post so that anyone who is willing to help out with recovery - we have the first two weeks covered but I am guessing we could use a bit of help throughout the first couple weeks of December. Please let me know if you are available to just come and visit, make sure our dog is walked and see if we need anything from the store/etc. Most likely you'd be our on call person :)

CORY/TESSA SCHEDULE

I am so excited! I am so excited for this to become a reality. As of today I will keep you updated on how we are feeling and what we are doing to prepare for the big day.

I appreciate all thoughts and prayers.



Also - our bills are going to be bananas - crazy out of control for the month of December and January. We have had so much help through our fundraiser as well as wonderful family and friends who have really stepped up to make sure we are taken care of. Our donation page will shut down at the end of November the link is as follows, http://www.giveforward/teamjones

Every penny counts - believe me.

Much love to all.

Tessa

it's getting closer

as time moves closer to november 21 i become more and more anxious and sincerely terrified. if you know me well you know that i am not terrified for the surgery as much as i am about who is going to make sure barkley feels safe and comfortable during the time i am in the hospital and mainly cory - how he's going to feel, what if my kidney doesn't like its new home in cory's body and mostly stressed because i want the process to be documented by photographs. maria is one of my dearest friends and she came to me last week knowing that this was probably the most important part to me - to have documentation artistically so that i could look back on it, share, and most importantly plaster the photographs all over every social network to make sure everyone who ever cared, wondered, worried, cried, laughed, loved, or learned from cory's journey - they too could be there in spirit. she knew this - she almost had me crying when she asked if that could be her duty. and i happily said yes.

the more and more i think about it all and the journey we are about to bring to an end, the more and more in love i feel. which - is a nice feeling. especially after this past weekend, seeing cory celebrate with friends but not to the extent he used to be able to. going to sleep early, not having the energy to stay out and DEFINITELY not having any capability of holding alcohol. this is reality - cory is sick. tomorrow he turns 30 - i remember last october 23 being quite different but in a way, it isn't sad, sure maybe a little because he has his diagnoses but mostly it's full of love, lots of love and family, feelings of hope and faith but also acceptance and a positive attitude that things can only go up from here.

we are moving to a larger place this weekend to make room for our own little family as well as all of the family who will be graciously staying with us, visiting us, helping out with this monumental surgery. i keep trying to tell myself that everything doesn't have to be perfect, everything doesn't have to be put together, they are coming to make sure we are taken care of and for that i appreciate the opportunity to move and to allow for the home to grow so we can fit all of our loved ones in.

the amount of love pouring in and all of the kind words and generous donations has humbled me and the experience. i am so happy to do this for cory - there has never been a day where i have questioned my decision or wished i could take it back. i want him to be ok - so that we can move on. so we can live as normally as God will let us and hopefully he will be able to enjoy my kidney for 30+ years. it is quite a big deal, i am aware and complications can occur but i have one good thing going for me - that would be the thought of my grandma looking down on me from heaven - knowing that she would have done the same thing for my grandpa - no matter what anyone said, she would have agreed with my decision.

i'm sorry to put you on the spot mom but my mom since the beginning has been a true mother. she has been worried and questioned my decision not because she doesn't love cory but because she created me, she created both of my kidneys and she felt as a mother, they were put there for a reason and she wanted me to at least look at both sides, basically telling me to sit back and study my options - which i have a hard time doing in any situation. i remember sitting in the car with my mom and telling her that i understood her opinion, i understood why she was scared and mostly i loved her for caring. i also took the time to tell both my mom and dad that they were half of the reason why i was willing to give an organ to cory. in my past there have been times where i have taken a selfish road, as most can relate to, but in the past year i have lived for cory, putting myself second, which i have been okay with, because my mom and dad raised me like that. they always put me first, they put our family first and they were successfully able to raise two bright, giving, caring, loving and generous girls that were willing to do things like donate an organ, raise a family of 6 like my sister, and just live in the moment and love with your entire heart, no matter if they were aware of how much or how little. last week cory took the opportunity without my knowledge, to call my mom and just answer any questions or concerns she may have had about the surgery or how he felt about me and what would be happening with us as a couple in the future. i was elated to hear that he did this, 1. because he isn't that guy - who is emotional and willing to make phone calls to parents to have an in depth conversation about organ donation (i don't blame him) - it was helpful. and 2. it's nice to hear that he sees the need for everyone to be ok - for everyone to be behind the situation, this creates less tension in all of us. my mom is supportive, always has been but now she is supportive because she knows the whole story, she knows that cory will take care of me forever and knows that i am in good hands - even with one kidney.

i guess this is me just typing - trying to get all of the information out of my brain in the next month.
i am nervous.
if you are reading this and have gone through a transplant - i'd love to hear from you, good or bad.
i like to know what to expect.

for all loved ones, our transplant is on november 21 - we hope to see you all there or just have you thinking of us on that day.
it's a big deal. i am so proud of cory for keeping his head up so high this past year after all he has been through.
proud to call him my guy.

My Journey Slightly Modified for Length

Today happens to be the day after learning that I am able to give Cory my kidney. The outpouring of love and support has been so great - it helps to cement my decision with so much love and respect backing my decision.

I have read up on quite a few case studies and general information on living donors and I think the most powerful thing I have really been able to relate to is the example of one man giving his kidney to his sister. He said at the beginning of the interview, "Everyone constantly commends my choice to give my sister a kidney but in reality it was never a question as to whether or not I would, it was more like when can we."I felt the same way. He went into the emergency room and once we realized there was no close family member that could give him the gift of life, I began my journey to become a donor.

I thought I would take a moment to explain my journey:

I went in beginning in July to get the first few tests done, the first appointment is with the nephrologist (kidney doctor), she tells you of all of the risks and general information surrounding the procedure. She then gave me an overall physical. When she felt around in my neck she found a cyst on my thyroid. She had asked if I had ever had it looked at, I replied no. My blood pressure was high when I entered so she retook it, still in the 130's which was not normal for me (probably nervous from the physical). I then was referred to medical specialties to get my cyst looked at.

The second test (while waiting for my cyst work up) that you go through consists of you (and Cory in this case he was my hospital buddy) peeing every hour on the hour, if you do not - you have to come back and start over. You have a catheter in all day and they take your blood on the hour as well. This is to research the function of your kidneys. I was also given a radio active shot to better test the functionality. I was deemed radio active for the next 28 days! To end my day I was given an ultrasound of my neck to see if my cyst was cancerous. My grandmother died of lymphatic cancer, the thought of having a similar cancer was devastating, especially so young.

The third test is the worst, I was without Cory, he was on vacation and I had to get up extremely early and be at UW all day long. First test was a 25 tube blood draw. It covered every blood born illness possible, along with my cholesterol and other tests pertinent to kidney function and my overall health. Next was a cardio graph, to see my heart function. Last I fed an IV full of dye to see the size and functionality of my kidneys. This was entirely too painful. I went through a CT scan with the IV in, which was uncomfortable but even worse, when they pushed the dye through my body it warmed certain areas in my body, basically it felt like I peed my pants a dozen times. It was the first time I lost my composure. The entire time I was strong and knew in my heart everything would be ok but this time, I was just too full of emotion and just wanted it all to be over. That was the first time I ever showed any sign of being anything but brave.

I was then sent home with a heart rate monitor due to my off blood pressure during my first appointment. It was the most painful thing - 24 hours with a cuff on. It would take my blood pressure every 2 minutes on the dot. I took it off half way through it was so unbearable.

Finally not even a month ago I had to go into Harborview for a fine needle biopsy of my neck. Now, Harborview is a teaching hospital and I received one of the worst procedures I have ever experienced. The proceedure is supposed to take a very long needle and poke it into your neck up into the cyst to take several biopsies using an ultra sound. The doctor who was learning how to do the proceedure did not give me enough lytocane and I could feel the entire thing. The biopsy was to take only 20 minutes, I was in there for an hour.

I then received the results back from my biopsy saying that there was no sign of cancer and Tuesday our case went before the transplant board. They had no reason to believe I was a bad candidate and granted us the surgery.

It took over three months to finish the process - a process I never thought would end but here we are!

not every day is a bad day.

Gerald and Kyiia came to visit for the weekend and with that came a parade of family and friends. It was such a fun and very exciting night full of good old family fun. Babies galore, new friends, and old friends reunited, allowing a bond to be remade and most importantly the last thing on anyone's mind was Cory being sick. I thought I'd share a couple of photos.

CALLING ALL DONORS

PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE POST.

Cory has officially started his journey to a new kidney. He put out a text this morning informing everyone of the new information regarding a "living kidney donor" hotline, where you are pre pre pre screened.

The number is as follows: 206 598 3627, here they will call you back within 2 business days to discuss your health and see if you are even elidgible to indeed be a match for Cory.

As Cory said in his text message; if the offer still stands and whomever was ready to offer up a kidney at the time he was admitted is still standing, willing and able, he would love everyone to call in and see if they are able to be a match for him. I think he said it best, "it would be my greatest blessing".

Now, I understand everyone is wanting to and I know he has friends and family from other states that would definitely take the time to come up and make things happen. I want to STRESS that this is a very serious surgery, it isn't an in and out type of situation and if you are out of state I would really consider the amount of time and energy it will take. He doesn't want anyone to lose a job or a home over this, his insurance does cover the person who is giving the kidney but the other information like follow up visits, and in the event that something was to happen in the future in regards to the kidney surgery, I don't know at this point if his insurance would cover the post op's. I just am going to be that person who just really states the obvious - because you want to help, you want to be the person to give Cory back his life but you HAVE to come into it with a full mind, considering all of the good and bad's - we all know you have an open heart but I just need your mind to be on the same level. (I think there are two people reading this who know who they are)

This couldn't come at a better time. I see Cory becoming more and more frustrated with leaving every other day and the strain of dialysis has definitely settled in. He still has not used his new fistula which is normal and he is just really trying to stay on his diet and stay positive in general. It's a trying time I think for everyone - the waiting game. I am unable to go today to the appointment so I will wait to check in with Cory and Erin about how the doctor's visit went. If you have ANY questions that you think would be helpful for Cory to ask to his doctor's today PLEASE send them to me or text them to him - I would love for everyone to do that, sometimes everyone has a different way of thinking and with our powers combined hopefully he can have the most successful visit he can.

He has been waiting for this day and I am so thankful for the support and kind words that continue to shower over him (and sometimes me too).

I hope everyone is well, much love to all

Praying for Cory's brother Gerald who is in Dallas, hoping he and his family continues to stay safe and sound.

Love Tessa

yuck!

Cory went into surgery on the 14th and had a fistula put into his wrist. It attaches a vein and an artery so the blood flow is like a rushing river...honestly. If you put your ear up to the wound it sounds like a conch shell and feels so weird! While that is healing he still has his chest catheter. They are also trying to take more blood out of him at dialysis to see if that lowers his blood pressure which is still high and also cleans more of the toxins. We spent a great weekend in Portland with my best friend Melinda, he needed and most importantly deserved it, being in dialysis for half the day every other day and surgery last week, not to mention a doctors appointment practically every day, just really puts it in perspective how precious time is. I just have had quite a bit on my plate, whether it is trying to keep up with my own friends and family and trying to have them realize I do think of them and love them every day, even if I am consumed with Cory or my new job, I'm there in sprit and I appreciate all of the support that I have. I really really do. It's hard, every day. So here are some pictures of Corys surgery and our trip.

MUCH LOVE TO ALL

wake up and smell the sodium.

I have recently become the bitch of the household. We basically live together at this time and I am primarily in charge of the grocery shopping, which includes snacks, dinner, breakfasts, lunches, anything. Eating to me is more of a job now than anything else. I do it because I love him and care what happens to him. He does it because he wants to be a roll model to his mother and father, brothers and sisters and most importantly his niece and nephew. I need you to realize the importance of eating healthy. I know that everyone had a wake up call when Cory went into the hospital and promised that they would change their ways and create a better future for themselves and their family. My family for instance, has only known Cory for a couple months, when he comes to visit they make sure to adapt to his food lifestyle and create meals and surroundings that are normal and give him options to eat and voice his renal diet needs to the chef even when we go out like my mom did. This is what I would like everyone to strive for. It is so hard for Cory to accept that he can't just go to the store and grab whatever he wants. Try going to the store and having to look at every label. I Google renal diet 800 times and double check what type of meat cuts he can have and how much phosphorus is in a serving of clams. Every single day I learn a handful of new things. I'll admit we are far from perfect but we are also far from where he started.

A week ago we went to Winco. He wanted a salad dressing, he put it in the cart because it said it was a "ALL NATURAL honey, walnut raspberry vinaigrette" to him, he sees "all natural" and fruits and nuts and thinks its ok. This is why it is always essential that you never ever ever ever trust a label. 1% may be natural and that is why they are able to false advertise and the other 99% could be high fructose corn syrup - which is like death in a bottle, causing everything from heart problems to cancer. Then you look at
The sodium - 7% of the daily value of salt @ 400mg - this is an average percentage of what the government thinks is a sustainably healthy daily sodium intake level. For Cory 400mg is almost half of his daily intake and the way the guy loves to smoother on sauces, well it could lead to excessive servings. Where I am going with this is - everyone has a breaking point and Cory had the only frustrating moment I've seen him have in this entire thing that day at Winco. He was so tired of hearing no and unfortunately I am the one that continues to have to tell him. Basically it is a choice and most definitely an on going battle. I told him I said I know you are angry and upset that you can't live normally but it is just a fact of life and you have to accept it and move on, create food that is similar but create it so that it is nourishing in some way. So, instead of fried sloppy, fattening chicken wings that he wanted and couldn't have on super bowl Sunday I spent hours finding the perfect recipe for baked spicy chicken wings with ZERO sodium. He has to ask himself if it is worth the struggle and frustration and of course it is and I have to ask myself if he is worth the hours at the grocery store and hours of just personal food and health education and you bet your bottom dollar he is.

My worry for all of you and I have seen it first hand is slipping back into bad habits. Sure the food may be more expensive but I guarantee your hospital bill will be less expensive in the long run. If you have children especially, create these habits from the beginning. Show them the pictures of Cory's catheter purging out of his neck and ask them if they want to end up like him in the future. It's tough love, it's the fact of life and everyone needs to ask themselves do you know what the hell you are putting in your mouth? Be an advocate for your local growers - go to farmers markets, read up on the incredible option of organic and free range products. I always tell my friends if it has a skin or if you are pealing the skin off there is really no need for organic buying such as avocado, orange, onion, etc., because primarily the pesticides stay on the surface but apples, pears, carrots, tomatoes and EspECIALLy lettuce and of course meat...try to shell out the extra for organic. I always buy free range eggs mainly because the eggs that do not come from free range animals ingest their own feces along with all of the other chickens in the same cage creating a potential disaster for your immune system, not to mention the amount of corn feed and hormones that these chickens eat. Also you may think your salad choices are lower calories and less sodium then they actually are. A southwest chicken salad at apple bees for instance has over 1,000 calories and a disgusting 3900 mgs of sodium - that is three days worth of sodium servings for Cory. Ask questions!!!!!!!! Ask for the nutritional facts - eat at home!!!!!! There is nothing safer than cooking your own meals - you know exactly what you are putting in your body! It is all about simple choices that make the most difference. I would LOVE to hear how Cory's illness has changed your life and what you and yours are doing to prevent the same thing from happening in your own life.

I am not trying to slander anyone or make anyone feel bad about the decisions they are making. I would just like to see everyone start making changes. Cory is affected by EACH and EVERY one of you. He sees what you are eating when you are around him and it's almost as if what happened to him didn't shake some of you into reality. I know I'll get some bad looks for that last comment but I will say I have seen improvements as well but everyday is another challenge and I just hope everyone would rise to the occasion not just for Cory but for your own health as well.

**Exercise regularly
**Educate yourself on your body
**Educate yourself on your foods
**Make the changes to better yourself
**Create a brighter future for you and yours

I will tell you a secret that we live by. Allow yourself one cheat meal a week. This not only helps to curve your cravings it also strengthens your metabolism. Try to plan it on a day where you will be active and that way you are never depriving yourself, that's not what it is about. It is all about sustaining your living standards so that you can continue your habits and live healthier.

This has been the hardest part. Is food. And I stress about it everyday about how I will feed him and how will I make sure he is nourished and also happy and full. It is an on going process that I hope you will all join me in trying. The benefits are endless...weight loss, longevity of life, clearer skin, more energy, self esteem, clearer mind body and soul, you will sleep better and your relationships will become stronger. Just try it. I promise once you get over all that you miss it will be completely over shadowed by what you have gained!

Good luck and remember I do love you :)

listen up. this is not a game.

It is 9:30 and Cory is being prepped for his fistula surgery. It's Valentines Day and what better way to share our love than in an operating room. His nurse, is no joke. She recalls Cory's first visit and all she kept saying is "I am so sorry, you are too young for this." Here are a few things I would like for you to understand about Cory's illness. He has hypertension - the definition of hypertension by the American Heart Association states as follows: "Hypertension is the term used to describe high blood pressure.

Blood pressure is a measurement of the force against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood through your body.

Blood pressure readings are usually given as two numbers -- for example, 120 over 80 (written as 120/80 mmHg). One or both of these numbers can be too high.

The top number is called the systolic blood pressure, and the bottom number is called the diastolic blood pressure.

Normal blood pressure is when your blood pressure is lower than 120/80 mmHg most of the time.

High blood pressure (hypertension) is when your blood pressure is 140/90 mmHg or above most of the time.

If your blood pressure numbers are 120/80 or higher, but below 140/90, it is called pre-hypertension.

If you have pre-hypertension, you are more likely to develop high blood pressure.

If you have heart or kidney problems, or if you had a stroke, your doctor may want your blood pressure to be even lower than that of people who do not have these conditions."

Not only does Cory have hypertension he also suffers from renal failure. Here is the definition of that:
"Renal failure or kidney failure (formerly called renal insufficiency) describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood. The two forms are acute (acute kidney injury) and chronic (chronic kidney disease); a number of other diseases or health problems may cause either form of renal failure to occur.
Renal failure is described as a decrease in glomerular filtration rate. Biochemically, renal failure is typically detected by an elevated serum creatinine level. Problems frequently encountered in kidney malfunction include abnormal fluid levels in the body, deranged acid levels, abnormal levels of potassium, calcium, phosphate, and (in the longer term) anemia as well as delayed healing in broken bones. Depending on the cause, hematuria (blood loss in the urine) and proteinuria (protein loss in the urine) may occur. Long-term kidney problems have significant repercussions on other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease."

So let's sum up the importance of both of these issues.

Simple as this....Cory is at high risk for heart attack and stroke. Everyday that he wakes up - there is a chance he could suffer from a heart attack or a stroke - due to his high blood pressure. This is why he will as of today check his BP three times a day and voice to his nephrologist his urgency to bring it down. By now it should be lower - the nurse scared the shit out of both of us to be quite honest with you - here was her example.

* a 28 year old African American man walks into the ER, he explains to the nurse that he doesn't know what is wrong he can just feel that something isn't right. He then tells the nurse he hasn't urinated in three days, which is the first signs of hypertension and renal failure. She quickly takes his BP and finds that the bottom number (diastolic pressure which is also the lower of the two numbers, measures the pressure in the arteries between heartbeats (when the heart muscle is resting between beats and refilling with blood) is 127, a normal diastolic pressure should be no higher than 80. After being admitted he quickly was "coded" which means rushed upstairs because his heart was failing - he died an hour later.

I tell you this just as she did to us this morning because even if Cory is on dialysis and we continue to feed him correctly and exercise regularly his heart rate is still high. To give you an example Cory's diastolic number is only 10-15mm lower than that of the 28 year old man that died. He is so incredibly lucky to be here it is 100% a miracle. He now has the power to be in charge of his destiny, taking his BP three times a day, calling his pharmacist to check when his meds should be peaking so that he knows what he should be feeling and experiencing and in turn relaying that to his nephrologist. The best way the nurse put it was that he is a recipe - sometimes you have to add or subtract to get it just right and that is what we are experiencing at this point.

I would also ask a favor from each one of you reading this and following along with Cory's journey. Go get your god damn blood pressure checked. You keep asking what you can do for Cory? Do that. Walgreens is having a healthy heart month of awareness where you can go in to the pharmacy and not only get your blood pressure checked for free but learn about your blood pressure and what it means to your life and well being. Many of you reading this have kids and wives and husbands. You owe it to them to be healthy and stay on top of your health. Not to mention African Americans are so susceptible to this disease and many others just because of your genes and sadly also a lack of health care.

I cannot stress to you enough the importance of health education. We all want to be healthy and happy and live long prosperous lives and that starts with educating yourself on your body and where you stand. If you have insurance, what the hell are you waiting for? If you don't, I would strongly take the first steps to look into getting some or continue to survey your health personally and if you feel something is off, trust your body and have it checked out.

I am going to look into working with schools or colleges and hopefully being able to speak about it and be an advocate for everyone. It is so necessary.

Please stay turned for another update.

Please take all of this information and tough love from me in stride. I am only doing it because I love all of you. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask and you can also sign up on the American Heart Association website for updates on hypertension at heart.org

Stay educated.

Tessa

A quick and important update

Cory has been very quiet on his progress since the hospital. He is continues to be amazing and continues to work on his diet and exercise to keep his kidney as healthy as possible. He still is doing dialysis every other day for four hours a day and soon will be put on a transplant list. We just found out that his surgery is over one hundred thousand dollars but luckily his insurance covers 95% of that surgery. Tomorrow Cory will be going into surgery to put a permanent fistula into his left forearm so that he can continue dialysis in a safer way. The catheter that he has right now is very susceptible to diseases and bacteria which could cause heart problems in the future. This fistula will also help him to eventually be able to dialyze at home in his own time and not have to go to a kidney Center to dialyze. This will be the greatest gift of all.
Tomorrow while he is in surgery I will update the blogs and I have a couple of things to address to everybody that have been weighing on my mind. He is doing great and I become prouder and prouder of him every day. It has been the hardest thing I have had to endure and I can't imagine what it has done to him. His friends and family continue to be such a positive influence on him and he is doing all he can to continue being healthy and happy.
I wanted to update it before tomorrow because I would like everyone to pray for him. This isn't a serious and hard surgery but it still is life-changing and I would just like everyone to continue to think good thoughts about it. He will be put under and the catheter in his neck will be taken out and then he will begin to use the fistula for dialysis. His vein will be twice the size of a normal vein but it is less susceptible to bacteria getting in and causing other problems. The surgery is in the morning and we will be there most of the day. He didn't want to have it on Valentine's Day but what better gift to give someone then a gift that will ease their mind about a catheter in their neck and give them something that is less harmful and will create an easier everyday life situation.
I will continue to keep everyone updated via Facebook and the blog but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me or if you have my cell number don't hesitate to call. My email again is TessaQuigley@Gmail.com.
Again this surgery tomorrow is not a transplant nor is it any where near as serious I would call it a minor surgery but it still is a surgery and I just wanted to let everyone know that that is where he will be tomorrow. He doesn't want to scare anybody and he just wants to live a normal life but I know his family and friends care about him so I help to let them know what is going on because unfortunately I know he won't.
Please say a little prayer for him tomorrow and I'll keep you updated. I promise. Much love and I hope this message finds everyone happy and healthy. Happy Valentine's Day. Attached are a couple of pictures of what I fistula is and how it works during dialysis. I hope this helps visual learners understand a little bit more of what Cory is going through.

catching up.

man, i feel like i don't have enough time to continue the blog as in depth as i could but after the overwhelmingly kind comments about how helpful and sweet the blog is, i will try my hardest to continue it.

cory has all of the sheets on the different types of home dialysis so i will be leaving that out of this blog - even though i have promised others that i will talk about it. there are quite a few different home remedies but i need to educate myself a little more before i feel comfortable enough relaying the information to you.

this past week has just been a whirl wind of information and also just getting into a routine with dialysis and also eating patterns etc. cory and i have had someone over for dinner almost every night this past week. courtney and my friend amber came over last week for spaghetti, which seems to be cory's favorite. all that it is, is no salt added organic chopped tomatoes, no salt added organic stewed tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and herb mrs. dash and one small can of no salt added organic tomato paste with chopped jalapeno. i then take low fat organic ground turkey meat saute it until brown with olive oil and a little honey and then add the juices and meat to the sauce, garnished at the last minute with fresh basil and oregano. YUM - he loves it and it is a light and healthy alternative to a traditional Italian spaghetti - we have served it usually with thin organic whole wheat pasta but we switched it up with rigatoni noodles.

then, we went over to andre sr.'s and i made an interesting orange rosemary chicken. you pour a little olive oil and orange juice (fresh squeezed from jamba juice is what i used, that we you don't get any additional sugar added - it's just the orange) then you pound the chicken so it's nice and tender, roll it in olive oil and garlic then put the rosemary and black pepper on it, put them in the pan with the olive oil and orange juice and pour an extra cup in of orange juice over the chicken and baste if necessary throughout the cooking so it doesn't dry. we put it over a cup of brown rice and added hot sauce, another really light hearty meal in place of the usual orange teriyaki chicken.

lastly, cory was wanting steak, so one of his oldest friends, vince, came over with his wife stephanie for a feast. top sirloin is a great steak to have, it's juicy, really thick, but has one of the lowest fat contents of all steaks. cory broiled the steaks with black pepper and an array of mrs. dash seasonings. i made sweet potato mashed potatoes. AMAZING. the sweet potato is lower in starches then the regular potato and it was fun to watch everyone eat them for the first time and be so surprised on how yummy they were, i added fat free milk, a salt alternative, black pepper, and smart balance fake butter to make them taste as much as regular fatty mashed potatoes. my favorite part about this is sharing recipes and knowledge with everyone that comes in the door. my goal at least is to learn something new everyday about cory's condition and pass that on to someone he knows or loves him. that way you get in the habit of doing those things yourself, whether it's exercising, or using less salt in your diet, you can start to tell the difference in cory's mood as well as how he is looking. we went over to see my mom last night and she told him how different he looked from the last time, it's amazing how much liquid is retained in your body, and as my friend jody would say, how "fluffy" or bloated you start to look without even realizing it's just from the amount of salt you're in taking.

i am also trying to use as much organic as possible, not just because i was raised on it but also because of the simple advantages that it holds. there are so many added pesticides to all food that if i can help contain the amount that cory and i are ingesting, it is only added years to our lives. my goal for everyone is to buy organic as much as possible but only with things that you are directly ingesting, such as a strawberry would be a great organic item to consider where as an avacado doesn't make much difference because you are not eating the entire thing, the pesticides will be caught by the outer skin and not affect what you're eating. be considerate and educate yourself on your food, if it says natural, half of the time that just means that they've cut 50% of the pesticides then before, if it says natural on salmon, that still means that they're farming it, it's just in a "natural setting", you want to just be observant. if it says less sodium, that just means they took of 2% out of the 320mg - still over 10% of your daily value. they fool you into buying - just beware, especially if you are not only looking out for yourself but your children too!

for the most part, cory is doing great. we had a scare there for a second, we are planning to leave for hawaii and weren't set up with a dialysis center on maui, it is supposed to take over a month to set up the process and send the records, but thanks to chris at nw kidney center it is in the works and he will, with no problems, dilate in maui. we are looking forward to the time together as long as the sun, most importantly we will celebrate cory being alive and well enough to enjoy such a wonderful vacation we have been waiting for, for some time now. he is not able to get into the water, the catheter he has is VERY susceptible to disease created by the incision and if water comes into contact the germs are more likely to feed on the wet area around the incision - possibly deadly. so on that note, we will not be snorkeling. he will try to cover the catheter so that he can wade in the pool. he also cannot drink, which is fine, we have tried to fill the days with other activities so that we will be entertained. i am excited, he is as well. i will definitely have TONS of pictures and memories to share from our trip and will hopefully finish the different types of dialysis on the plane there.

until then, appreciate your health and continue to look out for your future by making small transitions in your health for large payoffs in your future!

much love.

back to reality.

nw kidney center

 hospital dialysis in the small room

nw kidney center main area












i got off of work and ran down the street to meet cory for his first out patient dialysis appointment at nw kidney center. rainy, of course but a very warm night. i remember thinking to myself, i never thought i would be getting off of work to drive to nw kidney center for cory, anyone for that matter. i also prayed for a minute to my grandparents and as my friend melinda has been teaching me and stressing me to do is to use her meditation mantra of "nah mah ha", said to yourself usually or out loud, seems like i've been screaming it at times. it is to calm the nerves and essentially bring peace to your mind body and soul, which i feel the words do tend to soothe me when said to myself. i turned to park and realized also how things really do work out for a reason, even if the reason isn't readily available to you; it will in time show it's face. i applied for two separate jobs before i landed my promotion at south center, one about 45-60 minutes away and the other about the same in traffic, and now here i am 3 minutes away from nw kidney center, easily accessible for me so that i can be there to support him. if i was accepted for the other two jobs, i wouldn't be able to see him as quickly, even in an emergency the time it would take me would be far much longer. i am thankful for my job.

i walk to the front door, that opens similar to a grocery store sliding automatic door. as soon as you walk in you can smell that of a doctor's office. taupe in color with cold silver metal accents and very quiet, just the frantic beeping of some machines and the rolling of wheelchairs. i would say there were a total of 50+ dialysis seats, they looked like over sized recliners. you had your own television and two nurses to check you out. everyone knew each other and everyone came prepared. i used this example last night when talking to my best friend amber; you know when you go to the bingo hall the regulars bring their own dobbers and good luck charms, people do the same thing with dialysis, they come with 800 books, 3 pillows, their own personal bedding, snacks galore. i felt bad because cory wasn't as prepared as we could have gotten him.


he is just sitting there. i didn't get there until almost quarter past 5 and he was to be starting dialysis around 4. the most aggrivating thing about this entire fiasco is the amount of time he is wasting. not saying that dialysis is wasted time because without it he wouldn't be here but the fact that he has to be patient and wait for a chair, then sit in that chair for four hours every other day is exhausting just to think about. at first, i had a great mind set, i'll be here, i'll support you, we'll play games, you'll sleep, i'll talk you through it but then your motivation and constant positivity can't help but be overshadowed by the sick patients walking around, some have been on dialysis over 20 years and simply just constantly having to play the waiting game. i wasn't angry, i wasn't scared, i was upset and sad more then anything. he doesn't deserve to be there he doesn't deserve to have to sit and wait for a chair when he could be at home watching a movie, at work, or enjoying his life like every other 29 year old should. instead on a cold winter night, is sharing a room with 30 other perfect strangers, who actually share more in common than most, they just have never met.


the nurses were very nice, i of course had 800 different questions. of which they were kind enough to answer all of them and then some. i was whisked away for awhile until they attached the tubes up to his semi-perminent catheter and the blood cleaning began. the nurse tried to just calm my nerves, explain to me the different types of perminent lines he can have put in to his arm or belly to make life easier than what we had to go through last night. (i will get into those different options tomorrow on a more informational blog). i left half way through to go to zumba, to clear my mind. my family and friends keep stressing to me that if i am not healthy and taking care of myself and what i need to do on a daily basis then i am going to be no help to cory. which is true but like i said in the last couple of blogs, i have a very hard time leaving him, especially if he is alone. it is not fair. he deserves someone there by his side while he goes through most likely the hardest time in his life. before i left i just put my hands on his knees and just looked up at him, like a little kid and as usual, stared at him. i told him i was sorry and that it just wasn't fare for him to be here and endure all of this. he of course just smiled down at me and as he has said from day one, told me "i'm fine". this trip was different than the others because the nurse handed me a copy of an informational sheet that pointed out the different survival rates of all of the catheters, cory's is the worst. that is why we want it out of him as soon as possible. the reason being is that it is semi-perminent, meaning that the opening to which the catheter is connected to is very open to disease and germs feed on that area if it is wet, or not clean. that is why he needs a perminent line in that is less likely to be harmful. cory didn't end up getting home from dialysis until around 10-10:30 and we didn't get to bed until 11 or 12, your sleep patterns are so thrown off which end up messing up your work days the next day. i have never been so tired and i am not even the one going through it. we try to capitalize on any days off of any periods of time where sleep can be involved.

i don't know if he is reading this blog or realized how many people this story has touched but i just try to reiterate to him every day how amazing his strength and motivation is. there are times that i look at him and know he is hurting and other times i see him smile and i can't help but smile because that's all i want, is him to feel better and honestly, as selfish as this sounds, i need him to be healthy and do what needs to be done so that we all can enjoy his presence for as long as possible. as winnie the pooh once said, "if you live to 101 i want to live until 100 so that i don't have to live a day without you." that may not be quoted perfectly, but you get where i am coming from. i find myself wondering where i would be right now if we had never met and i am sure he thinks the same.


i have been getting plenty of e-mails with follow up questions and just comments and compliments about how well everyone is handling this situation and how much they enjoy the blog and i just love hearing that. i truly enjoy taking the time out of my day to talk about it and hope that everyone will stay connected not just through this but continue to check in with cory as he has quite a long road ahead.


tomorrow i will follow up with the different types of dialysis cory is looking into and when he will make that final decision. i'll tell you it will definitely be sooner than later that he is able to give himself his own shot and do dialysis at home in his sleep. stay tuned!


much love.

a new outlook. a new life.

 went shopping for low sodium/heart healthy foods cory could stand.

i put them all in containers to take to work for the week.












the biggest thing for cory is going to be the inability to eat what he wants. just yesterday we realized there isn't any sodium in candy, which was a disasterous decision to allow each other to have skittles and nerds at the movies. when we got home he broke out in a cold sweat, which over course made me panick and told him to call dr. fung. he then reminded me that all he had eaten was pineapple, jerky, a couple sweet potato crackers, and candy. duh, tessa, you're feeding this man fruit, which is great, and water, and finding all of the low sodium substitutes that you can rack your brain for, but in the end, his diet still needs to be nutritious and balanced. it may sound like an easy task but given all of the restrictions its much harder than you think.

what he can have:
he can have fruit, he would prefer mango and pineapple which of course are the fruits that are full of the most natural sugars, he also likes apples, but i'd like to try to get him to eat more antioxidant rich fruits such as raspberries blue berries acai berry, those types. he can also have whole grains, such as pastas, breads, rices. we are going to live off of uncle ben's 90 sec packs of brown rice. they are DELICIOUS but also very low in sodium which is hard to find in rices. we also enjoy the eating right brand from safeway, which is where we get the grains from. i live and die by crazy dave's bread. they now have a lite version with just under 30mg of sodium in each peice which is a prime number for cory to try to stick to. he can have all of the colors of the rainbow when it comes to veggies but cannot have premade things such as salsa, dips, most dressings, he can't have catsup, bbq sauces, anything that cory would have had regularly, is gone. he is supposed to have only one cup of dairy a day, including all yogurts, milks, cheeses, ice cream, whatever, only a cup. he also can only have 4 cups of liquid, they are just trying to make sure that his kidneys essentially keep afloat without too much liquid because they are so small they can't retain as a regular kidney would, hense why cory's ankles were so swollen.

what he cannot have.
dairy.
salt.
sugar.
salt water seafood.
high potasium/phosphate.
high fat.
high fat meats such as beef.
high salt meats such as pork.
starches.
anything that tastes good, i tell him he usually cannot have.
alcohol.

i pride myself on eating extremely healthy most of the time and i am quite knowledgable when it comes to what is healthy how to eat it when to have it, etc. this is where the "people meet for a reason" come in. when i met cory he would go to quizno's for a salad, or famous dave's, or have a steak, his diet was very all over the place, we would shop for food together but would basically have two different carts. what he didn't know is when i cooked for him, the things that he now HAS to do, he was already doing whether he knew it or not. i never used regular butter, rarely salt, and never used cheese, and always low sodium in any soups, pasta sauces i made. it is so funny how our brain in wired where if it sounds healthy it has got to taste like shit. luckily, i have the patience to try new dishes for him until we can nail down what works, what he can have on a daily basis and won't hate to have for left overs the next day. before cory came home, i was at his house baking salads for lunches for him, and also baking chicken with peppers to have for lunches too. the key to being organized is being prepared. have lunches prepared for him, have frozen soups for him to microwave just in case i can't make it home in time to make him something.

this wasn't the easiest post to read i think but i think it is one of the most beneficial, especially if you are seeing cory frequently. it is up to us, meaning is friends and family to help him stay on a healthy and productive eating path, we all know how easy it is to fall off of the path but when your life truly depends on it, you can't imagine how strong you truly can be when it comes to sticking to a very strict diet. i have decided to eat just what he can in order to keep my blood pressure down, (120/70 thank you very much) and just to maintain a lifestyle for the both of us that is fare. i would kill him if he hate doritos in front of me if i couldn't have them. so i'm taking one for the team, as you should as well when you are around him.

please e-mail me with any great recipes that i could be using for him, the more options and ideas the merrier. just remember his guidelines!

ps. last night we made lobster tail, wild salmon, a red/yellow pepper, olive oil/rosemary/balsalmic/garlic sauce with whole wheat pasta. so easy, took around 15-20 min for everything and we both were very full.

cheers!

he is home!

second night on the couch with a roaring fire. obviously watching him.

cory and i waiting at the pharmacy for his two pages of meds.












at around 10:30 after doing so many loads of laundry i thought my limbs were going to fall off, i got a call from cory, and no matter how much pain he had endured this past few weeks he always try's to keep it light for me. i answer and he says, "guess what? daddy's coming home", first he knows i hate the word daddy and secondly i appreciated the humor but was so emotional to know that this part was over. no more long nights up every four hours to check his vitals or just sittin around waiting for an answer as to why his blood pressure was so high. with that also comes a sense of anxiety - there isn't anyone to check if he's ok. he slept through the night and erin, corys mom slept one more night on the couch.

what does the new catheter look like? the new catheter is just down a few inches from where the last one was, still looking the same and he is incredibly sore from the surgery. he is setting up appointments today for his dialysis here and also hawaii, those should be some interesting blogs from the hospital in hawaii....he can't get it wet and it definitely is covered by his shirt - he still has a bandage where the other one was.

i watched him fall asleep last night and probably will continue to do that until i feel more secure about his condition. i completely understand where my sister was coming from when my second nephew Killion, was fighting for his life when he was born, i always use to laugh because she would want him to sleep with her instead of in his own bed because she could check his breath patterns, i now find myself doing the same thing to a grown man.

i took cory to work this morning at 5 am and he was quickly sent home by 8:30 due to his lack of meds (that I was getting at the pharmacy) and his high blood pressure. he is luckily on restriction at work but is still getting paid for his time there. we have ran some errands around town and will plan to relax around the house and get all of his appointments and medications schedules down. i bought him a home calendar that's on the wall and a personal planner to take along with him so that he is always where he needs to be and i can stay updated with the one at home.

the key for us is just going to be communication, consistency, and patience. this is an entirely new world for everyone involved and if you are not communicating what's going on, being consistent with your meds, diet, and exercise and being patient and loving one another then it's going to be a long road.

lessons learned.

my favorite picture. erin took this during one of cory's dialysis appts.

family time on new years. so much fun.

 cory's niece, his two sisters and i.

courtney the first day after she was in the ER - she couldn't come in.

Cory after his perminent catheter was put in.











obviously speaking from my own eternal grown these past few days i have really taken into consideration the power of a family. whether you are blood related or just a friend who has created such a strong bond with another friend that you adopt that person into your family, it is amazing to me how powerful that connection can be in a time of crisis. we have spent over 144 hours in this hospital and out of those 144 hours Cory has been alone for maybe ten. The love that has surrounded him, placed him on prayer lists, and just looking at his Facebook wall, you can see what a powerful impact he has on everyone. The fact that Erin took days off of work, Courtney, Jovon, Andre Sr., and Eric, spent their hard earned break in a small hospital bed laughing and hoping to put a glim of hope into Cory's somewhat dim spirit. Vince brought his daughter and wife to be there for support and Rashon and Daniese spent new years with us in the small room, when they could have been anywhere else. Friends poured in and even when they couldn't be there, like Gerald Smiley, he called his mom who was local and made her come down at 10:00pm to make sure everything was being done to make him feel secure. For me, it was mechanical, if you love someone the caring is natural and sharing a twin hospital bed or holding hands while falling asleep on the roll out was just a part of the deal. I took two days off of work and took two showers in the five days I was there. When I left, I felt like I was missing something, like a doctors visit or a check to see if his heart rate had gone down. I stayed away for maybe two hours...I can't help but go back and rub his feet or just simply hold his hand. I've been staring at him alot.

The past few days have been filled with family. Last night Jovon and the kids along with Courtney, Erin, Cory and myself took a couple hours together and just played board games. On new years many people tried to stop in before going out, others came to ring in the new year in Cory's room. Gold balloons filled the ceiling and we had tons of sparkling water and vitamin water to go around. It was like a slumber party and I know Cory appreciated everyone there.

So what now?
At this moment Cory is undergoing another round of dialysis. Today his neck catheter was taken out and he has an abdominal catheter that is more permanent. He said the surgery was making him a bit sore in the abdomen but otherwise if all goes well he will be coming home tonight.

I haven't been there since around two so I am quite uncertain about everything that went down today - I will post tomorrow some photos of Cory's new catheter and the information that will be given to him from the northwest kidney center.

He plans to go back to work tomorrow and we are going to Hawaii on the 12th. He will be sober and not able to get the catheter wet so we plan to just sit pool side and take some adventures around the island. I think he deserves nothing less than a week in paradise.

As for me, I took today to get his house cleaned and do the 10 loads of laundry that have continually been put off in the past weeks. I also took the task of grocery shopping for Cory and his new diet. I have bought two new books, one being the Dash Diet book, which is basically explaining a low sodium diet, how it works, why it works, and how to maintain a balanced diet while on it. The other was given to me by a dear friend, Jeri Glogovac, who has always been a mentor to me, especially health and cooking wise, she is an amazing cook and everything is healthy. She told me about a book called Eat, Drink and be healthy. I bought both on my iPad and hope to read them while on vacation.

I will also blog more about Cory's restrictions food and life wise tomorrow but I must get back to laundry. I wanted to atleast keep everyone updated from new years.

Thank you also for all of the kind words towards what I am trying to do with this blog. He is so precious to me and I know he is to you as well. May the new year find you happy and healthy.

Until Next Time,

Love Tessa

motivation.

straight ahead of cory in ICU was a board. i often write motivational or loving words to him and sneak them in to his wallet or write them on a board at either of our houses for him to read in the morning. on the second day while he was sleeping i wrote, "you are loved. you are strong. you will get through this." so that every time he wakes up he can see those words and realize he will overcome whatever odds he needs to with the help and support of his friends and family and not to mention the doctors and staff.

catheter

this is what cory has had in his neck for the past 5 days.

answers to your questions.

many people are floored at cory's quick decrease to dialysis and the sudden need for him to be admitted to the hospital. he is 29 years old and is in good health, high blood pressure does run in his family and all of his immediate family, including his father, mother and two sisters all have been forced to take high blood pressure medication to maintain a safe pressure.

symptoms?
his symptoms as we look back, may have been more than we realized. his number one symptom was the fact that for the past month straight he was throwing up every morning. about two weeks ago i heard him and joke now that i thought he had an eating disorder, or we both joke that he was going to be the first pregnant male. jokes aside, he should have been seen by a doctor weeks before but thankfully with a little push by me he finally made an appointment. other symptoms were swollen feet, and a friend of the family said that within the last week he did not look or act the same as he usually did. his eyes seemed glazed over and his appetite was not to same, not to mention he did feel as if he was short of breath during his sleep.
everything else about him was normal. he felt no chest pain or head ache, even though his blood pressure was probably randing somewhere between 170-190/upper hundreds. this was the scary part and if he wouldn't have taken the doctor's orders to get his ass to the emergency room, this blog may be of a different theme and tone. we are blessed that he was able to be taken care of before it was too late.

timeline?
cory arrived at the hospital on december 28th in the morning. he woke up and without even saying anything about receiving a phone call from the doctor he woke me up and said he was going to the ER. i asked if he wanted me to come with him and he replied no, so i went to my dentist appointment where i got the news that he was going to stay over night for testing. what turned into confusion quickly turned into panic. i quickly called his mother, erin, and his sister courtney, who was sick that day. erin was very upset and rightfully so, her family has a long history of kidney and heart disease, some ending in death. we all came together in the afternoon to surround his bed with good energy and love, he was certain he would get out the next day. at around 2 or 3 courtney was admitted to the hospital for her symptoms as well, the family was going back and forth between courtney's room and cory's. closer in the evening cory's kidney doctor, dr. fung arrived and examined cory's neck, feet, chest, and blood tests. what started off with a simple questionnaire ended with doctor fung closing the door and informing cory that he was going to begin dialysis this evening to control his blood pressure and try to salvage his kidneys, which he explained were only working at 9% out of 100%. later, we also found out that cory's kidneys were different in size, one being almost 50% smaller than the other, for how long? we would never know. for the next three days cory under went kidney dialysis and was placed on a renal diet. the first day of dialysis lasted for 2.5 hours, they were trying to maximize the amount of blood they could clean but wanted to minimize the size affects on cory's body for never experiencing dialysis before. the second day the nurse came in for 3 hours, most of the time cory was able to luckily sleep and the second day for four hours he was hooked up to the dialysis machine. with the help of dialysis and overall after the three days his blood pressure went down to it's lowest of 130 where as when he was admitted it was easily in the 200's. he was in ICU until Saturday night when he was admitted to a lower urgency wing, he was free of all of the cords he had to wear 24 hours a day in ICU and could finally take a shower, walk around, and unfortunately share a bed with me. i have left him four times since he arrived and every time i do i feel guilty. i would be with him 24 hour a day if i could and i am if my job permits. we have shared his hospital bed two nights now and i'm praying that tomorrow will be our last stay and finally he will be able to come home. new years was spent in his room with family and friends celebrating the uphill battle we are winning with his condition and basically celebrating cory being alive and well enough to smile and most importantly give me a kiss on new years. the fright and heartache is definitely left in the dust with 2011 and all of the positive energy has been created and constructed so that 2012 will be a year of successful and triumphant memories only making cory stronger, and skinnier at that. i forgot to mention cory has lost almost 10 pounds since being in the hospital and says that his new years resolution is to get down to 215, which i will gladly help him with. today is a rest day and tomorrow is another day of dialysis and a meeting with dr. fung consulting him on his next steps with dialysis.

what is dialysis?
in the photo above you see cory in the bed with his nurse, rich, who has become apart of the family. he has all of the answers to all of our questions, good or bad. the first day cory had reggie, who was incredibly helpful as well from the northwest kidney center. these men and women travel throughout 9 (i believe) different hospitals throughout the area and set up this giant machine (which is also pictured above) that slightly resembles a mixing table or a large tape recorder. the set up for the machine takes about an hour and it consists of the doctor prepping the machine and also cory. cory is able to have visitors during the process which ranges from 3-8 hour periods. the machine is prepped by cleaning the entire thing with saleen solution. the machine is bleach free and the water that is created after it is cleaned is the cleanest water available, oxygenated and completely purified. once the machine has been cleaned the doctor cleans cory's catheter which at this moment in time is located on the right side of his neck, which is called a central venous catheter is used when performing hemodialysis. hemodialysis works by circulating the blood through special filters outside your body. blood flows across a semi-permeable membrane (called the dialyzer) with solutions that help remove toxins. because hemodialysis requires a blood flow larger than a regular IV tube would allow, dialysis uses unique ways of accessing the blood in the blood vessels. This access can be temporary (dialysis catheters) or permanent (surgically joining an artery to a vein.). blood is then taken from the access point in the patient's body to a dialysis machine. chemical imbalances and impurities in your blood are corrected and the blood is then returned to your body. typically, most patients undergo hemodialysis for three sessions every week. this type of treatment takes place at a dialysis center, and each session lasts about three to four hours. Northwest Kidney Centers locations offer patients a variety of amenities to make each session more comfortable. i should also mention that it doesn't hurt at all, cory cannot feel the catheter.

what is a normal blood pressure for him?
i would say anything under 150/90 would be to his best benefit. he was once down to 131/85 and erin quickly took a photograph of it because it was such a momentous occasion.

will he be able to work?
so far dr. fung has said that it will be just fine for cory to return back to his job at boeing. he plans to take some time off before he does that and get used to his life on dialysis.

what about your trip to hawaii?
great question :) we are still going, cory and i planned a trip to hawaii months ago and once he was admitted it was the first question out of everyone's mouth, if it was going to be possible for him to travel. the advice i have gotten from other dialysis patients is that if you are willing and able, then nothing is impossible. amazing things happen and we are both ready to go on the adventure of continuing his dialysis down in hawaii. after he gets his set dialysis schedule on monday we will know more about the location on maui where it will take place and i will obviously keep everyone up to date through the blog on how it goes.

how are his spirits?
i really haven't mentioned much about how he is feeling about all of this. with the help of all of his friends and family and all of the guests he has had in and out of the hospital there has been little time to feel like a victim. a good friend of mine, jonathan moore under went a kidney transplant from his wife this past year and he gave me the best advice which i listened to and ran with. he told cory to be an advocate for yourself, it is your body and you are in charge, listen to your doctors but never hesitate to research it yourself and never be afraid to speak your mind and vocalize your opinions to your doctors. be positive and most importantly realize that your life isn't over and you can live a fulfilling life on dialysis and with a transplant. he has been smiling and cheerful and most importantly he has realized that his life was just saved and that he will continue to live every day to the fullest from now on. he is my hero.

if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to e-mail me, tessaquigley@gmail.com, i'd love to answer.

happy new year!

how we became.

i guess it may be important to introduce ourselves and how we became a couple. we met over the summer after quite some time of trial and error. his sister, courtney, is one of my best friends and i did not want that relationship interfering with another. we met each other a couple times and eventually found ourselves (cory, courtney and i) having dinner together after a very long day. i saw the love he had for his family and the quiet but confident demeanor and i started to find myself becoming more and more curious about him. he had been sweet on me since the beginning of 2011 and it took me almost the entire year to give him a chance. we started speaking in late july and as i left for new york in early august, i spoke with him every day until i returned. he picked me up from the airport on august 19th, since then we have spent no more than three nights without each other. it was sudden and many people were shocked at the time it took us to fall in love but when it comes to something like that there is no time limitation, if you know in your heart that this is a person who you want to spend your time with - why ask questions?


the great thing about the relationship is his friends and my friends are intertwined already and the fact that we came together was exciting for everyone. our personalities are very different. he is calm, more of a homebody and incredibly protective. i am loud and love to be a social butterfly whenever possible. i think we have both realized that in order to create something that is going to work and stay successful, you have to compromise. we both live in two completely different cities, i live downtown and he lives in federal way. we have managed to delegate time between both homes and most importantly learn from each other and build a relationship on trust and communication. we have great supportive friends that we love to share our time with but my favorite time of the day is coming home from a long day at work and sitting next to him on the couch. we may not have a lavish, wild, exciting relationship but we do have each other and a bond that has been tested after we found out about his condition.


i should also mention that without raychael rigney, cory and i would have never met. ray and i met at nordstrom and she introduced me to courtney, cory's little sister. i still remember the first time we all hung out as a group. courtney said, "cory would be going crazy right now. cory would be all over tessa". the rest is history and i am so thankful for him. he makes me a better person every day. i love him and will continue to be the support, along with the rest of his loving family, to get him through this next hurdle.