Saturday, January 12, 2008


If Neal's posts have not clued you in, the transplant is in 3 days. The guys are checking in on Monday afternoon and the surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning. Monday morning will be Neal's last dialysis treatment. We are very excited and nervous. Neal and I have barely slept all week and are trying to keep ourselves busy. Ryan and Les should be pretty busy playing the Wii my Mom and Mike bought them.

My Uncle Jim is flying in from North Carolina and Ryan's brother Sean is coming in from Arizona for a couple of days. With them, our parents, siblings and friends, it will be a packed house. It will be nice to have everyone here for support. If you are looking for us we will be the big group sporting the Donate Life paraphernalia. I am sure Tuesday will be the longest day for those that are not under anesthesia. I will be looking forward to the McHenry hug the guys will have hopefully on Wednesday when they are up and moving around. The hospital stay for Ryan is 2-4 days and for Neal 5-7 days. I will post frequently throughout the week. We just bought a new camera, so I hope to post some pictures as well. There is nothing like 2 men in those hospital gowns/dresses.

We want to thank everyone for their support and gifts throughout this year. We also want to thank Ryan and Leslie for giving us this amazing gift given the year they have had. There is nothing we can say to them that will ever explain how thankful we are and how completely selfless they are. We are lucky to have friends that would literally do anything for us. We also want to thank their families for being so supportive of their decision. The final thank you to Neal's regular drivers Leslie and Stacy. We do not know how we would have made it through the last two months without you.

Just a note that the hospital does not allow flowers on the floor the guys will be staying in. I will post when visitors are allowed.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Almost there kids!

Anonymous said...

Love this picture bud! Good luck Monday!

Dave

Anonymous said...

Neal, we'll be thinking about you this week and praying for you and Ryan. We're all excited for you! Let us know if there is anything you need. Julie A.

Anonymous said...

Ken and I are thinking of your guys and praying that this is soon over for you all. Thanks for keeping us updated on the blog. Wishing you a quick Tuesday and many long years of healthy ahead. Love, Chris and Ken Lusk

Patty McHenry said...

Dear Neal & Michele,
Your long wait is almost over. We're all a little nervous around here until we see your smiling faces post-op on Tuesday. Ed and I are so proud of Ryan and his decision to do this for you. Your friendship will last forever now and it will mean so much more with your special bond. I'm trying to be a brave Mom and thinking of all of the mothers sending their sons overseas to serve our county and how lucky we are to have our children right here with us and that Ryan has the courage to give a part of himself to make your life better is a great blessing.
Love
Patty & Ed

Anonymous said...

Neal, Michele, Ryan and Leslie, We pray all goes well and you will be together having dinner and playing games very soon.
Love to all of you!!!
Harry, Kathy(Mom and Dad)and Grandma Trimmer