First Attempt

Abstract

This chapter begins with detailing the author's travel to Rochester for the upcoming surgery and the final pre-op tests. The chapter recounts the experience the author went through from the rigorous process and evaluation of managing the evaluation and testing schedule, working to get the blood pressure down, handling the packing and shipping for the lab kits, and staying healthy. It then presents all the risks of the surgery including the possibilities of bleeding and infection, and the unlikely event of needing to convert to an open procedure with a much more significant incision and longer recovery time. It also highlights the author's final appointment scheduled with a social worker assigned to her donor advocate. Ultimately, the chapter focuses on how the author managed her time in Rochester after the recipient's doctors found a lung infection and postponed the surgery. With the sudden turn of events, the chapter narrates the author's plan to just attend Yom Kippur Kol Nidre services, drive to the Twin Cities, and spend Yom Kippur day with her son and daughter-in-law.