keeping up with the DUNCANS

2010-04-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

Its Been A While

2008-06-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Its been a while since we've sent an update....what can we say....????
Ben, myself and Chelbe are all doing well.
Oh and Peedie is back too. (he's been at my mom's in the 'burbs)

Ben is now able to leave the house and go into public. Until now its been home...doctors...home for him. Its perfect timing with the great warm weather.
He is slowly getting his groove back...he says 70% recovered!
As for me..I've had my groove back for quite sometime now..back to work and life in general.

Overall, the transplant was and is a success and he is responding well to Chelbe's presence.

All of OURS/YOUR prayers have and continue to be answered.

weekend update

2008-04-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

Ben and Chelbe are doing so well that they are
now on a bi-weekly check up schedule. Also, they
have reduced one of his medications!

This is quite extraordinary. Most transplant patients take
a few months to get to this point.

Chelbe and Ben..the bionic duo!

CHELBE IS DOING HER THANG!!!

2008-04-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

HEY GUYS...
BEN'S CREATNINE LEVEL IS DOWN TO 2.8!!!!!! (down from a deadly 16!)
The target is 2.5!!!! Almost there...Go Chelbe Go....show them how ANTIGUAN KIDNEYS DO IT!

Announcing the arrival of BABY CHELBE

2008-04-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

...pronounced SHELBY....but spelled CHELBE

Thats right we have officially and finally named the new kidney.

Its time for all to welcome Chelbe Duncan into her new life/role.

Date of Birth: March 24th, 2008

Place: Hackensack Hospital New Jersey

Time: @2pm

Proud Parents: Benjamin And Michelle Duncan

p.s...disclaimer: Ben was not involved in this announcement!

Keeping up with Ben, Michelle And the Kidney!

2008-04-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

First things first...Ben, myself, and the KIDNEY(who still remains nameless:) are all doing well.
Initially, the Kidney( what should we call her?) was a bit home sick and wasn't fully adjusting to her new home. After a week or so of clever trickery by the amazing Dr. Shapiro, she decided to except her new fate and started behaving like a good little kidney should.

Its been a full three weeks and each day we are feeling stronger and as Ben just put it "GOOD"!
Thanks to modern science and technology, we are up and around (still at home) and feeling almost back to normal minus a bit of soreness. For those wondering, the scars are not too bad either. Considering what was being cut, moved, shoved, clamped,removed and implanted, we look quite normal. Although whenever we overdo it our bodies reminds us that we are not
quite back to normal as yet...so we are still taking it easy.

Thank you to our family and friends for being there/here to support us over the past three weeks. Thank you to all for your prayers, thoughts, emails, cards, gifts, and visits. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Words cannot express our gratitude and awe for the support we've recieved.

We will try to keep you all updated with our progress and also the progress of the kidney...which I think we should call Chelbe..pronounced Shelby....short for Michelle and Ben.

What do you think?

ITS ALMOST TIME....

2008-03-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well Ladies and Gents, we are about three days away from the transplant surgery.

Ben says he's not nervous!

As for me, I am not nervous...(yet)but in reality there is so

much going on, that I'm extremely distracted from the actual procedure.

Lets hope it stays that way..I tend to have a delayed reaction to major events..

I may freak out afterwards..when its all over and I have time to digest it everything.

But either way....

The next time you see us, Ben will have THREE KIDNEYS, ONE in particular that will be working AMAZINGLY!(it better be!)

the surgery is going to be at Hackensack Hospital in New Jersey.

In case you dont have it ...here is our contact information:

Ben and Michelle Duncan

380 Lenox Avenue #3A (at 129th st)

New York, N.Y. 10027

212-280-1281

or send us a text message...

michelle(917)733-4160

Ben(917)733-8266

we have a date!!!

2008-03-04T14:08:00.000-08:00

Well ladies and gentlemen we have a date!
March 24th, 2008 is the day I will give one of my kidneys to my hubby.
March 24th, 2008 is the day my Benji will start a new healthy life...almost like a baptism.

We are very excited and nervous.

We know we will be in your prayers and thoughts.
thanks in advance...
B&M

Update

2008-03-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

hello all.
Wonderful news...after all of the testing, I've been cleared to donate my kidney
to my hubby.
We have one final appointment with the surgeon to discuss the which kidney they will be taking and also the incision sites ( yes sites..as in three!)
I'm a bit nervous about that...the scars and such.
We've found out that the donor's surgery is about one hour longer and is much more difficult
than transplanting the recipient. We also learned that the recipients recovery is much longer than the donor's.
We will be recovering on the same floor of the hospital..but not the same room because of New Jersey law...that kinda sucks. I was looking forward to holding hands from our individual hospital beds..ha! OR perhaps sharing a bed..LOL!
Anyways, whatever the sleeping arrangements, I'm happy that my Benjy will be on the road to good health.
We haven't set an official date yet, but we are shooting for the first week of april.

We'll keep you posted.

20 Prospect Avenue

2008-02-18T18:47:00.000-08:00

Those fortunate enough to ride life's coattails should do the following: (1) Read all of the signs
(2) Take in every inch of the scenery (3) Be sure to digest each and every step.

THATS THE LESSON I LEARNED TODAY.

All I can say is....WHO KNEW?

Who knew that just two short years ago when we visited the maternity ward after the birth of Baby Gavin on Prospect Avenue or when we had an amazing dinner with friends at Gena's old apartment on Prospect Avenue...that we would be patients of a kidney transplant doctor on Prospect Avenue. Or better yet..facing an actual kidney transplant procedure on that very same Prospect Avenue.

In a sense, Ben and I can say that "we've been here before!"

What a small world.

YUCK

2008-02-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you guys....especially the ones who live outside of Manhattan, but how gross is it outside? All of this rain, snow, sleet, trash, spit, wet dog crap..etc..etc is driving me NUTS!

These are the days I HATE NYC!
If I only had a driver( a girl can dream..cant she?), then i wouldnt have to exactly brave the elements. I could be dropped off, waited on and picked up
right in front..not too shabby. Maybe next year after all of this kidney stuff we can work on getting me a driver..lol.

Hopefully you all are staying warm and dry while you hop in and out of your cars in suburbia, or while you sit at your desks, or if you are furtunate, sitting at home.

As for me...the girl with the spit/poop on sidewalk phobia, wet days are the worst. You cant see whats what amidst all of the standing water.
See, i have a system..on a dry sidewalk you can easily spot wet spit spots, and poop piles and i stay CLEAR of all moisture. But when its wet and its all meshed together...its like finding a needle in the haystack!
If you only saw me trecking down 5th Avenue to my clients house this morning....though not as bad as some other streets..like LENOX AVE.. trying to navigate around the crap, spit, rain..and whatever else is mixed in on those sidewalks..eww. I was trying to somehow levitate myself above the sidewalk and float to her front door..but that didnt work. So i tried taking huge giant steps...that didnt work either because I had my work bag-on-wheels...and it almost made me fall.
So i had to suck it up and do what everyonelse was doing...just walk in the crap filled puddles.

Hope your day is going better than mine.

p.s...what's worst than this? Doing it at night, when you can see ANYTHING!
I'm trying to be home before dark.

WE ARE ONE....at least hoping so!

2008-02-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

So, long story short, the kidney transplant team have decided to use my kidney.
But let me be clear, (contain your excitement) this just means that they've decided
to allow me to go through ALL of the steps in the living donor evaluation....only after successfully passing ALL of them we can definitively say I am giving Ben a kidney.

So far, i've been cleared as an ideal match..not a perfect one though...which is highly unlikely in most cases.. Usually someone related to the recipient is the best choice. But in this case because of predisposed high blood pressure, they chose to go outside the family..
We've since learned, the best thing is to get a kidney from a living donor rather than a deceased person. An ideal matched kidney from a NON-RELATIVE that has NOT gone throught the death/dying process - is a million times better than a PERFECT matched kidney from a dead person or a person that has blood related issues.

After a brief sigh of relief, I was then told to collect my urine for 24 hours to determine that my kidney was functioning normally...Lets just say, Urine collection is meant for boys not girls..if you get my drift.
My urine was ALL GOOD.
Then, a bunch of other test were conducted...I passed them all too.
Next week monday I have what i hope to be two of the last three test. An EKG to be sure my heart and body can live with only one kidney and a CAT SCAN to be sure my kidney is in perfect shape, If it will work in Ben's body due to his size and finally to map out the surgery route..i.e: which kidney to use and what route to enter and remove the kidney.

I'll let you know how it turns out..

new year ....new troubles!

2008-02-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

I'm sure by now you've all heard the news.... My Babycakes' kidneys (yes BOTH) have failed! Actually, have been failing for some time....who knew? Truly a surprise to everyone.
I guess in hindsight, they were a few small signs...
Boy how our world has changed.
So, after the hospital stay and stabilization, Ben has started outpatient Dialasys tues, thurs and sat at 6:30 am. Hopefully not for long because the time sucks, but he doesnt seem to mind as much as i do...
We've been very blessed thus far..besides finding out before something really horrible like a deadly stroke happened, quickly finding amazing doctors who would quickly see us, being treated in a bloodless program, being pushed to the TOP of the four month waiting list to meet with the transplant team, having his two brothers tested within two weeks of diagnosis, we've discovered he has A UNIVERSAL RECEIVERS BLOOD TYPE which makes his body a more acceptable recipient. We've also discovered how many wonderful people we are very fortunate to have in our lives.
Thanks everyone for all of your calls, cards, visits and encouragement.
We are truly blessed.