On Friday, May 30, 2025, Louie began the 1150 mile journey from Deer Lodge, MT to Rochester, MN after completing what we hope will be his final dialysis treatment in Butte. It was a two-day trip, with a quick stop for sleep in Rapid City, SD and some sightseeing at Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse memorial. Please see our Facebook pages for video posts chronicalling the journey.
Once we arrived here, we both needed to catch up on rest and settle in a bit. The house is even better than expected, with plenty of room for us and the kids and the cat. We each have own rooms, even Onyx, though she can usually be found somewhere where she can keep an eye on both of us. It drives her crazy when we're in different rooms because she has to perch between the two like she's watching tennis. When he's napping and I'm in the kitchen is the worst, because the kitchen is kind of cut off from view from the living room so she sits by the back door and can see me and his closed door at the end of the hallway. The landlord has been absolutely amazing, and when she said she supplied everything we would need, she wasn't kidding. The toilet paper, paper towels, soap, laundry detergent, tin foil, etc will last at least through the first month we're here, and we already have backups for when they run out.
Louie went backward a little bit during the trip, which was expected. We did the best we could making good food choices when we stopped for dinner, but it is what it is. He also has to catch up from an extra day between treatments, as his new dialysis schedule is Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday instead of the Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule he has been on for over 9 years.
He had his first dialysis treatment at Mayo yesterday at 6 am (5 am Montana time) and all seemed to go very smoothly. They don't know him yet, so they won't let him challenge himself, so it'll take time to get the water weight back down to where it was when we left. If all goes according to plan, however, he should be back on track by the end of Saturday's treatment.
We had our first visitors yesterday, as well. My friend Jodi and her husband happened to be coming to Rochester so we were able to visit a little before they had to go. Visitors are allowed only until Louie has surgery- at that point, we will be on lockdown for awhile due to the anti-rejection medications he will be on. I'm willing to set up Zoom calls around his schedule if there is interest in checking in with him in "person" though.
He has been resting a lot since we got here. Traveling is difficult for homebodies even in the best of circumstances, but this has been big change after big change for him. He seems to be adjusting well, and hopefully we'll have a good routine established within the next week or two. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers, and to those of you who have reached out since we left, we appreciate hearing from you. I'll try to keep this updated every few days, but settling and unpacking and learning the town while catching up on my homework missed during traveling days has taken more time than I anticipated. Facebook and Instagram videos will continue as things happen worth sharing. Otherwise, you'll just get overloaded with food and cat pictures, and no one needs that. :)