Sunday, November 30, 2008

Family time and update

We had lunch with my family today for a late Thanksgiving. We had a great time. We didn't get to stay long, because Casey has some projects to work on for tomorrow. Here are a few pics from today...
















I am still feeling great, but am not getting a lot of sleep. My prednisone dose starts getting weaned down in a little over a week.. yay!! I think my Prograf (anti-rejection med) level is high. I had my blood drawn last week at the local hospital, and they have to send those labs off to another hospital, because they don't do Prograf levels at the local one. I should have those results tomorrow. One symptom of a high Prograf level is shakiness, and my hands can't stop shaking yesterday and today. My lung transplant doctors have always liked to keep my Prograf levels on the low side for a transplant recipient, because I am very susceptible to different kinds of bacteria/infection, so I am going to have to explain that to my kidney docs on Wednesday and have them consult one another on this. Since I received living-related transplants for both transplants, I am a little less likely to reject the organs than someone who received organs from a deceased, non-related donor, so it's not so imperative that my Prograf be up there with the rest of the post-transplant patients.

My staples are really getting red and irritated now. They are ready to come out. I'll get them out on Wednesday. I'm not sure if they will take my stent out on Wednesday or wait until the following week, but I can feel it moving sometimes. I'm assuming it's in my bladder or my ureter. They will have to catheterize me to remove it, but thankfully they just do that in the clinic. My blood pressure is hovering around the borderline mark, so I'm not sure if they will start me on a b.p. med on Wednesday or not. I was really hoping to avoid that, but will do whatever it takes to take care of this new kidney. My blood sugars are doing better since starting on Lantus, a long-acting insulin I take at night. I was on it years ago. I can probably come off of that and just use my other short-acting insulin after my prednisone is back down to 5 mg.

That's all for now. I hope all of you are having a great weekend.

7 comments:

Aimee said...

Thanks!

Love the pics and girl I would never have guessed to just had a kidney tx! =]

I hate prednisone so much but it works. Hope you are feeling well!

Mrs. O said...

You look great!! Glad you enjoyed your family Thanksgiving. The stent usually goes from the kidney through the ureter to the bladder and yes, it is very annoying - found that out earlier this year when I developed stones! Hope everything goes well at your appointment on Wednesday.

Brenda said...

Your daughter is gorgeous. I hope you get your meds figured out soon.

Shea said...

The prednisone always runs my hubby's bp up. I bet when you wean lower your bp will be better. I'm glad you were able to have lunch with your family. Oh, and I am a night person too, I always have been.

Genevieve said...

Gahhhhhh......run and hide, the moon face!!! hehehe

You guys look amazing! It's such a love-hate relationship with steroids, isn't it?

Heidi said...

Darn prednisone! It's a blessing and a curse. I am hoping that it will lessen it's grip on you in the next week. I also bet you are so excited to get those staples out. You are soooo good. I had steri strips on my tx scar and I had to accidently "help them" off. LOL! I'm so glad you had a wonderful holiday. Hugs!

Genevieve said...

Please tell your beautiful daughter that I said THANK YOU!!! I'd love to send her an 8x10 piece of my work, so tell her to pick one. :)

I lurrve 13 year olds, they tend to spread the word contagiously!

YOU! need to go to that website and post YOUR STORY!!! You soooo could win this, I really believe that!