Wednesday update

I got to Duke about 7:45 this morning. My lab appointment and transplant nephrology appointment went pretty quick. I'm not used to that with Duke..haha.

The doctor was amazed at how well I'm doing. The only issue that we really had to address is my blood sugars. Because of the prednisone, the insulin I am taking isn't doing the trick, so they have added another long acting insulin to my nighttime regimine. They will start tapering my prednisone dose on December 10th. By 4 to 6 months, I'll be back down to 5 mg/day, so my facial edema, sleep issues and blood sugar issues will definitely get better.

My blood pressure is great, and I'm not on any b.p. meds now. My hemoglobin is coming up, and my kidney function labs are looking great. I have a ureteral stent that was placed during transplant. I will have to have it removed in about 3 weeks, but they just do it during my regular clinic visit. The stent is a thin hollow tube which is placed inside the ureter to keep it open and allow the connection to your bladder to heal after transplant.

I finish my IV meds today. It will be great getting rid of that. My doc did tell me this morning that I take more meds than any of his patients, but I don't mind the pills as much.

I weighed 103# today!! I can't believe it. My appetite is really good and I am actually enjoying food again. I think my new kidney weighs about 5 lbs though..hahaha. I did ask the nephrologist about my kidney "bulging" out. LOL. He did say that my mom's kidney is huge.. just like the surgeon had said. The good thing about that is that it has a lot of filtering ability because it's so large. It really is a blessing. He said I will notice it for probably 4 to 6 months and then it should settle in and be less noticeable.

I am waiting on the rheumatologist now. My appointment isn't until 2:30, but hopefully they will take me early. I am so ready to go home. He is going to address my fibromyalgia today. The prednisone has made it better, but once I taper back down, the pain will all come back, so we need to find a different med to take care of it. For a lot of fibro patients, it bothers them more in the winter, but for me, the spring and summer are the worst. I tend to think it's because of the air conditioning inside. I have been more of an "inside" girl b/c of health issues lately, and do better when the heat is on than when the air conditioning is. I kind of feel like this is a wasted appointment since I'm not currently having fibro pain, but it takes about 6 months to get in to see this doc, and I'll be hurting again before I can see him again.

That's it for now. I'll update about my rheumatology appt later today. I hope you all are doing well.

UPDATE: I am home now. The rheumatologist said that since I'm on so much prednisone now, and my pain tends to ease in the winter (unlike most people with fibro), that all he wants me to do now is get in a rehab program for exercise. I will start that next week. If I start having the amount of pain I had this past spring and summer, he is going to start me on an anti-depressant. They seem to work for some fibro patients. Also, I don't have to go back to see the kidney doc again for two weeks. I was supposed to go back next week, but since I'm doing so well and they can't remove my staples until the following week, he said to just wait.

When I got home, I had so many cards from people. I am so thankful for all of you. It really touched me. Some people from my church are bringing dinner tonight too, so I don't have to worry about cooking. *Yay*. It was great to see Mom and Casey. I think I held Casey for 5 full minutes. I feel like it's been a month since I've seen her. Here we are with Balin, who was also very happy to see me!