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 more things

Here are 7 more things you may (or may not) know about me to add to the "6 quirky things about me" and the other "7 things about me" posts that I have done...

1.) I lived on a farm for 4 years. We had cows, chickens, horses, dogs, and a pet goat. Although I love horses, and the experience was great, I am NOT a farm girl. I love living in the suburbs... with neighbors.

2.) I taught aerobics in high school and was very active. Despite my CF, I did pretty much anything I wanted activity-wise. Most of my high school friends didn't even know I had CF. I was also a cheerleader and the school mascot one year. That was fun!!!!!! I dressed up like an eagle and acted really crazy! Probably the best year in high school!!

3.) I am a procrastinator. I TRY to live by the "delayed gratification" rule, but still find myself putting off what I don't want to do until the end. I always did this in school too. I was the one staying up all night the night before a project was due. I seem to do my best work under pressure though. Casey gets a little bit of this from me, but is much better than I am at getting things done.

4.) I love to cook, but hate to bake. I don't like following recipes to a "t". I like adding my own spices and other ingredients. With baking, you have to follow the recipe almost exactly or it won't turn out right. My husband is the opposite. He absolutely loves to bake!! He is obsessive in nature, so the "following the recipe" thing appeals to him.

5.) I love black. I like wearing it, I like decorating with it, I like buying black things for gifts. I am not a depressed person in any way, but just find it appealing. I actually had someone ask me one time if I wore anything besides black. Since then, I have tried to incorporate some color into my wardrobe, but still go straight to the black clothes at the store. I also love black and white photos. Something about them catches my eye like I cannot explain.

6.) I am a night person! I can easily stay up until 4 am and sleep until 1 or 2 pm. Even when I worked 1st shift as a nurse, and had to get up at 5 am, I didn't turn into a morning person. Thankfully my husband works 2nd shift and doesn't get home until 12:30ish. He and my daughter are also night people. On the weekends, Casey loves to stay up late with us and sleep late in the morning. We all get energy around 9 or 10 at night.

7.) I do not like talking on the phone! I love texting, emailing, blogging, chatting online, or talking to you in person, but the phone annoys me. I am partially deaf which probably contributes to it, but I find that people do a lot of small talk on the phone and I'm not a big fan of that. Most of my friends know that an email will serve more purpose in getting in touch with me and conveying a message than a phone call. Thankfully, my daughter is a "texter" and we text all the time when she's at her dad's house. It's so easy and convenient and can be done in a restaurant or store without disturbing others.


Ok.. that's all the things I can think of now. We are getting ready to go pick up Casey and go to my sister's house for my family's Thanksgiving. I will try to remember to take my camera and get some pics of today. I know how much my blog readers love pics. It's my favorite part of other people's blogs too!!

Mania Shmania

My mania has taken over the past couple of days. Yes, this prednisone is making me totally manic. My mind won't slow down, I am talking too fast, I can't sleep at night. I never knew what people who suffer from Bipolar disorder go through when they have manic episodes.. I probably still don't.. but I do have a clue now. Even though I go down to 25 mg of prednisone on the 10th of December, I probably won't notice much difference until I get to about 15 mg which will be sometime in January.

On the plus side of that, I am on the treadmill everyday and just have tons of energy to get things done. I still cannot push, pull, or lift more than 5 lbs., but am not finding that too hard. Cooking and minor cleaning is easy. I am getting in much needed shape after a lot of muscle wasting over the past year. In about 3 weeks, I can start adding some pilates to my workout, so that will really help.

Casey went shopping today with her cousins. She was really excited. It worked out really good that I went the other night. I was able to avoid the crowds today, which I'm sure were just swarming with colds and other viruses. One of Casey's Christmas presents isn't available online until the middle of January, and the store at the mall isn't putting it on the shelves until Sunday night. Jason is off work on Monday, and he, Casey and I will go to the mall after I pick her up from school. She and Jason can just go do their thing while I do some shopping for her.

As far as Christmas lists go, I know what I'm getting most people. Jason is actually the hardest to shop for. I think men tend to be pickier than women about some things. Anything related to his PS3 though would probably be a hit.

Jason is at work, and I really need to get out of the house. I am not released to drive yet, and it's driving me crazy. We will go somewhere tomorrow.. maybe just run errands, and out to dinner, but at least it will get me out of the house. I am trying to avoid going out to eat too much, because I'm on a low sodium diet and it's very hard to eat low sodium when you are at a restaurant. Sunday, we are having a late lunch with my family to celebrate Thanksgiving since everyone was sick on Thanksgiving day. They are all feeling better!!

I'm off to do the treadmill. I'm really putting some miles on that thing. It's amazing how much more useful it is as a piece of exercise equipment as opposed to a place to hang clothes! :)

Turkey soup recipe

Here is what I did with my leftover turkey. It turned out great, but I did make a few changes that I think really added to it.. See them at the bottom.

This is from www.foodnetwork.com...

Turkey Soup with Egg Noodles and Vegetables

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 to 4 cups leftover cooked turkey, shredded or cubed
2 to 3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
6 ounces uncooked egg noodles
1 cup frozen green peas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Directions
Heat oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks, carrots, garlic, and celery and saute 4 minutes, until soft. Add turkey, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and black pepper and stir to mix well. Add chicken broth and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Return mixture to a boil and add egg noodles. Cook 10 minutes, until egg noodles are just tender. Stir in peas and cook until peas are just heated through, about 1 minute.

Remove from heat, discard bay leaves and stir in parsley.

Now for my hints: Let this soup simmer for about 2 hours so that the flavors really get into the soup. The leeks really added to it. If you don't know how to cut up leeks, you chop about 1/2 inch off the white root/bottom part and about 6 inches of the green part, and then use the rest of it chopped up. The leeks are one reason I chose this recipe over others. When cooked, leeks give things a great flavor. I also added more celery, carrots and garlic than the recipe called for.

I used 10 cups of reduced-sodium chicken broth, because 8 made it too thick for me. I used fresh thyme instead of dried. I read where you might want to cut the amount of thyme in half if you use dried, because it can overpower the rest of the soup, but you can use 2 tsps. of chopped fresh thyme and it's great. Make sure you only use the thyme leaves and not the twig. I also added fresh cilantro to this recipe. It really enhanced the flavor. I didn't add it or the fresh thyme until the noodles were cooked though. I used medium egg noodles instead of the wide. The wide seem to soak up all the soup when I use them.

Enjoy!!

Glad I'm not a turkey!

Asked to write a composition entitled, "What I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving,"
little Timothy wrote, "I am thankful that I'm not a turkey."

That being said... I have SO much to be thankful for today and everyday! My relationship with God, my family, my friends, my church family, my home, my dog, food to eat, and my 3rd chance at life to be here for my daughter as she grows. The list goes on and on!! I am also thankful for adversities in my life that have brought me closer to God and my family. Without those, how could I ever truly appreciate what He has given me?

It's so important to focus on what we do have instead of what we don't. I hope all of you have a great day and can find many things to celebrate!!

Early Thanksgiving

We decided to cook our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday since Casey will be at her dad's on Thanksgiving day. We had my friend Angela and her family over. She only lives 15 minutes from me, but we haven't seen each other for a couple of months. It was great seeing them!

We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, bread, cranberry sauce, hot apple cider with spices, pumpkin pie with homemade whipping cream and coffee. It was really good. Jason and I cooked all day, but it was definitely worth it. Our turkey recipe, stuffing and gravy recipes all turned out really good. It was the first Thanksgiving dinner that Jason and I have cooked together as a couple.

Jason is out getting Casey from school now, since I can't drive yet. Tomorrow, my friend and her daughter are picking Casey up from school and then coming to get me. We are going to the Christmas parade and then Casey's friend is spending the night. Wednesday, we are heading to the mall after I go to the local hospital for some blood work. I have to avoid the mall on Friday because of the crowds, and Casey won't be with me anyway, so we are going Wednesday instead with her friend Michele and her mother Carol.

Casey has a project to work on tonight... yes, another one. Then we will just hang out here at home since I can't drive yet. It's no fun waiting on others to drive you places, but it's a small sacrifice for a new kidney!

I slept until 3:00 today...haha. I did get up and get Casey ready for school, but I went back to bed. It was almost 4 am before I fell asleep last night. Again, I'm assuming that's the prednisone. I drink decaf coffee and decaf sodas (when I have them), so I know it isn't that.

My staples are starting to get very irritated. I remember this happening after my lung transplant. I will get them out a week from Wednesday. My incision is still hurting some, but its mostly itching, which is a sign of healing. I did find that I tired out easily yesterday in the kitchen, but am still feeling so much better than I thought I would at this point. I was just so weak prior to this transplant, and had a lot of muscle wasting that I think it's going to take some time to build all of that back up.

On another note.. my sister, her husband, my dad and my mom are all fighting this cold/virus going around. Yes, my mom did wind up getting it, but she says she doesn't feel so bad today, so she's hoping that it doesn't get worse. My sister and her husband went to work today. I think they rested all weekend. I won't be seeing any of them on Thanksgiving day because I can't take the chance of getting sick right now. We are going to spend it with Jason's parents and grandmother. When I get Casey back, we will get together for a late Thanksgiving dinner with my family.

That's all for now! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and can all find many things to be thankful for... I know I can!

Check back tonight

Jason will be posting the 3rd "Charlie the Unicorn" tonight. It's funny how the little things get him so excited. LOL.

Today is a slow day. Casey is working on a project, Jason is doing things around the house and I'm resting at the moment. My pain is much better today, so I see no ER visit in the near future. :)

Casey had a great time at her Twilight party. She got home around 11 this morning. She will have her book club meeting tonight, and then tomorrow, she, Jason and I are going to have Thanksgiving dinner here. Casey's cousins are coming in from Pennsylvania, so she will be at her dad's house with them on Thanksgiving. I can't have any of my family over tomorrow. My sister and her husband are both sick and now my dad is getting sick. I sure hope my mom doesn't get it. I know her body isn't as strong as it could be yet.

Labs, and plans for the next several days

My dad arrived here in Durham around 11:30 this morning. Jason is out getting some things at the pharmacy for me, and then he'll be heading back home. I don't have any appointments today, so I think I'll just take it easy. My incision is really hurting today. I think it's the combination of the swelling going down and pulling on the staples and all of the activity I did yesterday. I just took a pain pill, so hopefully that will be kicking in soon. I haven't been taking that many, because they really affect my appetite. I'm only averaging about 2 a day, which I think is pretty good.

My transplant coordinator called today and said my labs from yesterday look awesome! My creatinine is 0.5, which is the lowest it's been since lung transplant. I never thought I would see that number again. Whoo hoo! My other labs look great too. I'm not sure why I was having decreased urine output yesterday, but my labs sure don't reflect anything wrong.

I did get some sleep last night with the help of one extra sleep medicine. The extra med is probably why I'm so tired today. I'll be sure to get plenty of rest today for a full day of doc appts tomorrow. I have to be there for labs at 8 am, and then I'll see the transplant surgeon. After lunch, I'll have to see the rheumatologist, and then dad and I will head home. I can't wait to see Casey. She called me last night really missing me. It's been a really long week because she hasn't been with me.

My mom will be coming to Durham on Thursday for her follow-up appointment. My dad will have to bring her back here then. He has a lot of driving to do in the next several days. Dad says she's still moving pretty slow, but won't let anyone wait on her. That's just mom.. always doing things for others. Her friend Brenda is in town helping out with my nephew and driving my mom where she needs to go. Brenda will be staying with me on Thursday after Jason leaves for work.

On Saturday, if I'm feeling up to it, we are going to be going to my grandparent's house in Virginia for an early Thanksgiving celebration. I have to make sure that no one is sick before I go. Since I am so immunosuppressed right now, I have to make sure I avoid anyone with viruses or bacterial infections.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers. I hear through the grapevine of so many of you checking my blog and praying for me. It mean so much to know I have all of your support.