Kevin's Kidney & me

Month seven has passed pretty much in the blink of an eye over here. It's been two months since my last doctor's visit ( and these are my sins.... am I right? All you Catholics were saying it right along with me ) and another week before I'll see her. In general I still feel pretty good, but there have been a few concerns over the last couple of months that I'm anxiously waiting to see the doctor about. Back before I went on dialysis there were some signs that I didn't recognize that suggested I was going downhill. A few of those signs are rearing their ugly heads and it makes me nervous. Mind you... these same signs could be almost anything else including coincidence, but my last few test results have had some interesting results that previously were blank and these results literally describe the physical results of what my disease actual does to my kidneys. Now... I still have my two kidneys given to me by my makers and they function at some small percentage a...

Well, six months post transplant and nothing transplant related to report. And the opportunities to get out in the world and have some post transplant fun has yet to begin. A major milestone and life is about as boring as it can be... who would want anything more from a life post transplant? I am officially done with two of my meds, so there's something. So I could stop here and it would be the shortest, most boring post into this journal to date. Or I could tell you a little story, would you like that?      You would?     Well okay then... a story... mostly true... but probably exaggerated for effect. A story about a guy, let's call him Bil. A story that meanders in and out of a single plot line but somehow all seems connected. Shall we begin? Okay then, I give you a story about a guy named Bil and his aching tooth. Told in first person narrative of course. I was watching a video this week describing the timeline in the Marvel Cinematic Universe lead...

So month five came and passed this week pretty much without a hitch. I had my monthly doctor's visit on Wednesday and everything looks good. Actually, I would typically continue bi-weekly blood draws until month six and continue monthly doctor visits as well. But things looked so good that my doctor put me on the three week blood draw schedule and told me to skip next month's doctor visit and we'll start the bi-monthly visits a bit early. So really good news. Meanwhile I've gained six Lbs since last month, which I fully attribute to the combination of a regular increase of slices of chocolate cream pie and Pepperidge Farm Lexington Cookies and a total lack of exercise. I'm truly disappointed over the exercise thing because when I first started to feel strong following the transplant I wanted to work out, but the doctors wouldn't let me. And by the time I was able to exercise I was back to work and if you've read my previous post in this journal then you ...

I write a couple of blogs. I hate calling them that... it's just a dumb word... blaaaawwwwgggguhh. I prefer to think of them as... journals or... short stories based on true events in my life or... perhaps therapy. Whatever. I currently maintain two of these journals. This one dedicated to the recovery of my kidney transplant and hopefully the goals I achieve post transplant. The other is about myriad topics that I want to talk about with no particular theme in mind. I recently started writing a post for this blog (uhg), but it quickly turned into an entry more appropriate for the other . So I'm back now to attempt to get the Kevin's Kidney version of the same post written here with less emphasis on the theme that was prevalent in that post. Begin: I've had ten years of health issues, not all related to my kidney disease but culminating in my transplant in October. For years I have dreamed of how I'm going to do things differently if and when I get beyond th...

I'm long overdue for an update here as I approach month four and last reported following reaching month two. Month three is actually the first of the major milestones following a kidney transplant. The major milestones being three months, six months, one year and three years. So what happened to month three? Here's what went down around month three. My (now) monthly doctor's visit (as opposed to weekly or bi-weekly) was a week following the literal three month anniversary and I wanted to hear her opinion before I chimed in. At 8:17 on the morning of my doctor's visit I was sitting in the lab waiting for my blood to be drawn when I felt a need to clear my throat and thought to myself.... "that feels like that first moment you feel like a cold is coming on" and I was absolutely correct, by three o'clock that afternoon I was in full on coming down with a cold mode. The doctor's visit had gone fine that day. She adjusted a med or two but otherwise ever...

I've allowed three weeks to pass without an entry and I'm feeling like I owe you an update. Its not like there's a lot to report. I still see the doctors regularly, although the visits have gone from every week to every other week to once a month so that would be the most significant news regarding the specifics relative to my kidney transplant. My meds keep getting tweaked as well. I've had issues with both magnesium and phosphorus so I've been on supplements for those. My omeprazole that I've taken for the last several years apparently has the negative impact of robbing my body of magnesium so they've swapped that out to a different but similar option. Also my peeing at night was back on the rise, especially with all of the water they wanted me to drink. At one point I was peeing every hour and 15 minutes, which is great for a body whose kidneys were only making enough urine to pee three times a day about a quarter of a cup each time, but its ridiculou...

On Monday this week I went to MGH Danvers to have labs drawn as I do every Monday. This week I went later than usual and there were a lot more people there than the prior weeks when I arrived much earlier. As I checked in the clerk was talking to herself, asking which tests I needed or didn't need. She seemed to be assuming they wouldn't need the Tacrolimus test. I mentioned that they specifically asked me not to take my Tacrolimus and therefore I would assume they want the Tacrolimus test. FYI, Tacrolimus is one of my anti rejection medications. The clerk then told me I could go sit down. I turned to the left side of the room and could see that every seat was filled. I also noticed this woman looking back over her shoulder towards me and smiling, almost as if she recognized me. I turned back towards the right side of the room and saw that there were several seats available, so I took a seat on that side. Then the woman got up from her seat and came over and sat next to me....