Time for an Update

It has been a while since I have written anything, so I figured that it was time for me to update everyone on what is going on. Last time, I gave everyone my January lab report that I got from dialysis. And of course, previously, I had mentioned that I started my transplant evaluation two Mondays ago. They have drawn a total of 22 vials of blood (so far) in my evaluation, and I am sure that there is more to come.

I went to see my cardiologist on Monday afternoon. My blood pressure has been quite high at dialysis since I was taken off of the Norvasc and put on the Toprol XL. Now, my heart rate was fixed by the Toprol XL, so I am grateful for that. But, I need my blood pressure to be lower so that I do not have a stroke or a heart attack. So, the cardiologist upped my dosage of Diovan from 160 mg / day to 320 mg / day. The Diovan has not had a chance to get into my system (at the higher level) yet, so I cannot report how well it is working. I am supposed to track my blood pressure for two weeks and then let the cardiologist know. If it is going well, then I am okay. If not, then it is time for more medications for me!

I have the “Living Donor Transplant Applications” sitting here on my desk. I am going to be looking for addresses to send them out to those of you who have asked if you could be tested for giving me one of your kidneys (thank you!!). I also have a DVD from the transplant people, which I may or may not be able to send out copies of. Be looking in your mail (or maybe e-mail, if I can convert them to an electronic format) in the next week, and be sure to send them back as FAST as possible.

Let’s see … in other news, I will start using my fistula again on Thursday. I have not used it in about seven weeks, which should be long enough for it to heal. The dialysis clinic said that they will use the small (17 gauge) needles so that there won’t be too much stress placed on the vein. I do not know if they will use one needle or two; I guess it just depends on what the doctor indicated in the chart (since he mentioned both at different times). I have not seen the doctor this week, so he should be there Thursday and be happy to see my fistula in use again.

I have been having stomach ache problems again lately. I thought that the Nexium had helped, but I seem to be having problems again. I am waking up not feeling well several days a week, which is certainly no fun. So, I have an appointment with a GI doctor next week, and hopefully she can find out what is wrong with me and offer some helpful solutions.

Please pray that my transplant evaluation will continue to go well and that they will find everything that they need. Also pray that I will not have to live with my stomach problems for much longer. It is all in God’s hands at this point.

Some of you are receiving this post by e-mail today and have no idea why. I had a few people in the orchestra and in my old ABF class mention that they would like to know how I am doing. So, for today only, I am sending a copy of this post out to those two group lists. If you would like to receive all of my updates via e-mail, then please REPLY to me and let me know. I can subscribe you to all of the new posts. Or, if you would like to just read these posts on the web, then go to http://nmccart.blogspot.com/. You can also subscribe to the ATOM feed at http://nmccart.blogspot.com/atom.xml.