Friday, February 17, 2006

Well, I have not updated my blog in a while, so I think I am going to make myself do it. I have been quite busy at work this week (which is great). They have me working more on the stuff I enjoy doing rather than the data entry that got me in the door. I am enjoying my job more and more each day, and that is always nice when you do not have to be motivated to go to work.

The site where my catheter was removed has almost completely stopped hurting. It only bothers me now if I run into it with something. The shower does not hurt, and there are only two steri-strips left on it. They stick to the wound to hold it closed until you heal. They put them on my abdomen when I had my staples removed this summer. They stayed on about two weeks. I expect that these will be on about one more week.

I have an appointment with my endocrinologist on Monday. I am hoping that he will have looked at my lab results and decided that I am not doing badly. I hope that my thyroiditis will not require any further medications. I am still working with the cardiologist to try and fix my blood pressure. She has changed my hypertension medications every two weeks for the last six. She doubled my Diovan, then she added Norvasc, and this week she doubled my Toprol XL. Hopefully this last change will fix me so that I can know what I need to have prescribed.

Dialysis continues to go well. My fistula is working great (still). They should take another flow rate test next week to get a comparative reading. I don’t foresee any problems. I still have a strong thrill, and that’s a good thing. The thrill, for those of you who don’t know, is the feeling of blood rushing through the fistula. It is always supposed to be very easy to feel. Mine always has been strong, and now I can feel it in my elbow.

I am still having problems with my stomach. When I eat right after dialysis, I feel hot and sick for about 30 minutes. But, if I don’t eat, I feel hungry. So, which is better? Also, I get pain in my jaw for about a minute when I first start eating, but only right after dialysis. I have another appointment with the GI doctor next month, so I will ask her my stomach questions again.
You can continue to pray for my health and for the kidney donation process. I do not know when I should hear anything, but I am sure they will tell me when they are ready.

Thanks for reading!