Update on Transplant Evaluation

I’m writing today to give everyone an update on the transplant evaluation that my friend Josh is undergoing. Josh called me Wednesday morning to let me know that his testing was beginning that day. Thanks to Labor Day, he did not receive his “packet” until Tuesday evening, so he wasn’t able to fill out any of the paperwork ahead of time. That just means it will be a week or so extra to get the results of all the “at home” testing returned.

He has to do a chest x-ray, an abdominal sonogram, get his Glofil test done (to test kidney function) and have a bunch of blood drawn. He also needs to have several doctor consultations (with the nephrologist, the surgery team, the social worker, and the psychologist). Once all of that craziness gets done, they will let him and I know if he is a valid candidate to give me his “extra” kidney.

Please pray for Josh this week as I am guessing that all this testing is going to be nerve-wracking. I think it would make me kind of nervous to be potentially giving up part of my body to a friend.

As for me, life continues onward. I had another treatment on Tuesday, but the sticks did not go too well. A different technician asked if she could take a try at sticking me, and I decided to give her a chance (since my fistula seemed to be behaving better recently). She put in a needle, but couldn’t quite get it to pull, so she called over one of my more reliable technicians. She removed that needle and stuck me with two good needles. The machine was able to run at 400 ml/min, so I am glad that she got me stuck.

They drew our lab work on Tuesday, so I should know by next week how well I did with my phosphorus balance. I was kind of low last month, so I tried to do a little bit better balancing my diet this month. I also ate bacon and eggs for breakfast most days of the month, so I can see if my protein levels went up at all.

Please pray that my labs will turn out well and that everything will go according to God’s plan when it comes to Josh’s testing. I want His will to be done in the kidney transplant, no matter how long I have to wait. Thanks!