My First Post-Transplant Clinic Visit

Good afternoon everyone. And, if I don't see you again, good evening, good night, and good morning. We are home from Fort Worth for the weekend. I had my first post-transplant clinic appointment today, and everything is great!

We arrived at the hospital around 9:00 am for blood work. The phlebotomist had a little bit of trouble getting the needle into my vein ... so that wasn't so great. I don't see any bruising yet, so maybe it felt worse than it was. She drew four vials of blood, and then had me give a urine sample. I have to say, it has been a long time since I have had a urinalysis done. Then, I was able to take all of my medication and go eat breakfast. Luckily, our hotel had a continental breakfast, so I was not without some food.

We then headed over to the clinic waiting area to do just that -- wait. Our "appointment" was scheduled for around 10:00, but the doctors said that was merely an estimate. They have to process the blood work and get results before they can actually be helpful in seeing you. We went in around 11:30 to see the doctor. He had all of my lab results (which I can share a portion of below) and said that I was doing great. He put me back on my allergy medication, as well as my high blood pressure medication and some of the meds I got on after my stroke. He also doubled my dosage on the anti-viral medication, which he said was a normal dose.

All in all, I am doing well. My incision is healing as the doctor expected. I am healthy, and moving around, and feeling much better. The numbers on my lab reports looked pretty good, and I expect them to stay in line as I feel great.

Here are some of the important lab numbers:

• Potassium was 3.9 (range is 3.6 - 5.0)
• Creatinine is 1.0 (range is 0.7 - 1.2)
• BUN is 14 (range is 9 - 20)
• Phosphorus is 2.0 (range is 2.7 - 4.5)
  This is a little low, but the doctor said as long as it stays 2.0 or above, I will not need any supplements. He also said it was normal for post-dialysis patients to have a low phosphorus for a while, as it has become used to not processing it.
• Glucose is 87 (range is 75 - 110)
• Cholesterol is 133 (range is 0 - 200)
• Hemoglobin is up to 11.6

Keep in mind for you international readers that all these units are American. I have seen some people in other countries that want a creatinine over 100, but if I were to have that, I'd be pretty dead ... so don't worry. A creatinine of 1.0 mg/dl in the United States is the same as a creatinine of 88.4 µmol/L in SI units.

In other news, we plan to stay home for the weekend, and eat up all the food in our refrigerator before it goes bad. We haven't been home in a while, so that's always important. We are going to go back to the hotel in Fort Worth on Sunday for another fun-filled week of labs and clinic appointments.

I received a comment on a 2006 post today from a guy named Mark. Mark, if you get this far in your readings and still have questions, please send me an e-mail. The address is at the bottom of the blog.