More on the Dryer Vent

Wow. I never realized that so many people had helpful hints on cleaning out the dryer vent. If I had any idea, I would have been more specific in my problem.

Let me start out with a very simple drawing. Below you can see "sort of" what the house looks like.



As you can see, the GREEN square that I have drawn represents where the dryer is located. Because of the way the house is situated, the dryer is NOT on an outside wall. Therefor, the exhaust vent for the dryer goes straight up and out on to the roof (I would guess around 20 feet high).

My first cleaning exercise was to pop the rain cover off of the roof side of the vent and empty it of all the lint. That single exercise decreased the drying time by half. It still takes a bit longer to dry the clothes than it did at the apartment, so I still have some more cleaning to do. I attempted to put a brush down the vent (from the roof) but was not able to reach very deep. I may have to try to attach the brush to a mop handle or something similar to get a longer stretch of the pipe.

I have made sure that all of the area that I can reach is clean. I've seen some gadgets to clean out the vent that are kind of like a plumber's snake, and I may try that. I may also borrow a leaf blower and try to blast all of the lint out by force. We'll have to see.

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Now, you didn't think I would post and not mention anything about kidneys, did you? For me, everything seems to be going well. I am feeling healthy, and I think all of my medications are at a good level. I have not been having too many GI issues, now that I have been taking the Myfortic for a few weeks. I think I mentioned on Tuesday that the doctor did not need to see me for the next three weeks, so that is great news.

I had someone ask about my Glofil score (it was slightly lower than my first one). The doctors mentioned that they don't have "established" results for transplant patients. I guess they only have a baseline for people with two original kidneys. But, I was told (if I remember correctly) that a good Glofil score for a kidney transplant patient was anything above 70. So, even though my score went down (a little) it is not a concern, since it is still above the 70 mark. If it goes down again in three months (the next time I have a test) then I will ask the doctor about it.

In other news ... one of the bloggers that I read on a regular basis (thank you RSS) is about to get a kidney transplant! It's always great to hear about someone changing treatment methods (going from dialysis to transplant). You can read her blog here: http://mykidney.com/blog/

That's about it for today. Enjoy your weekend. I know I will. My friend Josh is getting married, and I'm in the wedding. It should be fun!

Glofil Results and More

Welcome everyone! I realize that is has been two weeks since my last posting, and I apologize. Not much has been going on, medically, so I haven't had too much to say.

I went to the clinic today for my standard follow-up appointment. I opted for the Tuesday appointments, since Monday was so terribly busy the last time I went. I left work at 10:00 to be at the clinic by 10:40, and was back at work by 12:00, so that's not too bad. I think I'll stick with Tuesdays for a while.

I got back my Glofil results from my last visit. My Glofil is 82. You may remember last time that my Glofil was 86.1. The doctor said that 82 is wonderful and that I have nothing to worry about. I just need to keep drinking my water and taking my medications.

I told the doctor that I felt like I had been sweating more since my transplant. He said that many patients complain of the same thing and of oily skin. He said that if it gets to be a real problem, I will have to talk to a dermatologist. I don't feel like it is a problem, yet, it was just different than before my transplant.

I also got back my lab results for today. My creatinine is at 1.0, which is wonderful. My cholesterol is a little higher than it was last time, but still within the normal range. The only number that was out of range was sodium, and it was just a little low (132.8 with the range being 136 - 144). Aside from that, all of my numbers look like they have been. Magnesium continues to be slightly low, but it is not causing any concern.

In non-kidney related news, Jenny and I have officially moved in to our new house. (Well, new to us). We spent the three-day weekend (and the entire week before) unboxing and sorting things where we want them to go. All I have to do now is to figure out how to clean out the dryer's external exhaust vent so that the dryer will work better. We just installed door stops to keep from punching doorknob shaped holes into all the walls. It's going to be a lot of work, but I am glad to get in to a new place.

See you next time. Hopefully it will be sooner than the 3 weeks away for my next appointment. That's right, the doctor said I don't have to come back for 3 weeks! Yippie!