Three Years Post-Transplant

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! This week is my three year kidney-versary! I received my donor kidney on January 11, 2007. It's been a wonderful three years.

I had my annual Glofil appointment on Tuesday of this week. For those of you that do not follow me on Twitter or are not friends with me on Facebook, I had a great appointment! I scored an 80.2 on the Glofil this year, which is the same as what I got last year. Now, for a normal person with two kidneys, that would be an 80% kidney function. For a post-transplant kidney patient with only one functioning kidney, it's a really good score (according to the doctors). I'm glad that my kidney is still working well and that my body is still not showing any signs of rejection. Keep praying that it will stay that way for MANY years to come.

My creatinine was 1.0 again. This is really good, since it was 1.4 when I made a short visit to the Emergency Room a week or so ago. For some reason, I passed out and got to go to the ER. I was perfectly fine. The doctors said that it was probably dehydration. My guess is that it was due to being at home for three weeks with our new baby and not being on my normal water drinking schedule. My vacation ended at the end of December, so I'm back to work and back to drinking enough water on a daily basis.

I also had my annual bone density scan at the appointment. Although I did not see the doctor after having the scan, I did as the technician for an unofficial reading of the charts. She said that it looked like the bone density of my hip was the same as last year and the bone density of my spine had improved, slightly.

I did get some bad news in December. My cardiologist, whom I really like, is retiring to spend more time with her family. I told her that it would be fine, as long as she would continue to see me. Even though I am very sad, it's good for her. Her and her husband have several young children, and I hope that they enjoy this extra time that she will have with them. She recommended a new doctor at their practice (who started out as an army doctor) to take over my cardiologist. I will see him in about six months and let you know ...

That's about it for now. I'm wonderfully healthy, and it looks like my wife is enjoying her new role as a mother. Our baby is happy and healthy (as far as we can tell) and is gaining weight. We are going to have our pediatrician watch her and see if she develops any kidney problems. Hopefully, even if she does, it will be a VERY long time away.

Thanks for all the prayers. I hope everyone enjoyed the post. I'll see if I can put up stuff about my health more often (though, it is difficult from time to time being busy).

Cardiologist Appointment - June 18

I went and saw my cardiologist on Thursday, June 18, 2009. I realize that it has been almost two weeks now since I went to see her, but that's not my fault. We have been very busy here at home and I have not had the opportunity to make a good blog post.

That's not to say that this blog post will be either informative or humorous, but at least it will exist.

All that being said, my appointment was to have a 2D echo cardiogram done on my heart. This apparently went well, according to the doctor. She said that my results are the same as they were last year, and that she would probably not need to see me for another echo for twelve months. This is always good news (yippie!).

I told her that I had been experiencing some shortness of breath when I walk up stairs. This is not a problem when I walk for a half hour on the treadmill. Even when I am carrying small weights, I still do not have trouble breathing. I only notice the breathing being harder if I am walking up the stairs, or working out in the yard (bending and standing a lot). She told me that it might not be a problem and that I may just be noticing this more since I am exercising and paying more attention to my heart and lungs.

That being said, she told me that she wanted to run some tests. I asked if that meant she would try to kill me, and she chuckled. She asked if I had ever done a stress test before, and I indicated that being the reason I had asked about murder. She laughed again, and told me that we should go ahead and make sure my heart functions correctly when it is actually having to do something (not just when I am laying down on the exam table).

So, on July 10 (which will be my fifth wedding anniversary), I will head back to the cardiologist's office with running shoes and a pair of shorts. There's no way I'm doing this test in smooth soled shoes and khaki pants. That's just crazy. For those of you that don't know, the doctor is going to have me walk on a treadmill that gradually increases in speed and angle of ascent. In layman's terms, they want me to start walking lazily on a park path and work my way up to attempting to run up a large hill. Once I get to the point of nearly passing out, they start a five-minute timer and see how well your heart does.

As far as I can tell from the one time I did this for my transplant testing, if you live to hear the timer beep, then your heart functions correctly. Last time, I obviously passed, and I expect to pass again. I may ask to see if they can start my incline a bit higher so it doesn't take nearly fourteen minutes to complete! That's about how long I was on the treadmill the last time. But, of course, as a man I can do it. (Here, you can imagine me with my chest stuck out, facial hair gleaming, and muscles bulging inside my shirt).

That's about it, healthwise. You will notice that I updated the links on the right-hand side of my page (for those of you using my style sheet and visiting on line). I changed the link from our now-defunct adoption blog to our new hot "family" blog. It's called 'Journey Through Parenthood' and can be reached at http://journeythroughparenthood.blogspot.com/. I think that's the longest name Jenny could get (sorry about that). Update your RSS readers, bookmarks, or that little scrap of paper next to your monitor (yes, I know you have one).

Nothing eles from me at this time. If you just can't get enough of Nathan, you can always follow me on Twitter. If you are not familiar with Twitter, just imagine what awesome would smell like, mix in some Internet, and add a dash of real-time updates. Oh yeah!

See you next time (probably after July 10).

Post-Transplant Clinic: April 2, 2009

I had another quarterly post-transplant appointment with the Dallas Transplant Institute in lovely downtown Dallas, TX. Once again, it seems that I am doing well.

Here are my results (of note):

• Creatinine is at 1.0 (same as last time) -- this is still GREAT
• BUN is at 12.0 (up from 11.0 last time) -- this is GREAT
• Triglycerides were at 253.0 (which is bad, but I also had donuts for breakfast)
• Cholesterol was at 141.0 (which is actually low, oddly, compared to my triglycerides)

The doctor asked me why I had eaten donuts before coming in for blood work. I told them that if they want me to do fasting labs that I will NOT be scheduling them at 10:30 am (meaning get blood drawn between 10:30 and 11:00). As it turns out, they want to do an accurate check, so I'm supposed to have a fasting lab done next time, and I scheduled my next appointment for 7:40 am.

They also told me that I need to have a sonogram done of my "native" kidney. Your native kidneys are the ones with which you are born. In my case, since I had my left one surgically removed, I have only one native kidney left, and it is on the right side. The doctor reminded me to tell the technician that so that they don't spend thirty minutes looking for a kidney on the left that isn't there.

Additionally, I have not done a 24-hour urine test in over a year. So, they gave me a few buckets to fill up. I'll probably do that some Saturday here in the near future and drive those buckets down to the transplant clinic early on a Monday morning. I figure that as long as I get the 24-hour urine test back to the doctors WAY before my next appointment, they can tell me if there are any problems when I see them (or call if there are SUPER problems).

Neither of the procedures listed above are any problem to do. The sonogram is in the office and will just be at my next appointment time. The 24-hour urine collection is done at home. The only negative part of that is keeping a SEALED container of urine in your refrigerator all weekend. Granted, that's not a problem for us as we have no children or any guests staying with us, but I have that it can be an issue in other households.

All is well with me. My weight continues to fluctuate around 185 lbs. My height stays steady at 6-feet and 2-inches. So, I'm not really overweight, though I feel that way some times. I think my residual self-image has me still being around 170 lbs (which is small). I doubt I would ever be that, no matter how much I exercise or diet.

Speaking of which, I am working on my exercise. I try to walk on my treadmill at least once a week. I try to take the stairs at work (to the third floor) every day. And, with diet, I just eat what Jenny feeds me, so there's not much worry there.

Thanks for reading. I know that I don't update all that often, but whenever I received e-mailed questions, I try to answer them right away. See you all next time (around the end of July).

You're a Genius

So, I am not normally a fan of the "my blog says this about me" quizzes on the Internet. I saw this one on a friend's page, and she had been rated as "elementary level" and I wanted to see where I fit. It seems (probably based on the words POLYCYSTIC KIDNEY DISEASE in the title) that you have to be a genius to read my blog. So, good news for all of you. You're a genius.

So, just to make this a valid post, I will put in some information about me (and possibly my kidney). It has been cooler here in Texas over the last several days, and I am feeling it. Back in the summer, I was afraid that I was always going to be hot all the time after the transplant. But, it seems like that won't be a problem. I go to work and my thermometer says it is 73.9° F in my cubicle (though, I don't believe it, as the next cube over is 69.9º) and I am freezing. I have been enjoying a new blanket I got for Christmas and some new warm sock/slipper things.

My medication is still going well. This is my last week for 7mg of Prednisone. Next week, I move down to 6mg. The doctor said (several weeks ago) that I could move from 10mg to 5mg per day. I just had to reduce by one milligram every four weeks. He actually said every month, but it's easier for me to keep track of when I change if I do it every 28 days (since my medication holder is set for seven days). I don't notice much difference, but it is nice to be on less of the medication that makes you hyper and have more of an appetite.

I am working on being more regular about exercising. We got a pre-owned treadmill from some friends right before Christmas, so that has been nice. I can walk on it without having to drive to the exercise facility that is provided by work. And, yesterday was nice enough outside in the afternoon that I actually went out and rode my bike for a little while.

We celebrated Jenny's birthday on Sunday. She said that she really enjoyed it and doesn't mind growing older. Mine is not for two more months, so I get to make fun of her for being older than me once again (for a short time). I've enjoyed my last year (with the new kidney) and I hope that it can bring me through the next thirty years.

That's about it for today. The Glofil test is set for January 22. I should get to hear from the doctor about how great I'm doing and see if there is anything I can do to make it better. I'm always looking for ways to make the kidney last a little longer.

See you next time, geniuses!!

Doctor's Visit - 08/28/2007

I had my regular follow-up clinic visit on Tuesday. The doctor said that I was doing well, and that my lab reports all looked good. My creatinine remains at 1.0. My magnesium is up from 1.1 to 1.6. A normal magnesium is 1.7 to 2.1, so I guess that is good. The rest of my numbers looked about like I have expected them to. My White Blood Cell count is at 7.3, which is always nice.

The doctor said my bone density test was similar to the first one they gave me. I scored exactly the same on my lumbar region (spine). I actually got a slightly higher score on my hip bone, which I guess is good. That means that my exercise and calcium supplements have been working. Speaking of exercise, I got back to doing that this week. I got my ID badge at worked coded so that I could use the fitness facility we own. It's about 15 minutes away from work, so I'll try to go there two to three times a week and get some walking done.

I talked to the actual doctor about the Glofil problem that I mentioned last time in the blog. My score has gone down about 10 points since the first test after the transplant. The doctor said she didn't know what exactly was wrong, or if it was even a problem. She asked me to do a 24-hour urine test to make sure my clearance was still good.

I'll have to see how I am doing the next time I go in. But, the doctor doesn't seem worried. She didn't need me to come back for eight more weeks.

See you all later! Enjoy your Labor Day weekend. I know I will. My mom is coming in town to see the new house. Should be loads of fun.

September 2007 PKD Walk

Greetings everyone!

I got a message from my aunt this week (she lives in New Mexico). Here is the letter that she is sending to all of her friends:

A message from Beverly Laude laude@gilanet.com.

Dear Friends and Family,

Most of you know that my nephew, Nathan, has Polycystic Kidney Disease and received a kidney transplant in January 2007. Now, he is leading a (mostly) normal life, no longer dependent on dialysis to live. My niece, Angela, also has PKD, but so far is not facing as many devasting medical problems as Nathan.

I am participating in the Walk for PKD. I've set a challenging goal to raise mondy to fund research to find a cure for PKD! With your help, we can make a real difference, together.

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is one of the most common life-threatening genetic diseases, affecting 600,000 Americans and 12.5 million people worldwide. In fact, it affects more people than cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, Down syndrome and Huntington's disease--combined! Still, few people know about it. There is no treatment and no cure... Yet. I am walking to change that.

You can make a secure donation online by simply clicking the link at the bottom of this message. Whatever you can give will make an impact - no donation is too small! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

Thank you for helping me help find a cure for PKD!
Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://www.pkdcure.org/site/TR/Events/General?px=1299262&pg=personal&fr_id=1761&et=xvlZnu901lYDo5psiWr85Q..&s_tafId=14537

She is going to walk in the 2007 PKD walk. If you would like to help in the fight to find a cure for Polycystic Kidney disease, please visit the link above and donate some money to help find a cure. You may not know me or anyone else with Polycystic Kidney Disease, but this could be your chance to help find a cure to the most prevalent genetic disease in our world today.

Please take a minute to visit her link and donate, if you feel so led. Thanks for taking the time out of your schedule for this message (and hopefully, become a sponsor).

Enjoy your day!!

End of February Update

Hello everyone!

I am here to offer a quick update on how I have been doing since last Thursday. I have another clinical follow-up appointment scheduled for Thursday (in fact, I just got the automated call from the office reminding me to come in Thursday morning). I am feeling well, and looking forward to the office visit. It should be the last time I have to come for two weeks (hopefully).

I lowered my Prednisone dosage to 17mg per day starting yesterday. That's good news, since less medication is probably better for me. As I have mentioned before, the Prednisone has the most negative side effects, so it is good to take less of it. I should be down to 10mg per day starting by the end of April.

I have also continued to walk every morning. My speed is going up, though I have yet to start getting a real "work out" on the treadmill yet. If I get going too fast, I will have to start playing with the elevation, since I am not really looking to go running every morning!

Here are my last 9 days of walking results:

DATE	DISTANCE	TIME
02/19/07	2.70 mi	65 min
02/20/07	2.81 mi	65 min
02/21/07	2.89 mi	65 min
02/22/07	3.00 mi	65 min
02/23/07	3.02 mi	65 min
02/24/07	3.12 mi	65 min
02/25/07	3.13 mi	65 min
02/26/07	3.24 mi	65 min
02/27/07	3.25 mi	65 min

As you can see, I am now walking over three miles per day, which is great. My goal is still between four and five miles a day at the moment. Once I reach that, I will have to look in to increasing the treadmill's elevation to get a better work-out. But, I am personally pleased with the amount of stamina and endurance that I am building up. Hopefully, this will keep me feeling better throughout the life of my transplant.

That's about it for today. I am still working from home 20 hours per week. I am still talking to the Disability Insurance people to see about getting my part-time disability checks. I did get paid for all of my full time off (Jan 11 - Feb 4). I just have to get them to keep paying me until I get back to work full-time. I guess we'll see.

I have another appointment Thursday morning. I'll let everyone know more when I do!

Monday, Feb 19 -- An Update

I see it has been about four days since I last gave everyone an update, so I am going to try and give a quick overview of everything that is going on with me at the moment.

For starters, I am feeling great! My energy level is good, my new kidney seems to be functioning very well, and I am enjoying life more like a normal person. Jenny and I attended a "Membership Celebration" at our church last night. It is an informal, informational setting that allows visitors to our church to learn about the church's core values and gives them a chance to become members. Jenny and I were there as "hosts" to assist three other couples that were thinking about church membership. It was good to be able to go to something like that, and I got an opportunity to speak to our pastor. He has been faithfully praying for me ever since I lost my kidney back in 2005. As we attend a large church, I do not speak to him personally that often, but when I do, he always asks how I am doing and lets me know that he is still praying. It was good to talk to him last night and let him know that I am feeling very healthy and that all of the prayers were appreciated. Oh, and all three couples at our table decided to join the church, so that's good news, too!

I am still preparing for my Glofil test on Thursday. They have me scheduled in the afternoon group for that day. I am also having my weekly follow-up clinic appointment that day, so I need to remember not to take my Prograf that morning. (I just moved my Prograf out of the Thursday morning container and in to the Thursday afternoon container, so I will not be taking it with my morning medications). The doctors do not want you to take the Prograf before you blood is drawn so that they can get an accurate level of how much Prograf is in your system and decided if you have too much or not enough in your blood to keep you healthy. Anyway, the Glofil test is coming up, and I am supposed to be hydrating myself all week in preparation. I have had about 30 ounces (887 ml) of water this morning. I think my goal is supposed to be 96 to 120 ounces (2839 to 3549 ml) of water per day for the three days prior to the test. That's the same as having 1 1/2 2-liters of water (or close to a gallon of water) per day. I know I did not drink quite that much yesterday, but I think it will be okay. It has been quite a while since I have been allowed to drink that much per day, especially since that was about what I tried to stick to between dialysis treatments. But, I will drink water throughout the day, and hopefully when I go take my test, I will be hydrated enough to not have to drink too much during the test, which is nice.

In other news, I am continuing to walk just about every day. I have walked nine out of the last ten days, and except for one day when I ran out of time, I have walked 65 minutes a day. I am slowly increasing my speed on the treadmill (I walked at 2.5 mph this morning). I called and talked to my mother on Saturday, and she noted that I was able to carry on a conversation with her the entire time I walked. She said that means that I am not working my cardio-vascular system quite hard enough. I reminded her that as of a month ago, I was leading a sedentary lifestyle, and it might take a little bit longer before I am up to the point of getting a "good" work-out. Here is my walking log for the past 10 days:

DATE	DISTANCE	TIME
02/10/07	2.28 mi	65 min
02/11/07	2.36 mi	65 min
02/13/07	1.61 mi	44 min
02/14/07	2.46 mi	65 min
02/15/07	2.48 mi	65 min
02/16/07	2.59 mi	65 min
02/17/07	2.59 mi	65 min
02/18/07	2.70 mi	65 min
02/19/07	2.70 mi	65 min

So, as you can see, with increased speed comes increased distance. In another couple of weeks, I should be up to about four miles per day. I don't know if that will be a good goal or not, but it is at least something to look forward to. Once I get to the point of breathing hard and having my heart rate up by the end of my hour, then I will work on using the "incline" function of the treadmill so that my speed and distance do not have to increase, but I can continue to get a better work-out.

Well, that should about do it for today. I have to call my disability contact at work and ask why I have not received any money from the short-term disability. I am thankful that Jenny and I have been putting money into our savings account for the past couple of years. Otherwise, it would be very hard to live (as I have only been paid for 44 hours in the past four weeks). So, I will give him a call and find out what is holding up my disability payments. Hopefully that will get resolved today and I will get some income this week!

Please pray that the disability payments get worked out. Continue to pray that I will remain healthy. Pray that my Glofil test goes well on Thursday and that my kidney function will be high. And, continue to pray for the donor family and their loss.

Thanks for reading today!

Walking for Exercise

I started seriously walking this week. The transplant doctor said that walking was good, safe exercise for a post-transplant patient. So, I have been heading down to the fitness center every morning to walk on the treadmill.

Here is a chart of how my walking has gone this week:

DATE	DISTANCE	TIME
02/04/07	1.17 mi	35 min
02/05/07	1.33 mi	40 min
02/06/07	1.50 mi	45 min
02/07/07	1.66 mi	50 min
02/08/07	1.92 mi	55 min
02/09/07	2.15 mi	62 min

The exercise has been good for me. It helps me feel better, overall. I think that I am now in better general health, especially if I am exercising every day. This week, I worked on getting my time up to one hour. As you can see from the chart above, I started with a little over a half hour, and have worked my way up to an hour, slowly.

My next step is to increase the distance that I walk. I will do this my increasing the speed on the treadmill. I started out walking about 2.0 miles per hour. This morning, I walked at about 2.1 miles per hour. This is comfortable, so I will probably do that all next week, just to get used to that time, speed, and distance.

Maybe the following week I will increase the speed to go as fast as is comfortable at a walking speed. I do not want to run, but walking is fine. So, I will slowly work my way up to a fast walking speed at about an hour.

I'll have to see, once I go back to work, what I want to do as far as exercising. I am trying to decide if I want to walk prior to work each day, or when I get home. If I go before work, then I can shower and eat after exercising and before going to work. If I exercise when I get home, then I will have to change clothes into some exercise gear (and be sweaty in the evening when I get home).

So, I will make that decision when I get to that point. Please pray that I will continue to feel well during my recovery (which is going great so far). I am supposed to go to the clinic on Wednesday in Dallas (instead of Fort Worth). I haven't received a call from the clinic yet, so I will have to check in with them on Monday and find out what time my appointment is.

Thanks for reading!