Posting on Another Blog? What?

Good morning, everyone! It's 5:26 AM (CDT) here in Texas, and I'm writing a blog post.

"Why are you doing that?", you may be asking yourself? I'm glad you asked. A few weeks ago, the author of the distinguished blog http://parentingbydummies.blogspot.com/ sent me an e-mail asking if I would be willing to put up a guest post on her blog talking about what it is like to be a blogger, a parent, and a kidney disease patient. I think I may have failed her on two out of the three, but at least I know what the third thing (kidney disease patient) is!

"That's great, but it doesn't really tell me anything," you may be saying at this point. You're correct. I'm typing up this blog post early in the morning because my guest post should be appearing today on her blog, and I wanted to one billion readers that all came over here to visit to have something personal to read.

Please note: One billion is an approximation. I did a rough estimate that one in four people that see a link in a blog they like will follow it. I am also guessing that the aforementioned http://parentingbydummies.blogspot.com/ has four billion daily readers. My guess may be off by one or two (I didn't count heads or look at her blog stats).

I know the real reason you came by today. You were hoping that I found the pictures of my kidney that I scanned all those years ago. You are in luck! I found them, and will link to the photos, here. I didn't want to scare anyone off, so you actually have to click to see anything gross/awesome.

http://picasaweb.google.com/nmccart/NathanSKidney?feat=directlink

If you are still here, congratulations! If you had to clean vomit off of your keyboard, I am sorry. I vomited for about a month prior to having that removed (ugh).

Anyway, thank you all for coming by today. I just wanted to say that I am VERY thankful to God for all that he has done for me. I am alive today, which is wonderful. I have a beautiful wife and a wonderful (hopefully) daughter. I have a great church family, and a faith that helps me stay strong.

Enjoy the blog, and post comments anywhere you wish!

Please note: I plan to go back and edit this post later today once I get the direct link to my guest post on http://parentingbydummies.blogspot.com/

READ THE GUEST POST HERE:

http://parentingbydummies.blogspot.com/2010/03/make-new-ifriends-monday-polycystic.html

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).

oops

You know, I totally forgot to follow up on my nine-day illness. I did get better.

After reading some comments on my previous post, I realized that I did not tell my reading community about the resolution of my problem.

It turns out that I got better soon after I last visited the doctor. I was sick for a grand total of nine days, and eventually got better. It was strange to be sick for so long after not being ill at all for the past two years. I'm glad that I am feeling better and that the doctors were there to take care of me.

Hopefully, I will not be sick again for at least two more years. I am doubtful of that, especially considering a new family addition that should take place in a few weeks.

My next task at the doctor's office will be to ask how infant immunizations affect an immuno-suppressed person (such as myself). I know that some of the vaccinations are live virus, and I need to know if it will be a problem.

I probably won't find out about that stuff until January. I'll post again (later) if I learn more. Have a great one!!