So here's the scooperoni.
My donor finished his testing, and it looks good so far.
He says the Transplant team at the Cleveland Clinic has to have their committee meeting tomorrow (Tuesday the 10th), so we'll know some time after that. He's guessing that he'll hear from someone, as will I, so that's what we're doing now, is waiting for them to tell us the good news and give us dates for our surgeries.
So, I'd guess that by Easter, I'll have my transplant. That's just an optimistic guess, and that's what I've gotta be at the moment--optimistic.
Meanwhile, I talked to my nephrologist and my nurse today. So the scoop is that I have to cut back big time on my fluid intake until my transplant, because apparently when we try to take too much fluid off at once, that's a problem with the graft. So the solution is to not drink so much in the first place; that way I won't have to put up with having chipmunk cheeks puffing up over my eyes. I mean, in case my pictures don't tell you so, I have big blue eyes (beauty is in the eye of the beholder...you tell me)...so when my cheeks puff up over my eyes because I'm waterlogged, it drives me totally bonkers! So, it's less than a 500-mL bottle of water per day for me...and preferably no soup.
Thank God my transplant is coming up soon, because I love ice chips--to a damn fault!
Again, I'm outta here. ;-)
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
3 months & 7 days.....
So next Monday--the 16th--will be exactly 3 months before my birthday.
Can I level with ya????
I don't really want another birthday.
Again, I'm bummed. Worn out. Dejected. And besides, last year, I was made to absolutely regret ever having a birthday.
So, I really don't want another birthday.
However, I don't want to bring you down. So, I'll again disappear.
Laaaaaaaaaaater!
Can I level with ya????
I don't really want another birthday.
Again, I'm bummed. Worn out. Dejected. And besides, last year, I was made to absolutely regret ever having a birthday.
So, I really don't want another birthday.
However, I don't want to bring you down. So, I'll again disappear.
Laaaaaaaaaaater!
Graft Repair This Week >:-(
Yes, I'm upset about that.
I got this graft only a little over a month ago.
I was led to believe that it was the best thing that could ever happen to me--short of a transplant, that is.
I was led to believe that it was practically the 8th wonder of the world.
HA!!!!!
Last Wednesday (the same day that my donor was supposed to have finished his testing, so now it SHOULD only be a matter of time before we find out when his nephrectomy, and my transplant, will be), there was a bit of trouble with clotting on the machine. But I was told that it was the machine's fault, not the graft.
Coincidence???? I wonder. That night, after I got home, I listened for my blood running through the damn graft, and I heard nothing. I felt for a pulse, and I felt nothing. For the first time in all of this time that I've had this graft, I suddenly heard and felt nothing.
So Friday, the catheter was used, as it will be tomorrow (IF I can drag myself to treatment!!!!). I look forward to the fact that on Tuesday, either before or after the graft gets repaired, the catheter will come out, and then it will only be a matter of days before I can start taking showers again (now THERE's a visual for you!!...HA!).
However, this "trouble with this, trouble with that" part of dialysis is BEYOND wearing thin!!!!
Besides, sometimes I wonder why I even bother!! It would be sooooooooo easy--and damn-near tempting--to just quit, and in a week and a half, no one would have to worry about me ever again. Don't think I wouldn't love to go that route.
Sorry for all of this talk. I'm bummed, that's all.
And before I say too much, I'm going to disappear again.
I got this graft only a little over a month ago.
I was led to believe that it was the best thing that could ever happen to me--short of a transplant, that is.
I was led to believe that it was practically the 8th wonder of the world.
HA!!!!!
Last Wednesday (the same day that my donor was supposed to have finished his testing, so now it SHOULD only be a matter of time before we find out when his nephrectomy, and my transplant, will be), there was a bit of trouble with clotting on the machine. But I was told that it was the machine's fault, not the graft.
Coincidence???? I wonder. That night, after I got home, I listened for my blood running through the damn graft, and I heard nothing. I felt for a pulse, and I felt nothing. For the first time in all of this time that I've had this graft, I suddenly heard and felt nothing.
So Friday, the catheter was used, as it will be tomorrow (IF I can drag myself to treatment!!!!). I look forward to the fact that on Tuesday, either before or after the graft gets repaired, the catheter will come out, and then it will only be a matter of days before I can start taking showers again (now THERE's a visual for you!!...HA!).
However, this "trouble with this, trouble with that" part of dialysis is BEYOND wearing thin!!!!
Besides, sometimes I wonder why I even bother!! It would be sooooooooo easy--and damn-near tempting--to just quit, and in a week and a half, no one would have to worry about me ever again. Don't think I wouldn't love to go that route.
Sorry for all of this talk. I'm bummed, that's all.
And before I say too much, I'm going to disappear again.
Monday, February 23, 2009
My 10-year anniversary--
I just remembered....Oh, sure, at 11:30 at night, I finally remembered...today, 2/23/09, was the 10-year anniversary of when my divorce became final.
I thought surely I'd be married again by now.
(*SIGH*)
Oh well...maybe after my transplant.
I thought surely I'd be married again by now.
(*SIGH*)
Oh well...maybe after my transplant.
It'll pay to think POSITIVE!!
This afternoon, while I'm having a splitting dialysis headache (again), I was reminded that some people haven't yet learned that if you want something to happen, you have to think positive!!!
Apparently my 64-year-old mother hasn't learned this yet. She went ahead and rescheduled our dental appointments, which were originally at the end of April, and set them for the beginning of May. Why???? Because this week, and this month, I will have dialysis on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday????? So automatically I'll have dialysis those three days a week in three months from now????????? I'm supposed to have my transplant before then!!!!!!
I basically had kittens. First of all, my donor is going to finish up his testing next Wednesday, March 4th. He's still in perfect health, his kidneys still work beautifully, so there's really nothing else I have to wait for other than for him to have his nephrectomy, and that shouldn't be too far down the line at all. By April 22, I'll either be having my transplant that week or I will have just had it. How do I know?????? Because I am thinking POSITIVE!!!
According to my experience, in my short life, you've got to think positive if you want something to happen. There's no other way. If you're in bad health, you've got to think positive if you're ever going to feel better. If you want to have a transplant, or a hysterectomy, or in my case both, you've got to think positive.
Somehow, I don't think I'm wrong. Whereas Mom has been married for 40 years, and pretty much stuck here like fine china, I went out into the real world. I met other people. I lived. So I know that for something to happen, you have to think positive. Affirm, even! Affirm yourself to better health. Affirm a transplant & a hysterectomy. Affirm, affirm.
Feedback????!!!!
Now that I got that off my chest....the needle today again didn't hurt going in, but hurt like the devil coming out, and my arm again hurt for a while after the needle came out.
And now that I shared that with you, I've gotta take a quick nap and see if this headache clears up.
Apparently my 64-year-old mother hasn't learned this yet. She went ahead and rescheduled our dental appointments, which were originally at the end of April, and set them for the beginning of May. Why???? Because this week, and this month, I will have dialysis on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday????? So automatically I'll have dialysis those three days a week in three months from now????????? I'm supposed to have my transplant before then!!!!!!
I basically had kittens. First of all, my donor is going to finish up his testing next Wednesday, March 4th. He's still in perfect health, his kidneys still work beautifully, so there's really nothing else I have to wait for other than for him to have his nephrectomy, and that shouldn't be too far down the line at all. By April 22, I'll either be having my transplant that week or I will have just had it. How do I know?????? Because I am thinking POSITIVE!!!
According to my experience, in my short life, you've got to think positive if you want something to happen. There's no other way. If you're in bad health, you've got to think positive if you're ever going to feel better. If you want to have a transplant, or a hysterectomy, or in my case both, you've got to think positive.
Somehow, I don't think I'm wrong. Whereas Mom has been married for 40 years, and pretty much stuck here like fine china, I went out into the real world. I met other people. I lived. So I know that for something to happen, you have to think positive. Affirm, even! Affirm yourself to better health. Affirm a transplant & a hysterectomy. Affirm, affirm.
Feedback????!!!!
Now that I got that off my chest....the needle today again didn't hurt going in, but hurt like the devil coming out, and my arm again hurt for a while after the needle came out.
And now that I shared that with you, I've gotta take a quick nap and see if this headache clears up.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
One year ago today...
It's the 13th already.
YIKES! It's Friday the 13th! That's even worse!
One year ago today, was when I finally let myself get taken over to the ICU at University Hospitals, in downtown Cleveland.
For about a week, I had been getting dizzy and passing out often, without a warning. I remember that talking myself out of it didn't work; I had tried talking myself out of it while I was on the stairs which go from our attic to our living room, and I fell right down. My blood pressure had gone way down (when I say down, I mean like, the triage nurse told me I was "not dead yet"), I was severely dehydrated, I had peritonitis, and I had been getting inadequate dialysis for at least since I started on what's affectionately called "PD" (Peritoneal Dialysis). I was a mess, alright. On the plus side, I was nice and slender. I remember how bony my little paws looked. That's how I prefer to look...even if it wasn't right.
While in the ICU, one of the doctors told me that if I hadn't gone in the way I did, I might have eventally slipped into a coma and ultimately passed away.
One year later, I wish I had gone that route. All I have is a $3,000+ bill, for nothing.
YIKES! It's Friday the 13th! That's even worse!
One year ago today, was when I finally let myself get taken over to the ICU at University Hospitals, in downtown Cleveland.
For about a week, I had been getting dizzy and passing out often, without a warning. I remember that talking myself out of it didn't work; I had tried talking myself out of it while I was on the stairs which go from our attic to our living room, and I fell right down. My blood pressure had gone way down (when I say down, I mean like, the triage nurse told me I was "not dead yet"), I was severely dehydrated, I had peritonitis, and I had been getting inadequate dialysis for at least since I started on what's affectionately called "PD" (Peritoneal Dialysis). I was a mess, alright. On the plus side, I was nice and slender. I remember how bony my little paws looked. That's how I prefer to look...even if it wasn't right.
While in the ICU, one of the doctors told me that if I hadn't gone in the way I did, I might have eventally slipped into a coma and ultimately passed away.
One year later, I wish I had gone that route. All I have is a $3,000+ bill, for nothing.
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