Along for the Ride

Hello there! The last few weeks have been somewhat uneventful at Chez Penny, but I do have some updates to share. First, this is pretty much the best way to depict my state of mind since being placed on the transplant list. Yep, that's right.  Every call results in a frantic reach for the phone.  Typically, it's just an automated voice offering me a free cruise or life insurance.  I have no idea how they get around the nomorobo, but alas... they do. So yeah, I'm pretty much just waiting. Mike was contacted and told to start his donor testing.  He went in at the beginning of July for glucose monitoring testing.  Unfortunately, his results came back slightly elevated.  They discussed his case at the transplant committee meeting yesterday and decided to deny him as a donor.  So today I got a letter saying that they have exhausted all of my potential living donors. Mike isn't giving up.  Even though he's already lost 30 pounds, he's dete...

Well, the transplant testing is now complete!  I am officially listed!  And now...we wait. Mike and I enjoyed a celebration dinner last night. Sushi, of course. Post-transplant, I'll have to avoid sushi and buffets. Sushi is my favorite food, so I'm filling up on tuna nigiri while I can.  Now that I'm listed, they'll start testing my living donor. Mike goes in for his blood work on Monday, so they haven't wasted any time getting him started.  They estimate that his testing will take 4-6 weeks.  They also told me 4-6 weeks, and I started in mid-April. The entire process for me wrapped up yesterday, so that was more like 10 1/2 weeks. Therefore, I'm taking the time estimate that they gave him with a grain of salt.  If Mike is the donor, we'll have the luxury of scheduling the surgery. That would allow me to prepare for a long-term sub at work and consider recovery time.  Of course, it's still possible that I could be offered a cadaver kidney anytime...

I'm sitting here in a nail salon getting a much-needed pedicure. Today is Mike's birthday, so  we have dinner plans, and I'm picking up a cake for him in a bit.  This morning my mom and I went down to UTSW for my bladder biopsy. The procedure was somewhat uncomfortable, but the good thing is that the little cyst they found a few weeks ago during my cystoscopy was gone. The doctor went ahead and took two little biopsies to be sure. After he cauterized the sites, all was done! It'll be a 3-4 days before we have the results.  This should be the last piece in my testing, so we're hoping that I'll be presented to the committee soon. The transplant committee only meets on Tuesdays, so the biopsy results probably won't be ready for this coming Tuesday the 13th. I'm hopeful that I'll be presented on the 20th. It's hard to believe that I could be listed by the end of this month! In other news, I've been enjoying my summer off so far. Since I back...

Whew! Another long day of appointments down! I originally thought that today would just involve labs and a consultation with the transplant surgeon, so I had arranged for my last two classes of the day to be covered.  I figured that I would leave around noon to head to the hospital.   But yesterday I got a call saying that I also needed to see the dermatologist. The only opening was at 10 a.m., so I ended up having to take a sub day. I'm trying really hard not to have to take any more sub days so that I have the extra time for leave after surgery, but at least I was able to make the most of the day with multiple appointments. My regular monthly dialysis visit was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, so I messaged my nurse and was able to move that to 8 a.m. this morning. This prevents me from having to drive down to Dallas two days in a row. Thankfully, it all worked out, and I was able to start the day at my dialysis clinic. As far as dialysis goes, everything ...

Since all this transplant business has started, I've had several people ask me how I'm feeling about everything.  I figured this week was a good week to tackle that topic. The short answer is... overwhelmed. Earlier this week, Mike was out bowling with his buddies, and I was home alone. I knew my mind was reeling, so I decided to distract myself with a chick flick on Netflix, but as soon as the ending credits began to roll, my mind quickly returned to its looping cycles of anxious thoughts.  So I called my mom. That's what every grown woman does during times of stress, right? Anyway, I cried. For the first time, I let it all out. My fears, my anxieties, and my emotions. So you might be wondering... But why are you crying? Aren't you happy?  You're getting close to getting a transplant! OF COURSE I am! I'm ecstatic!!! But there's also fear. I fear letting people down. I fear getting some terrible news or results from some test. I fear complications du...

Life has been positively nutty lately.  I'm finally getting around to writing an update from the last couple of weeks.  I don't love waiting this long because my memory just isn't what it used to be.  Let's see if I can get everything in here... Last Wednesday, my mom and I had another full day of testing and appointments at UTSW.  This was the last set of big tests for transplant testing.  I started the day with a nuclear stress test.  Originally, they told me that - because most dialysis patients don't feel well enough to do the treadmill stress test - I'd be doing the kind where they give you medication that causes your heart rate to increase artificially.  I thought this would be strange because I'd be sitting still, and my heart would be beating fast, as though I was doing heavy cardio. When they called the day before to give me pre-op instructions, they asked if I was able to walk on the treadmill, I told them I was, and they decided to switc...

So tomorrow I head back to UTSW for some more tests. Everything is moving and grooving, and so far my tests are coming back well. But... I'm 17 pounds away. So, it's time for the big guns. The endocrinologist is super busy, and even though I'm on the wait list, so far I haven't had any luck getting my appointment moved up from the end of August. My pre-transplant coordinator is pulling all the strings she can find to get me in earlier, though. I am doing my Weight Watchers thing, but it's slow. Really slow. I was emailing with a few folks today: my pre-transplant coordinator, my nurse, and my renal dietitian. I had been wanting to try a variation of the pre-bariatric surgery diet. You know... The one that's like 700-800 calories, almost all liquid, that helps to shrink the liver and reduce weight quickly a few weeks before bariatric surgery? Yep. That one. But I was nervous. See, on dialysis, my blood levels are a finely tuned machine. One thing gets outt...