A TOPSY TURVY DAY 30, POST TRANSPLANT.........

As this Day 30 after my kidney transplant unfolds it has been a ttoopsy turvy one thus far. My sisters decided overnight to depart for Sacramento, 3.5 weeks short of the completion of my stay in Phoenix. We had a longer than usual wait between the 7:05 a.m. labs and the 9:15 a.m. follow-up appointments. Jeremy will remain with me for the duration of my stay as my primary caregiver, with assistance from Father Oliver through next Tuesday night and Paul and Sharon Freidrichs, on the weekend of October 3 & 4. My blood labs and follow-up appointment were all very good today. My morning blood glucose count was 141; my creatine level is 1.6; slightly up from Monday, probably according to the Physician's Assistant Jason, due to my elevated Prograf level; my potassium level is 4.7, up the middle for normal; my hemoglobin is rising as it needs to, to 12.1; with 13.2 + being ideal; my leukocytes are at 6.4, an acceptable white blood cell count; and my magnesium level 1.5; with my blood pressure this a.m., being 142/82; not bad for a topsy turvy morning. As I write this blog column Jeremy has given me my 17 units of Novalog short term insulin, and Oliver is preparing my lunch, which is cream of celery soup and a turkey breast and black forest ham sandwich..........What a delicious lunch it was, with a few of Oliver's favorite crunchies, Cheeto's, thrown in for good measure. We head back to Mayo Clinic now for a 1 p.m. follow-up appointment with the Endocrinology Nurse for diabetic review. I am hoping for a much more productive meeting versus the last one two weeks ago, which the nurse declared unproductive, due to inadequate recordkeeping on our part, and meter readings that were inaccurate. The three of us men remaining here haven't decided what the afternoon will include after my Mayo appointment, but I am confident it will be good.........All My Love, Fr. Troy