Recovery 2

Hello friends!

So it’s been more than a few days. J

I’ll start by saying that the kidney is working brilliantly. Better than expected – way better. As of my last post my creatinine, the measure of kidney function, was 1.2, which is within the normal range of .75 – 1.25. Since then it dipped as low as .95 and seems to be settling around 1.15. My other numbers, white blood cell count, hemoglobin, phosphorus and magnesium (with supplements) are all looking great. I have plenty of energy and the incision site has healed over – no more drainage!

Unfortunately, there is still some fluid sloshing around in there, and now that it is no longer leaking out, it is starting to collect in a somewhat sensitive and unfortunate area, what with gravity and all. I’ve been wearing a hernia belt and spending lots of time prone, but even entering week 4, standing up for more than 30 minutes or so results in some pretty sore bits. So my recovery has stalled a bit, which is why this post is so late getting to you.

While it is trying to still be laid out at four weeks, to feel ready to live a normal life but be basically bed-ridden, I really can’t complain too much. Well, before I explain how things really aren’t that bad, I am going to complain a bit. I’ve struggled with this aspect of the recovery. I am physically uncomfortable / restless most of the time. Occasionally, if I’m upright for too long, I feel a burning, searing pain, which I’ve been told is not damaging anything (always my worry), but still. It can be rough at times. Worse than that is that I’m limited to lying around all day. I’m not at dialysis, and the kidney is functioning like a dream, but still – I’m getting stir crazy, and I think I’m driving C a little crazy as well. I feel so removed from the world. I go to Abbott every few days to do labs and visit the clinic, but that’s about it. I’m not even walking much anymore. The storm last night, so powerful, so dramatic, but I felt like I was watching it on TV, through our picture window. Like I’m out of the game, not interacting or participating in the world. Part of this feeling of isolation is iterative and today I’ve worked on breaking out of it. I had hoped to have a drain placed yesterday to deal with the swelling, but because of, I don’t know, anatomy, they couldn’t do that, so I’m waiting for it to resolve on its own. I’ve been told anywhere from a few days to a few months. That was a blow, and it set me in motion. This morning I cleaned for a while, took care of a few items, and here I am posting a long over-due entry in this saga. So, on to why I can’t complain too much:

All I’ve been doing it reading, watching shows, and eating. Incredible amounts of those three things. I kind of thought I’d be done with TV for a while after 12 months of dialysis (12 months to the day!), but I had more in me, and more on Netflix thankfully. I’ve read several of these medical narrative books, Atul Gawande style. PJ and I are exploring a book on trust and hope in medicine. And I’ve been eating, pretty much non-stop, for two weeks. A lot of it is bored eating. And I’ve tried to consume phosphorus and magnesium as those levels tend to take a dive after transplant. Nuts, chocolate, chips and salsa, cherries, tahini, tuna salad, pie, cereal, and that’s on top of 3 squares. Not fat yet, but I’m working on it.

I continue to have an incredible support network of family and friends – I owe a number of you a holler-back. I had hoped to be much more social at this point in my recovery, and I still hope to be more social soon. For now, I’m practicing at waiting once again. Thanks for reading!