Anemic from Side Effects

I've been extra careful to stay away from crowds and people so I won't get sick. My doctors want me to stay healthy while my immune system is so low from the anti-rejection drugs. But Christopher caught a cold and gave it to Yarid and me. We are all almost over it. The anti-viral drugs I've been taking have helped me. And drinking 2 liters of water every day have kept my kidney healthy and my Creatinine low. It was 1.2 yesterday, that's the lowest it's been since the transplant. I am anemic, my Hematocrit is at 31, the normal range is 35-42. It makes me tired. The doctor says the anemia might be caused by 3 of my medications. But most of my medications will be decreased or changed in the future. My Potassium is good at 4.9 but I still have to watch my diet. And I have to try to gain some weight so I try to drink protein shakes, I don't like the flavor.

Stent Removal

"Urine is formed in the kidney and is passed to the bladder by the ureter. A ureteric stent is a hollow drainage tube placed at the time of transplant in the ureter to aid urine flow. A stent is made of plastic. The length of an adult sized ureteric stent ranges from about 9-12 inches. To remove, a person is placed under general anesthesia and has to breathe through a tube down the throat. A surgeon removes the ureteric stent by inserting a small telescopic tube with a camera through the urethra and into the bladder." My stent was poking me whenever I urinated. It was due to be taken out on Monday, April 20 at UCDMC. My appointment was at 11:30 AM but the surgeon wasn't done with his previous surgery until 7:30 PM. I was starving and dehydrated by the time it was my turn. The actual procedure only took half an hour, but they kept me an extra 2 hours afterwards because my blood pressure went up to 170/105, but medications brought it back down. It was a long day, and I am glad it's over. I no longer have to go visit a nephrologist weekly, only monthly but I still have my blood drawn twice every week. My blood pressure medicines have been reduced from 11 pills to only 2 daily because my blood pressure is no longer as high. I am still on a low potassium diet. My next procedure will be a biopsy of my new kidney, in mid june. My sister Silvia says she is feeling well.

Better

My potassium is normal now because I am on a low potassium diet. I am taking one less blood pressure medicine because my blood pressure is improving. My White Blood Count went up a little, I hope it doesn't mean anything.

Fluctuations

My potassium is a bit high and my blood pressure still goes up and down. With time, I hope everything settles. I will have a simple outpatient surgery where they will remove my stent, in 1 month. That's a little tube inside my ureter (that connects my new kidney to my bladder). They go in with something like a catheter. And in 3 months, I will have a biopsy to check that everything is ok, then another biopsy in 1 year. I am taking 14 medicines every day, some are anti-rejection, some are anti-infective, and some are for my blood pressure.

Back Home

The surgery was a success! We are back home. We still have a lot of pain and walk like old ladies. I hope the pain gets better soon because we can't sleep or walk. I took 15 prescriptions home. And my chest catheter is out, but they had to really dig it out because my flesh had grown onto it, it was very painful, and bloody. While Silvia was already in surgery on Monday, they had to dialyse me because my potassium was too high at 6.2, so my surgery didn't start until hers was all over at 3 PM.

It finally Happened!!!!!!

Hello, this is Denise's husband. The transplant happened yesterday and everything went ok. My sister in law is already talking, she looked swollen but they said that it was expected. She should be able to walk today.
My lady, when I tried to talk to her was going in and out because they had her in strong medicines cause she had very bad nausea. They overdose her and that made her sleepy, they say she should be better today and I would be able to talk to her.
I'm waiting for my sister in law to call us when she's awake so we can go and see them. My lady will write when she's back. I'm not much of a writer. Thank you very much to all the people that have wrote and donated to her. I hope all of you have a great day as it was for me yesterday when I heard the news that both were doing great!!! Take care bloggers!!!

Pre-Op Day

Silvia arrived on March 4rth, 2009 and will stay with us until the end of the month, Hector is arriving this weekend to take care of Silvia while she is in the hospital. The Pre-Op appointment is Wed. March 11, all morning long. Then I will go to dialysis in the afternoon. The appointments are for a chest x-ray, anesthesia clearance, an EKG, a final blood crossmatch, a final interview for Silvia, and a physical with the surgeons. I also have to do an extra dialysis session on Saturday, in preparation for the surgery on Monday.