One Last Test

I called last night to make an appointment for my last transplant work-up test. This is for tissue typing and vaccines. I'm pretty sure that the tissue typing is just more blood work. I'll get a flu and pneumonia vaccine since I'll be more susceptible to infection after the surgery. Then we'll meet with the surgeon and hopefully get me put on the donor list. That way if we can't find our own donor then maybe we'll be lucky enough to find a match that way.

Anna's Check-up

I thought she was about 7 1/2 pounds. But, how about 8 pounds! Yup, 8 pounds! I couldn't believe it. She's at about the 50th percentile for weight and a little under that for length. She's growing, and we're excited.

Dialysis Update

I'm only gaining about 1.5 kilos between treatments which is nothing compared to others. The nurses and techs are still surprised that I run for 4 1/4 hours. I only weigh 130 pounds...there's nothing to me! But the doctor explained that he wants the blood flow to be 450 for a couple of weeks before he'll reduce my time. Today the flow rate is 250, so I think I've got a way to go. Apparently they can only go to 300 with the size needle they're currently using. I hope they'll start with a larger one soon. I really want this catheter out of my shoulder and we can't do that until the fistula is all of the way ready. Soon...

When I started coming only 3 days a week I was having some rough afternoons. I was tired, run-down, and I would need a long nap to recover. I'm getting used to it now. Although I had the worst headache after treatment on Tuesday. I'm sure it was because I was dehydrated. Guess that means I should drink more...yeah. I drank alot of water yesterday and my weight was good.

I did get a report on my labs this week. My protein level is finally increasing and is actually considered "normal." I'm no longer malnourished. My calcium and potassium are "normal", but my phosphorus is still really high. Really high. I'm still drinking too much milk. Who would have thought that milk would some day be bad for me? I crave milk during and after pregnancies. I hope I can make myself slow down. Having high phosphorus is not good. I would run the risk of bone damage and constant itching. Yuck.