got it

I think I got...when you want to leave a comment..you click ''comment' under the writing...a box comes up...write the comment..then under that box click 'Publish"...

long night

Some nights are hard because of the leg cramps...but we kind of got a handle on that. Then last night the gout returned...it was awful! Bob doubled his meds and suffered. He's doing a little bit better this morning...I'll be so glad when this is over! Sometimes I get scared that he won't get better after the surgery, but I know he will...and when he is suffering with leg cramps and gout...I know we are on the right road to the transplant. I feel so bad for him...he wanted to go hunting this morning but that is certainly not going to happen. He says he's feeling well enough to go to work for Chad...maybe he should just go get the shot in the joint...even if that's not pleasant ... sigh...the first time he went for that shot he refused the shot to numb it first..he can be so difficult!! So they gave him the needle in the sore joint without numbing it...he won't make that mistake again!!! Sometimes I feel like I'm taking a child to the doctor's because he can pull some crazy stunts! I think losing control over what is happening to you is very difficult...esp. for Bob who can be a control freak...LOL...one step or one limp at a time! Oh well, the sun is up and we're still here...so bring it on!! :)

new blog

Hello There,
I think I messed up in the way I set this blog up...so I'll set up another one and get the title of that one to you if you're interested....take care, Lois

comments

Hello Friends,
I don't know why or how to fix it, but none of the comments show...do you have to join? I don't know...can anyone figure it out and let me know...email me at...loleary373@roadrunner.com....thank you, Lois

Doctor Visit

The doctor, Dr. Hoffman, had the test results and said all was fine. There is one test that is usually done on people before a kidney transplant but it involves a type of dye that is very hard on the kidneys...usually the people are already on dialysis so it's Ok..but Bob isn't and the test would end up causing him to go on dialysis. He said it is up to the transplant team..they didn't order the test so far. He said he's OK with Bob having the surgery, saw no problem from the heart position...except for that one test...I hope he doesn't have to take it...wouldn't make sense to do something that would put him on dialysis when we're trying so hard to avoid it...We're very happy with the results. It would have been very heartbreaking to have to accept a life on dialysis with no hope of a transplant.

Cardiologist Visit

Tonight, 6:30 pm, we have an appointment with the heart doctor..a storm, Sandy, going on outside and a storm going on inside...can't do anything about the weather but I'm learning to control the storm inside and it helps to have your support...someone is out there! :)

Classmate

The way this is set up...you read the last entry written first..so this won't make sense unless you've read the entry before this one...'just so ya know'..

I want to give my 'classmate' a real face...I am ashamed of how I saw her in my mind's eye when we met...I saw someone draining the system, probably no insurance...with a tough looking daughter and a councilor provided by our tax dollars...when she complained about how hard it was to quit smoking, I forgot what a struggle it was for Bob and I to quit 25 years ago...and we had no extra money for smoking either...I, of all people, should understand addiction.
When the class was over and I went out to the waiting room....she came in, saw me and came over and sat down next to me. I looked at her close up and felt my tough old heart melting. She asked about the kindle I was holding ... I showed her how to use it and she listened like an excited child.  She told me she had learning problems and that was why she had a councilor...I told her I was glad she had a councilor, and I was....I reassured her that the people here were kind and they would take good care of her. In my heart I knew her chances are very slim...she is dying...and that 'tough' looking young girl will be left 'motherless'... it's a hard life.

She asked if kindles were expense...I said I didn't know because it was a gift from one of my sons. She exclaimed, "You're so lucky. I wish I had a son like that!"

I am so lucky..so very lucky...and that little woman doesn't need me judging her...she has a rough enough time...and I'm sorry I looked down on her at first...but I have to admit that when she asked if her donor smoking dope was OK...and he nearly falling off his chair..I had to laugh..can't help it...'that right there, that's funny!"

It All Begins

Our first visit to the transplant center was rather interesting. I'm not sure exactly what I expected but it wasn't quite what happened. We got there fairly early in the morning, they had told us to prepare ourselves for a long day and to bring a snack.  I didn't bring one into the center but we did snack a lot on the ride down.
First Bob had his vitals taken and a quick check over by a doctor. He seemed to think Bob was in pretty good shape, had not started dialysis yet, seemed to be able to do most of the things he wanted to do. The doctor's only concern was Bob's heart..he questioned him a lot about that...then he told him that he was going to order a number of tests to be done on his heart and he was to see a heart doctor before returning in December...he said he wanted to do this quickly which excited both of us.

Then Bob had blood drawn..20 vials of blood. This was followed by our 'class'...the class was to prepare us for what was to happen in the future...there was one other patient in the class...and her daughter was with her, the daughter's boyfriend (who was the donor) and the patient's councilor ..and the councilor's dog...I'm allergic to dogs but whatever. The woman had started on dialysis and was very thin, but she had her snack with her and she ate it during class..must have been soft food because she had no teeth..well, maybe a couple.  Anyway, during the class the woman became upset a number of times...once because they told her she'd have to quit smoking...she said she had tried and couldn't..she asked if her donor smoking dope mattered, the donor got nervous... they said to see a dentist and make sure your teeth were good because that could be a source of infection...that is when I found out the other patient had a couple of teeth left, because she seemed sad about the thought of losing them..at some point they asked for a break  go smoke, not sure what they smoked but there was just Bob, the councilor, the councilor's dog, and me left that didn't go smoke...
I was given a lot of material to read...and a lot to fill out...finally we returned home.

I became very impatient when we didn't hear from anyone about the tests Bob was suppose to have done. I got Bob to call and find out what the problem was..the problem was no one in Portland had ordered them...it was going to be like the kidney doctor's office where you have to keep right after them to get stuff done...anyway, the tests got ordered and Bob got them done...tonight we see the heart doctor with the results...but I've skipped ahead...so...I'll back up.
My role as the donor was to fill out paper...a lot of it...which I did...get two people to sign it..which I did...call and talk to one of the people at the center about being a donor, which I did..then mail it in...I did that...plus have the last 3 years of medical records sent to them...that involved more paper work but I got it done.
Weeks went by and I got a call from Roxanne at the transplant center, her only concern was about my high blood pressure. I reassured her that I didn't have high blood pressure but had 'white coat' blood pressure...which is when your pressure is only high when you go to the doctor and normal at home. She wanted me to get it checked out anyway...that meant going to Portland the next Monday and getting a device hooked up on me so they could monitor my pressure every hour for 24 hours...we drove down and I got hooked up...nervously, I tried to sleep through the night while that pressure cup on my arm pumped up every hour...Tuesday we went back...I had been taking my pressure at home for my prime doctor, Dr. Koffman so I decided to take those results down also....we got there and she removed the device and went to 'read' it...a little while later she returns to say that the machine had stopped working after five o'clock Monday which meant they had only three hearings...Roxanne then tried every machine they had on me and none worked...another nurse came and tried also..my pressure must have been flying by then...when they saw it was hopeless they called the kidney center at the hospital and had me go over there and get hooked up....home I went for another 24 hours. I think this was a blessing in disguise because by this time I was used to the machine..and so tired I had to sleep! The next day, Wednesday, we went back to Portland where they removed the machine..agreed my pressure was fine..and took 15 vials of blood...they'll call me in a couple of weeks with the blood test results...which is if I'm a match or not...then I'll start doing other testings to make  sure my kidneys are healthy etc....tonight we have to have the heart doctor say Bob can have the transplant or he's facing  the rest of his life on dialysis...
Please pretend that I'm posting this tomorrow (Monday)...I guess I'm having a problem knowing what day of the week it is...sigh..