Thursday, June 24, 2010

A bizarre solution to a bizarre problem

Just thinking.....Since I've been at the top of the liver transplant list for ten weeks and I haven't even been offered a sub-standard liver....What if Lon and I just traded livers? And I could get one of his kidneys at the same time. Talk about a win-win! And it would be soooo romantic. It would take fifty years for the amyloid to give him problems and we could convalesce together.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

A big surprise!

I have no idea what kind of doctor I need. I am in such an odd place. I need a liver transplant because my kidneys are failing, and other organs are getting gummed up too. I requested to go to a specialist at MAYO, but Kaiser determined that it was not medically necessary. Hmmmm......
In their infinite wisdom they have decided I need to go to the hematologist/oncologist that told me he had nothing else for me last October. So does that mean if I break a leg I should see a dermatologist? We plan on disputing my lack of need. I think I am the only one with this particular disease in the whole Northern CA Kaiser area. It's hard to have a disease that was invented in 1993. I should have played the lottery.

Lab update

I had a bunch of labs done yesterday. My kidney function slightly improved--21% to 23%. I'll take it. The dreaded potassium was in a good normal place--I think I've been doing a good job avoiding high potassium food. Serum albumin was low, but O.K. Anemia was worse. Who would have guessed that? I'm just a couch potato! I'm seeing the kidney doctor tomorrow.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Congratulations!!!!







Congratulations to Randy! On Mother's Day he graduated from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. My sweet Randy has an MBA. He also has tons of really cool stories about all kinds of business adventures. We were very sad to miss the graduation (we're stuck here waiting, of course), but are happy Sevann made his day a little happier. Rumor has it that in addition to that cool cake, she sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." We are very proud of his achievement! And for a happy post script he has a job right in Charlottesville. Sevann has a year or two until she graduates.



If you look in the background of his picture, you can see how beautiful the campus is. When we were there last year, Randy took us to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. His home is quite a distance away, and when he made it, he made sure he could see the University in the distance.



Saturday, June 5, 2010

An Unexpected Visitor


It seems that a friend came looking for Thomas the snake. Grandma just picked him up and gave him a welcoming squeeze. She never ceases to amaze me.

Grandpa