Strangely quiet

Well, if you've noticed that the blog has been strangely quiet, it is because I have been strangely sick. I can't eat or drink---in the last week I've lost over ten pounds, and I just don't have that much weight to lose. I've been going every other day for a liter of fluids and it really doesn't help. I am so weak--going up or downstairs really require some planning.
This morning I will be readmitted to UCSF and hopefully little lightbulbs will go on and they will fix me right up and I will be bugging Lon like crazy to cook for me.
Please say a prayer for us. Love to all.

Some Good, Some Not So Good

Monday's tests are back! Kidney function has improved some and we hope last week was a low spot. Anemia is a little worse and she feels weak and tired. She does so hope that the doctors clear her next week for out trip back for Randy's wedding.

Also pains are going away!

Bad Week

It is a bad week when you go to the doctors more days than you don't! Kidney function is not picking up like we hoped. Kidney function has dropped to near dangerous levels. Cathy has a continuous sick stomach and has become dehydrated. She eats and drinks very little. I feel like I am feeding a bird. After an IV of fluids she was feeling better, but now has another purple wrist. I am anxiously looking forward to Monday's lab results. Monday or Tuesday medications are to be adjusted again to give the kidneys a break.

Back to the Doctor

I go to UCSF on Tuesdays. On Mondays and Thursdays I go to Kaiser for lab work (and my Monday shot). Going so often blurs the week. On Monday when I went Lon, gave them the UCSF lab sheet. It has orders to test 18 different things. The receptionist said that my kidney doctor wanted a urine test too. OK. They called me in and she had all the bar coded tags ready and started taking blood. And more blood. She said they were small tubes. I was a little concerned because my anemia is so bad and I work like crazy to get my numbers up. Well, I start getting the lab results on line. It seems the receptionist went crazy. In addition to the UCSF labs, she included labs from both my liver doctor and my kidney doctor. So there were duplicates. Seriously, can't they read the same labs? One interesting note is that my two different creatnine tests had two different results. Weird.
Yesterday the trip to UCSF was one that I was really, really dreading. Staple removal. Sixty-four staples, 128 little, sad holes in my abdomen. I planned my pain pills very carefully to make sure I would have the most relief at the best possible time. I counted on Lon being lucid to adjust the meds and all that stuff. The doctor came in first and tweaked the meds. I complained about being tired. He said I was doing better than 90% of their transplants and I had just had a huge surgery and I needed to be patient. Sure. When have I ever heard that before? I wish I learned faster.
Then the nurse came in to remove these mean staples. I had to sit in a chair kind of like a dentist's chair. She brought it up high and leaned the seat back. The staples on the side are the most tender. Did you hear me scream? That's because I didn't. There were a few ow's and a few wiggles, and she got them all out. She then put steri-strips on them. I'm not sure what they will do other than adding to the adhesive build-up.
I am so happy the staples are out. They hurt a little more the rest of the night, but this morning I can tell I'm a little closer to getting back to my old self!
I got to keep all of the staples. Let's just say , "Kids, there might be a little something extra in your stockings this Christmas."

The goats are back! Grandpa and the goats!

We live on a small hill. On the back side of the hill is the neighborhood park. Since the hillside is so steep, the parks department contracts with a goat herder (and his dog) to bring goats to the hillside to eat all of the weeds and wild grasses. He sets up temporary fences and just moves them along the hillside until the goats eat all the weeds. It's pretty cool.

Well, two years ago when I was off visiting the kids, Lon wanted to see what the goats did. Seriously. Even I can't make up something like this. Maybe he was expecting hieroglyphics or crop circles or who knows what? So off he goes after dinner. That's our house at the top.

There is a gate up there and he went out it and started climbing down the hill. He only got about a hundred feet and slipped. For the longest time I envisioned a Homer Simpson type fall--lots of bouncing and head over hills and all that. He explains it as pretty much standing on an unstable dirt clod and turning his ankle.
He was all alone. We (the kids and I) have teased him unmercifully about making a crutch (Boy Scout style) and limping to the street awaiting some kind soul. There was also discussion about him crawling out. Luckily he had his cell phone. He called the fire station that is across the street. "I heard them start their engine. They were here in 3 minutes." The fireman had to holler down the hill to find him. A couple of fireman took their first aid kit down. He was offered morphine, but bravely refused it. Ask him why.
They took a litter and strapped him in and winched him up the hill to the awaiting ambulance. In the ambulance he called me. I flew home from Salt Lake City before he got a room in the ER. Luckily Alan came and tried to keep things moving.
Two surgeries, thirteen screws, one plate, 25 staples, one walker, and two crutches later all he has to show for his pain and suffering is cankles. Oh well.
And if you want to know what goats do on a hillside--not much!