Granddaughter Rosie announced,
out of the blue, “I don’t have Chapstick.”
And later, “I don’t have a remote.”
And, “I don’t have a cellphone.”
We caught on that her denials were, in fact, confessions. Grandpop Jeff plays that game, too. “I don’t have kidney problems…”
April “Doctor Month” ran into May with a visit to the kidney specialist, the sixth of the specialists visited. Jeff has proteinuria, too much protein in his urine, which is causing his urine to be foamy. Dr. Pathalapati told Jeff he wasn’t drinking nearly enough and that his kidney function was “bad, Stage Two.” However, she also feels that drinking the prescribed amount of water every day (coffee and tea don’t count) could give much better lab results. The plan is to do that for a week and test his blood again. Also, an ultrasound and then, “We’ll see.”
Dr. Porter ordered a lot of lab work last week. Among the many tests run was the Chimerism Analysis which shows, again, that Nicole’s marrow is making 100% of Jeff’s blood. Amazing, fascinating, miraculous, wonderful! Dr. Porter decided Jeff could drop the immunosuppressant (Mycophenolate) and check his blood again in six weeks to see if he can stay off of it. He’s looking at liver function which is where there have been issues with GVHD.
A co-worker of mine told me that her husband, a rare triple organ recipient, was having auditory hallucinations from the same immunosuppressant that Jeff takes. Sue’s husband actually went outside in the middle of the night to investigate the noises he was hearing. Jeff has experienced this phenomenon, too, although he only went window-to-window in an attempt to find the source of the crashing and talking he heard. Because of this and other side effects, it will be really nice if the GVHD stays quiet.
Dermatologist Dr. Samimi froze three more spots (one on Jeff’s face and two on his hand) and wants us to watch another on his forehead. Jeff should return before six months if that spot changes.
Ophthalmologist Dr. Hirsch did not see enough change in Jeff’s cataracts to worry about it for now. He told Jeff to return in a year. Whew!
Jeff called me at work today with a report of his conversation with the kidney specialist. Her warnings put him into a panic. Oh, not because his kidneys aren’t in tip-top shape. No, it was the peanut butter restriction (and also red meat and shellfish)! After 30 years of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – his workman’s lunch that keeps well in a lunchbox - he couldn’t imagine what he was going to eat. I reminded him that there are a lot of foods he enjoys that are on the good-to-eat list. We have some work to do.
Some more firsts: ate yak meat and got our first senior discount at a department store.
April “Doctor Month” ran into May with a visit to the kidney specialist, the sixth of the specialists visited. Jeff has proteinuria, too much protein in his urine, which is causing his urine to be foamy. Dr. Pathalapati told Jeff he wasn’t drinking nearly enough and that his kidney function was “bad, Stage Two.” However, she also feels that drinking the prescribed amount of water every day (coffee and tea don’t count) could give much better lab results. The plan is to do that for a week and test his blood again. Also, an ultrasound and then, “We’ll see.”
Dr. Porter ordered a lot of lab work last week. Among the many tests run was the Chimerism Analysis which shows, again, that Nicole’s marrow is making 100% of Jeff’s blood. Amazing, fascinating, miraculous, wonderful! Dr. Porter decided Jeff could drop the immunosuppressant (Mycophenolate) and check his blood again in six weeks to see if he can stay off of it. He’s looking at liver function which is where there have been issues with GVHD.
A co-worker of mine told me that her husband, a rare triple organ recipient, was having auditory hallucinations from the same immunosuppressant that Jeff takes. Sue’s husband actually went outside in the middle of the night to investigate the noises he was hearing. Jeff has experienced this phenomenon, too, although he only went window-to-window in an attempt to find the source of the crashing and talking he heard. Because of this and other side effects, it will be really nice if the GVHD stays quiet.
Dermatologist Dr. Samimi froze three more spots (one on Jeff’s face and two on his hand) and wants us to watch another on his forehead. Jeff should return before six months if that spot changes.
Ophthalmologist Dr. Hirsch did not see enough change in Jeff’s cataracts to worry about it for now. He told Jeff to return in a year. Whew!
Jeff called me at work today with a report of his conversation with the kidney specialist. Her warnings put him into a panic. Oh, not because his kidneys aren’t in tip-top shape. No, it was the peanut butter restriction (and also red meat and shellfish)! After 30 years of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – his workman’s lunch that keeps well in a lunchbox - he couldn’t imagine what he was going to eat. I reminded him that there are a lot of foods he enjoys that are on the good-to-eat list. We have some work to do.
Some more firsts: ate yak meat and got our first senior discount at a department store.
