Sunday, August 11, 2013

I have a transplant!

Well, 2 actually. This past July 7th, I got a call from Toronto General Hospital at 8:30, "Can you get down here by noon?" I was going to do my best and I checked in by 11:30, with nothing more than the clothes on my back.

Surgery was scheduled for 6PM and took about 10 hours. I had a new, for me, pancreas and left kidney. While they were in there they also fixed up a hernia I knew nothing about. Thank you. What followed was interesting, to say the least. I woke up in mild discomfort. They had inserted a urinary catheter while I was under, so I had company for the next few weeks or so. Loads of fun dragging a tail around! The fist couple of nights were interesting. Prednasone in its liquid form causes weird hallucinations. I didn't get much sleep, but some of those visions were fascinating. I was in the hospital for 11 days.

Since the surgery I've had the classic forbidden fruit, a banana, as well as ice cream and french fries. My blood sugars are stable and I'm peeing every 2 to 3 hours. Its great!

I will be eternally grateful to the anonymous donor who provided the kidney and pancreas. I have a new lease on life. Thank you.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

It looks like its been a while since I last posted. Not a lot has changed. I'm still waiting on the dual transplant list. I've had my dialysis line changed 4 times. The previous one caused an infection and had to be replaced after only 3 weeks. The latest one is working great. Its back to working straight, as opposed to reversed connections, so that's a good thing. I still have no intention to get a fistula installed. Some of the other patients are having issues. Others work great. Its a divided issue, but despite the fact that I'm working on line #5, I think I'll stay the course.

This coming Monday, the entire region is switching to new machines. I think the current machines will be sent out to other countries to help patients in other parts of the world. I think they still work great, they are just a little finnicky at times.