Journal entry by Chris Geary —
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving that included lots of love, laughter and great food. Tomorrow is 6 weeks since the transplant...Wow! Tomorrow morning I have my 6 week clinic appointment with my nephrologist (Dr Budiraja) and case nurse (Terry). We’ll go in at 8am to have my labs taken, then hang out until the 9:20am appointment - that way Dr and nurse can see my labs when we are meeting. That is always the goal but some weeks I don’t get there in time (I’m a slow starter) for the labs to be done in time. Tomorrow should be some additional milestones - the end of the “cannot lift more than 10 lbs” decree and (most exciting of all - hopefully) a green light to be able to begin recumbent exercise biking, and even swimming when I feel ready. The swimming will be a bit farther off, until I don’t feel the subtle pull on my incision when I stretch my arms overhead. I am looking forward to the appointment - I haven’t seen my Dr for two weeks (we had last week ‘off’ from the weekly cycle) and am anxious to hear her thoughts about my progress, etc.
We had a great Thanksgiving week with our friends Chris and Kennon, who had driven back from Bloomington with Barb (as she brought lake house stuff back). It was a fun week with lots of hanging out, watching movies at home, going for walks and unpacking boxes from the lake house. On Thanksgiving day we all walked a 5k event called the Pilgrim Run (and walk) in the Hyde Park neighborhood of KC. We joined Barb’s sister Jane’s family - as we have done most Thanksgivings. It was 50 degrees and glorious out and that made the walk even more enjoyable. I took my time and was good and tired afterwards (but super happy to be active again).
The biggest ‘event’ this past week has been the ‘draw down’ on my awesome diet. The plan was to finish off all the Dr Pepper, chips, dip, chocolate, and other assorted sweets throughout the week. When something was done - it was done. Everyone was participating in the draw down so we had started the week pretty well stocked ;-) What a sad withdrawal by the end of the week! The last of the Dr Pepper and chips and dip went on Saturday. The last of the BBQ chips went Sunday. The last of the dark chocolate caramels (my absolute favorites) went Friday. I am rationing the final couple of dark chocolate items to draw them out for as long as possible...it’s so sad! I don’t imagine I am going to get much sympathy from everyone since the diet was pretty crazy wonderful to begin with - ha ha! On the upside my weight is up to 130 lbs and that is with hardly any muscle left (zip, zilch, zero, nil). When I can finally start being active again (within reason and a slow build up for sure) I look forward to feeling stronger and more stable within my body, as some muscle returns. The sad part is the hard truth my physical therapist gave me during knee rehabilitation...it takes 6 weeks to BEGIN to rebuild muscle. Sigh...
But that’s okay - I have lots of time ahead of me and all winter to build up slowly and smartly.
Autumn has returned to her home in Santa Monica CA and I believe returned to work today. She told me she is happy to be back in the wonderful weather with zero allergy issues...but she had a really awesome with her family. She and I continue to feel good - so onward and upward!
I hope everyone is safe and warm as winter settles in (except for you warm weather readers) - we had 5 inches of snow yesterday with some very high winds...it was quite an exciting day. It feels a little early to have that much snow in November, however it will be 45 degrees on Wednesday. Global warming?...says who!
Be well everyone - thank you for your continued support!
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