End of another week.

So - after tinkering with my dosages and having that UA scan, my creatinine has... barely moved. Dropped to 147 from 151, barely a whisker. Urea was way up so perhaps a little dehydrated. Got a stinker of a cold today so gonna take it easy over the weekend, although not entirely as it's my Dad's 60th tomorrow and I have to show my face at that, for sure.

No call from the clinic as yet, so assuming there's no changes to make this weekend.

Quick and easy

So after all that chat on Friday about this test maybe taking a couple of weeks, they called me

 back Friday afternoon to come in to Ultrasonic Angiology this morning! Had the test, sonographer/radiographer type person has a poke around and tells me there's nothing wrong with the artery. This is a 'yay' as it means no angioplasty, but also a 'boo' as it means we still don't know what's wrong. Hoping now that the reduced Tacrolimus dosage will be enough to show some improvement. Tests on Wednesday so I guess I'll find out sometime on Thursday.

Tis somewhat frustrating going to clinic now. Most of the nurses have great memories and know who I am, but the doctors are a whole different matter. Seeing a different one each week I can kinda deal with, but really, how hard would it be to take five minutes to LOOK AT MY BLOODY NOTES before you ask me into the room? They barely even know your name, and I spend the first five minutes of each appointment updating them on what is happening, what I've had done recently in terms of tests and drug changes and so on. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the fact that they're taking any time to actually look into your situation. I do appreciate that being a kidney patient does mean a lot more hands on involvement in your treatment than a lot of other long term conditions but it does sometimes feel like you have to drive it a bit. One week the registrar I saw basically abandoned the consultation because she couldn't read the notes the previous week's doctor had written. And they apparently complain about having to use the computer! At least there'd be no handwriting issues then! :)

Ooh that was a bit more of a rant than I intended! I'm not complaining about the standard of clinical care. I just think that in terms of how they deal with patients it'd be nice for people to feel that they are individuals instead of just the next pile of notes to be processed. Like so many other situations I suppose!

Weekend!

Promises to be a busy one - got a drinks thing tonight, followed by all day in a pub for the brilliant Laura's grand re-opening of The Bedford Arms tomorrow, then a trip to see Charles Darwin's house in Kent on Sunday. Will try not to have more than a couple of drinks throughout the day - a slight challenge when watching three Six Nations games in a row! :)

Just had a call from Liz, the transplant sister @ Guy's - they want to reduce my Tacrolimus dose as I've too much of it in my blood and it may be causing the creatinine spike, so down from 5 to 4mg twice a day. Which ironically means taking 8 x 1mg tablets instead of 2 x 5mg ones so my pill count goes up, not down *lol*.

They also want to do an Ultrasound Angiogram to check the artery to the new kidney, as they fear it may be narrowing, which would also account for the creatinine spike. Quite a specialised test apparently in that only one Radiographer @ Guy's does it so it may take a couple of weeks. Can't be that urgent then!

So at least there's some things to look at and try to get the damn numbers back down!

Really need to knuckle down with some work this afternoon, but the hospital news is always so damn distracting!

Boo

*sigh* Cret bounced back up to 151 yesterday, eGFR down to 34. Bah!!! WHY?! I feel fine, better than in ages, not messed any drugs up, not done anything wrong. And it so immediately affects my mood, I almost wish I hadn't checked the damn thing.

Sunny day

Popped to clinic this morning for regular meetup with doctor and to have blood taken. Told to keep everything the same and come back next week. Heh. Was in and out within an hour; new world record I think! Quite like this Wednesday clinic lark, seems quieter than the other days. Sure I'll be there all day next week now.

Odd side effect of moving to once weekly testing is that I'm now on tenterhooks waiting for RenalPatientView to be updated with my results so I know whether my cret. level is still heading in the right direction or not! :) Probably won't be published til tomorrow, though. And still SO much quicker/easier than waiting for a call or a letter to get the results.

In the meantime I shall continue to enjoy the sun streaming through the studio window, struggle with getting on with some work, and listen to the guy drilling holes in my bathroom wall. 

Finally!

Today is the first Monday since the transplant that I haven't had to go to clinic for blood tests! I'm down to one day a week as of now. It feels positively liberating, although slightly odd at the same time to not have that extra security blanket of twice weekly testing. The puncture bruises in my arm might actually start healing - heh. 

Strangely though I still have to go to Guy's today, just to have my mouth ulcer checked by a hospital dentist. Should be a fairly simple in-out visit as I'm fairly sure it's totally fine now, but would rather have a proper dentist confirm that before I go making assumptions. I also need to find out if I'm ok to go get my eyes tested, too... seriously considering getting them lasered this year if I can afford it. So much for avoiding medical procedures this year! Think that's slightly different though.

Got plans afoot to go over to France for a bit in May, which I am REALLY looking forward to, and some festivaling in June! :) Couldn't even consider that this time last year, so feels really good! Also got to squeeze in another 5 days of holiday before the end of May as it's a "use it or lose it" scenario at work. Extra long Easter, perhaps. :)

Oh and - creatinine has continued to drop, down to 137 now, which is in the right direction! I want it down at 120 or less, doctor on Thursday said 130 would satisfy them, but I might still need another biopsy. I think the Tacrolimus levels might be a tad too high, but I shall wait til Wednesday and my next appointment before fretting about it. 

Feeling vaguely human again

... for the first time in ages. Finally got the creatinine dropping again - back to 144. No additional biopsy or scan next week. Phew!! Just keep taking the tablets....

Been working out a little bit. Very sore now! Worth it though, endorphins are handy little beggars.

Also back to work properly now (well, part time at least). Gonna visit the office next week for the first time in ages. Oddly looking forward to it!

Back to work

Just turned on my email after three months - 997 so far,...

*twiddles thumbs*