Today is my 69th birthday, and I am healthy and happy. It's been 10 months since my transplant, and except for a couple of minor glitches, all has gone very well. In October of last year we went to my high school reunion, which was held in Salado, TX. From there we went to visit my friend Debbie in Richland Springs, TX. She woke up sick the next day with severe nausea and diarrhea. I helped her in and out of bed, in and out of the shower, cleaned her face and took her water and 7-Up. We left the next day as she was still sick. We went first to Fredricksburg, where we had lunch at a German restaurant. Then we went on to Schertz, to visit Ramiro's brother Ruben and his wife Mary. All of us went out to dinner with their daughter, Anna Dwarshus and her new baby, Carter. We ate at a Jason's deli. All I had was the salad bar, but somehow I felt that something was wrong.
A few hours after we went to bed, I woke up really sick to my stomach. I had gotten Debbie's illness, apparently. I was sick all night long, and by morning I was so weak and sick that I got in touch with Baylor in Ft. Worth to ask if I needed to go there. They told me to go to the closest emergency room. Ramiro drove me to Northeast Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, where I was admitted because of severe dehydration. I stayed there two days, and was discharged with a prescription for Vancomycin, an antibiotic to treat the C. difficile that had shown up in the lab tests. Getting the prescription was another story, which I'll describe in a separate post. I recovered pretty quickly from the dehydration--a couple of bags of fluids and I felt like my old self.
The only other glitch happened last month. I had a routine clinic visit scheduled for Wed., Feb. 20, which was the day before the start of my quilt retreat in Gainesville with the Dallas quilters. My friend Debbie was staying with us, having come in on the 19th.
A few days before the clinic visit I noticed that I was getting very tired and winded on our daily walk, and mentioned it to Ramiro because it was unusual for me to feel that way. The next day, after Debbie had come in, I got really dizzy and lightheaded, even though I was not doing anything unusual or strenuous. At one point I got so dizzy just walking around the house that I had to sit on the staircase for fear I was going to pass out. Anyway, at the clinic I was told that my hemoglobin count was less than 6, with normal being around 12. No wonder I felt tired and lightheaded. I remembered then that several weeks before, during our move to Texas, I had noticed some dark stools, and the day we were at the clinic, they were absolutely black and tarry. The result--I was admitted to the hospital, in spite of my protests that I wanted to go to retreat and would come back to the hospital on Monday. I would have persisted, except that Dr. Fischbach told me that this was a serious problem that could affect my heart if not treated promptly. So, I stayed at Baylor while Ramiro went back that night so he could take Debbie to retreat the next day.
I got two units of blood the first day, then the next day they did an endoscopy. On Friday they did a colonoscopy. The diagnosis is that I have a gastric ulcer, caused by the steroids. I've been prescribed an antacid, and apparently ulcers are not uncommon in transplant patients because of the steroids.
Other than those two problems, it's been really smooth sailing. I feel really well, everything is working well, God be thanked.
I've gained some weight. At home this a.m. I weighed 108.4; my blood sugar numbers are good (low 100's or high 90's, even though I take no meds for it). One reason for the move to Texas is that during the winter we will still be able to walk pretty much every day, and we've been trying to do that, which is a big help with blood sugar. I am a little concerned because my blood pressure seems to be a little higher (in the 140's most mornings). Need to check with Baylor about that. My kidney function, as shown through the creatinine tests, has remained at 0.6 even when I've been sick, for which the doctors are very pleased. But no more pleased than I am!
I have an appointment at Baylor next week, a routine clinic visit.
