Going on the 3rd week in the Hospital.

This stay is turning into something totally unplanned. I am so ready to fly the coop and be home. I feel good, a little weak is all, and I have so much to do. I have two baby quilts to finish before Spike arrives, I have window boxes to plan and plant, an herb garden to plant, and my poor plants are dying from neglect!

This is where we are as of Monday, May 11th:

• My kidney function has improved remarkably: the two markers we are most interested in are my Creatnine levels which this morning were 1.22 and the Sodium level in my blood: 129 this morning. Both of these numbers are well within what the transplant team wanted to see in improved kidney function in order to move ahead with a plan for transplant.
  
• I still have 8 - 10 lbs. of extra fluid on me, which is about the same as when I entered the hospital. In two weeks they put on 10 lbs. and took off 10 lbs., so we are back to where we started. I suggested this morning that since my kidney function is so improved, maybe we could take a chance and bump up the diuretic dosage just a tad and try to get a couple more pounds off. I only lost .3 of a lb. yesterday. I'll find out what the team thinks of my idea when they visit.
  
• Joe is tired of spending all day in the hospital with me and has set a goal for my teams: Get a plan and start executing to get me discharged.
  
• I still have very low platelet count, abnormally low. Sometimes that happens and resolves on its own. Sometimes it is caused by medication. Sometimes it is caused by something insidious. The "Heme Team" has been threatening a bone marrow biopsy to rule out some insidious occurrence of low platelets. Drug me up and get it done so we can move on. Please.

I met with my Cards2 team this afternoon and:

• They agree. Let's get more aggressive in moving off the fluid. We are increasing my IV diuretic slowly to move more fluid.
  
• They talked to the "Heme Team" and convinced them that let's just do the biopsy. We don't want to give the transplant team anything to hem and haw about. That will happen in the next couple of days. Bring on the happy drugs, please.

• They've talked to the Transplant Team and we are moving forward with the evaluation. I've had a lot of the physical testing, but there is still more to go and psychological evaluations, etc. That will all start getting under way. Hopefully, they can get it all done in the next couple of weeks and they will formally present my case and make a decision.

The lung transplant program at UMMC is undergoing tremendous growth right now. They have been chosen as a center to trial the "Lung in a Box" program which allows for a better evaluation of lungs before transplant and for keeping the lungs fresh longer, thereby not wasting the transplant possibility because of travel time, etc.

To read more:

UMMC's 1st in the region transplant using "LUNG IN A BOX" 

Lung in a Box in operation

Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a magician!