Monday, January 31, 2011

And Again With The Bouncing

We had two appointments today- one at the transplant clinic and one for wound care.

1st- The transplant clinic appointment was bitter sweet. Bitter sweet because Jim's creatinine level went back down to 1.5!! YAY!! This in itself is great news, now let me try and explain the 2 reasons why it is bitter sweet. This creatinine level is directly correlated to a certain medication that he has to take. When the level of that medicine gets to low he has a higher risk of rejection, if it gets to high then it can be toxic to the kidney. Last week when we had the higher creatinine numbers his medication level was high. Today this medication level was too low, in turn putting Jim at a huge risk for rejection. They have increased the amount by 25mg in the hopes of preventing rejection. So...onto the second reason why it is bitter sweet, one of Jim's pancreas enzymes is off the chart high therefore raising a rather enormous red flag for his pancreas possibly rejecting. Is this number just random, directly related to the medication level being too low- or something else altogether, no one knows! They have scheduled him to come back in an extra time this week to check the level again on Wednesday instead of waiting until Friday. I am hopeful that by raising the anti-rejection med by 25mg it will stop the crazy pancreatic enzyme from doing anything else unnerving.

The 2nd appointment was his wound care/ vac change. This appointment went well. The bottom wound is starting to really heal up and is a much "prettier color." They have started using a material that contains silver and collagen. This dressing is placed into the wound beds and helps to speed up collagen production and prevent bacteria from growing. (Collagen is something the body makes when you are healing a cut/wound/scrape) I hadn't seen the wounds since last Monday and I am happy with how they are looking overall.

On a selfish note, I ask for prayers of hope and resilience. There are times when this process can start to get the better of you and although I know that we are on the winning end of this situation (I prayer for continued healing and peace for the donor family) it can still become overwhelming and exhausting. Jim has such a strong and calm demeanor but I feel that at times he is also becoming frustrated. I on the other hand, do not have this calm demeanor and I fear that it shows on my face eventhough I try really hard to be as strong as he.

Prayer Requests: Pancreas enzymes calm back down, kidney levels stay low, medication level evens out

Bible Verse: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

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