On My Latest Doctor’s Visit: Five Tips for a Productive Monthly Check-up

I had my latest doctor’s visit last Tuesday. Overall, it was pretty good. My routine lab numbers are great, particularly my creatinine and BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen) – both are very important measures of kidney health. My blood pressure has stabilized, although it is still a bit on the high side. And, I am back to my extra-curricular activities, even though it is not as often. Overall, I am in good shape.

I am writing this post not just to update you on my current health status, but also to offer some tips on a successful doctor’s visit. Since I’ve been back to work for two months now, I have regular meetings with my manager, associates, and some of our clients. On my last doctor’s visit, I treated it like a meeting with my boss.  Here are some tips based on my observations:

1. Be prepared to say what’s new and how are you feeling. I was actually unprepared for this, but was able to share the state of my health, from my own perspective, of course. Think of it as a status of what you’re working on. Focus on both the good and the bad. 
2.  Prepare questions ahead of time and prioritize them in the event that you do not have time to ask them all. Some of these may not be related to your current status, but rather about something down the road - still important. One of my questions was whether I can now travel. This is important because I may need to travel for my new projects at work. I wanted to know if there were any concerns or precautions that I should take.
3. Do your homework before your doctor’s visit. If something is troubling you, do not hesitate look it up on the internet or other resources you have. I believe that the more informed you are about your condition, the more productive your visit will be. Fortunately, unlike your manager, you do not always need to be pro-active and have solutions ready for your physician; although, often times, it can help. As an example, for this visit, we called ahead to request for another ultrasound because of my high blood pressure and some weight gain again. Physicians see hundreds of patients weekly, so they do not necessarily memorize each patient’s history until the actual visit.
4. Review your notes before the meeting. This is important so you know by heart what your main concerns and questions are. Also, if your physician does not have enough time, you may need to ask them as fast as possible. As an example, this time, the medical clinic was running about 30 minutes late. If I did not have my notes and, for that matter, knew them, I would not have been able to cover all of my questions. I think I covered one question per minute!
5. Lastly, your caretaker should be as familiar with your questions and your concerns, at the very least, the most important ones. If you are too sick to share your questions and/or concerns, your caretaker should be able to represent you. Fortunately for me, my husband can and would do a very good job for me.

In my last visit, I think I did well on most of the items, but need to work on 1. As is with all things, practice makes perfect! 

Restaurant Possible

As part of my recovery, I am not allowed to have restaurant food for the six months following the operation. Although that may seem to be a small sacrifice, for foodies like me, six months really seems like a long time.

Missing restaurants... especially the really nice ones.

I have been craving for Indian food like chicken tandori and samosas, Japanese food like tempuras and sushi, and pizza from anywhere!  I also miss our weekend excursions to San Francisco, the Wine Country (Napa and Sonoma), or the Gold Country (Angel's Camp or Murphys) to enjoy the beautiful scenery and their wonderful restaurants. It does not help that I get occasional emails from OpenTable and dining discounts from LivingSocial.

Restaurants have been temporarily off-limits because we do not know how the food has been handled or prepared. At this stage in my recovery, we need to be extremely careful of infection, from all sorts of germs or bacteria. We need to manage where the food is procured and how the food is washed and cooked. After watching Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and Robert Irvine’s Restaurant Impossible and seeing all of the problematic kitchens, I can understand why this is a concern. 

Also, even after my “probation” period, buffets are now off-limits.  With buffets, food can be sitting out on the table for quite some time. You will never know for how long, what temperature the food has been kept, and for that matter, who has touched what.

Raw sushi and other raw foods are now off-limits too. Again, it’s a question of bacteria. So, I must say goodbye to my beloved salmon rolls, ahi pokes, oysters-on-the-half-shell, and tuna tartars. Even smoked foods are out of the question. Sigh, at least, I think I’ve I can still have cooked sushi (ebi and unagi anyone?).

As a result, for the past three months, Hubby and I have been “saving” for when we can start venturing out again.  He has been preparing a short-list of target restaurants.

Meanwhile, it’s adventures in our kitchen. Watching Food Network definitely has paid off. I’ve been experimenting with different ingredients, mostly grains and seeds that I could not have before like quinoa, barley, and bulgur wheat. Also, I’ve successfully whipped-up a lot of baked yet healthy delights.  Although my potassium restriction have somewhat limited my vegetable and fruit options,  we’ve learned to work with it (Secret is moderation).

This week, however, I received good news from the dietician. I originally called her up with a dilemma. With my new project at work, I may need to travel occasionally again. So, I needed advice on how to handle meals. Obviously, I can’t pack 3 or 4 home-cooked meals when I travel by air. The TSA will have a field day!  

The good news is that she has approved my eating out again. Since I seem to be doing well, eating food from outside our home is okay now - Hurray!  I still need to be mindful a few things like sodium, potassium, and most importantly, germ factories!  Given that, I think it is also best to practice moderation. After all, it has been only a little less than four months. I still may have an issue with fluid retention and weight gain.

Now, Hubby and I are again looking forward to dining out occasionally.  With a long weekend coming up, we are hoping for a chance to catch a movie or two and enjoy not cooking… for a change!

First Quarter Later: Pros and Cons

It has been three months since my kidney transplant – One quarter!!! In Jimmy Fallon-style, here are the pros and cons of the first quarter.

Pros	Cons
I can eat a lot of things that I couldn’t enjoy before. This includes ice cream, corn bread, pancakes, and waffles.	I am gaining weight again. I do think that some of it is unusual and may be fluid retention, since I am not eating enough to gain a pound in one day. I am still concerned that another angioplasty may be coming.
I’ve completed my first month working; two weeks of which was full-time work.	Uh-oh, here come the projects. No more time for blogging and watching “Scrubs”!
I registered for the Kidney Walk, and in just 10 days of fundraising, I am 75% of goal.	Oh, my legs… sore from the daily training!
I’ve rejoined my hula class. It has been awhile since I have danced with my hula group. The last time that I attended class regularly was almost two years ago. I stopped going regularly because I had to go three days a week to dialysis.	Now, my knees are sore too! And I am so tired after class that I find myself falling to sleep early that evening, thereby missing late night TV.
I’ve enjoyed my first aikido (weapons) class just yesterday (Saturday). It felt really great to be back in class – the friends, the exercise, and all that energy.	Four words: Afternoon naps are back! Oh, and the “knees-thing” apply too.

For those not familiar with Jimmy Fallon’s Pros and Cons, here’s an example (of course, his skit is funnier). Warning: some of it can be a bit crude, but that is the nature of late night TV.

Overall, I feel pretty good: my blood pressure is stable, my lab values look great, and my skin is not as dry. Also, no more dandruff (probably from phosphate build-up) and thick hair growing all over my body (side-effect of the medication). I feel I am getting more energy, day by day. More importantly, I am slowly getting back into my old healthy, productive routine, and not going into dialysis three times a week. Given that, I still have some concerns, which is somewhat normal. Hopefully, we’ll get this resolved during our next doctor’s appointment in a couple of weeks.