Recently...

My access point is hurting the past few days. It has an intermittent tingling sensation on it and it does sting. Kinda reminds me of Harry Potter's scar. Whenever Voldemort is near, his scar hurts. I wonder what is nearing my horizon.

Same ole, same ole

There has really nothing to write about lately, dialysis-wise. Things are becoming more routine: week after week, month after month. I still do not look forward to the three hours, fifteen minutes hooked up to get my biweekly "oil-change," but I think my boredom-busters are helping me get through it. Lately, its been a combination of Brick on my BlackBerry, Big Bang Theory on Mondays, and Food Network on Fridays. I still have my language books handy (Japanese and Italian - what a combination) in the event that Hubby wants to watch some sports.

The challenge lately is keeping my phosphorus levels down. During my last lab tests, my phosphorus was at 6.5, and I am quite puzzled why it is at the level. I do not eat nuts, dairy, or sodas and take my binders regularly. Maybe I eat too much protein... we'll see, tomorrow is another test.

The latest mystery is my energy level is back up. I do not have that drained feeling on Saturdays and am able to do more chores around the house. Not sure what is causing this, but I am enjoying this surge of energy and hope that it will last.

农历新年 (Gung hay fat choi)

Happy (Chinese) New Year. Happy Valentine’s Day!

It has been really busy during the past few months: with the holidays, my birthday, the “holiday” dialysis schedule, a new location for our (martial arts) dojo, work, and ugh – Jury Duty. Almost two weeks of my already precious time was spent sitting on a trial: three days of selection, three days of trial, and three days of deliberation. And we ended up as a hung jury -- oh, well. I was fortunate that I was switching projects at that time, and my workload was somewhat lighter. If not, I would have been a bigger wreck.

Last week, I felt that I was starting this lunar new year with a sense of renewal: I am getting used to the responsibilities of my new project. Yesterday, we just released a new version of our website. Lastly, except for the occasional travel to Burbank and San Diego (for work, of course), my dialysis schedule is getting back to normal.

Given that, I could not help getting frustrated with the medical challenges that are here and will be in the near future. My KT/v (the measure of the effectiveness of dialysis) has substantially decreased in January. I had to redo my 24-hour urine collection for the month and am now doing that on an inconvenient weekday, instead of a more convenient Sunday. The vascular surgeon also found a narrowing on my fistula, and I will need to go under the knife again. I am hoping to schedule that surgery in early March, although Hubby would really prefer the surgery in a week or two.

Sigh… I guess the year goes on.

To end on a happy note, for Valentine’s Day, we will be enjoying a nice, romantic dinner at Fiore here in Clayton tonight: A romantic end for the new year.

Laissez les bon temps roulez (Let the good times roll).

Got pills?

I refilled my medications this week, and this is what I received. Although this is three months worth, it is somewhat daunting to see this in one photograph. I used to be "Ms. Vitamins Only", but now I take so many pills. One time when I was filling one of my weekly containers, Hubby thought that those were a day's worth; it was actually for a meal. Sometimes I feel that these things actually are making me sick!

I have containers that have my week's worth of meds. If I did not have these containers, I would forget to take my meds. The containers are color-coded, so I will not get confused: green for breakfast, blue for lunch, and purple for dinner. Each one has 3 phosphate binders, 2 fish oil. Breakfast has the added bonus of the blood-pressure pills. When gout comes, like this past week, I load up on colcichine and pain-relievers. Colcichine is known to give you diarrhea...fun!

I read that when I get a kidney transplant, the pill count grows... looking forward to that!

Distractions

It has been a while since my last post. Happy to report that dialysis is going well, except for some severe cramps the last few sessions. We've adjusted my dry weight, so hopefully that will resolve those painful cramps!

Work has also served as a great distraction: been out-of-town twice, had late night deployments, and deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. I guess that is a good thing... keeps me off the streets and not thinking of "the doctors".

The latest boredom-buster that I have is the Harry Potter series. Every dialysis session is now a magical trip to Hogwarts. Gives me something to look forward to. Wish my doctor was more like Dumbeldore (Guess I should be thankful that he is not Voldemort).

Accio Potter 7!

Gout free for two weeks

I'm excited to report that I have been gout-free for almost two weeks (I hope this post won't jinx me). I've been watching my diet closely and I think that helped a lot -- not too much sugar, no gout-causing foods, and not too much sodium.

Hope this keeps up.

Almost Perfect

Hubby and I spent our 8th anniversary last Wednesday in Monterey, California. We drove down early in the morning: grabbed a cream cheese/lox bagel on the drive down; had lunch at Schooner's, our favorite place in Monterey; spent a couple of hours at the aquarium to watch the graceful seahorses; checked in to our beautiful suite (almost the same size as our condominium); and finally, enjoyed a great dinner at Roy's in Pebble Beach. We were treated like royalty at Roy's: greeted with shell leis and a welcome photograph; had the best window seat in the house; and of course, enjoyed a fabulous meal, complete with wine and sorbets. I was a fan of Roy's before this event -- now I am a BIG fan!

The next day, we spent the morning whale watching. It was our first time whale watching, and it turned out to be an amazing day! We saw a mom, baby, and "nanny" humpback whales - breaching, fluking, flapping, and spouting. It was just awesome. The more experienced passengers said that this was such an extraordinary whale watching day -- we were lucky to have witnessed such a wonderful sight. We also saw hundreds and hundreds or Risso's dolphins on the way back. What a sight!!!

It was an amazing three-days! Would have been perfect, if I did not have gout... but still amazing! I have no complaints.