More good news

I got my lab results back the other day and most things are looking great. My a1c (an average blood glucose measure for the last 3 months) was 5%. This means an average blood sugar level of 5.4 mmol/l (97 mg/dl in US numbers). That's great considering what I'm eating these days. My creatinine is great too. This is a measure of kidney function and it is the lowest it's been almost since the transplant. Yippee!

My energy is getting a bit better too. I am more functional than I was and am able to carry stuff which makes the simple act of grocery shopping achievable now. You don't realize how pathetic you feel when you can't even unload your own groceries. But things are getting better. Now all I have to do is get through my root canal next week. Yucky.

A good news morning

This morning was full of good news. First off we took Wiska to the vet to have his stitches removed. Because he is so slim, the vet was soooooo happy to do the surgery. Apparently it only took about 15 minutes to do it. That explains why he was so alert the next day when I picked him up. Wiska was a bit shy with him at first after the stitches came out, but Dr. Bruce scratched him in just the right place and his hind leg started to kick. Talk about being a happy camper. I still have to feed him the wet dog food partially (smelly) until his throat is completely healed, but there is an end in sight to the stench. My blue boxes are filled with dog food cans.

In addition to that I heard from my nephrologist today and I will be getting my portacath at the beginning of April. This is an implanted device that will replace my external picc line. They will be able to give me drugs and take blood from this and I will be able to shower again without having to wrap my arm in Saran wrap and tape to keep the site dry. The port will go into my chest and there will be no risk of infection like with the picc. Yeah! Also this will be done at roughly the same time as I am getting an endoscopy so the shenanigans that I have to go through with my warfarin will only have to be the one time to cover the 2 procedures. It will mean extra injections of the substitute, but that will be all right.

On top of that while I am a bit sad that I may have a friend moving out of town, she is moving because she is in love and happy. So that's good news too. I'm just so happy when things go well for my friends.

All in all a good morning.

Shoe shopping - double the fun

So I went shoe shopping for the summer. I have to buy all new shoes and I'm kind of sad to say goodbye to some of my old favorites. I have to get new shoes because of the bypass I had on my leg last summer. The swelling has not gone down and unless I spend all my time lying on the couch, it's not likely to go down much more than it is now. Bummer. So basically, I have to buy 2 pairs of shoes to get one pair to wear. A size 6 for my "regular" foot and a size 8 to fit the overly swollen other foot. So I bought 4 pairs and am now set for the summer with sturdy walking sandals and some dressier stuff. I also bought a pair of black pumps that I will be able to wear year round. The lady that served me was fantastic. For the pumps she found that the shoe also came in wider widths so I got a size 6M and a size 7 1/2 D width. Much more comfortable and I'm less likely to trip over the toe too. Now all I have to do is buy a pair of running shoes. Pardon me, 2 pairs of running shoes. Oh well, it's only a small thing and there are worse things I could be going through.

Also, my PET scan (that I need for cardiac clearance for my pancreas surgery later this spring) went well. It only took them 3 tries to get the iv in. Too bad they couldn't use the picc, but because of the isotope they don't use them. All in the all the procedure went well and I got out in less than 2 hours. The nurses there are always fantastic. I love the heart institute.

Wiska is fine

Poor Wiska was diagnosed with laryngeal paralysis. I noticed that he had lost his voice. We thought at first that he had just barked himself hoarse at the kennel. No such luck. He just had  a surgery to tie part of is larynx back to keep it open. This will prevent him from choking to death if he gets an inflammation. He was a very good boy when Mom and I took him to the specialty clinic for his surgery. Lately he's been so afraid of going to the vet that he has pooped in the waiting room (clean up on aisle 3 lol). Poor guy. The vet called yesterday afternoon and he came through with flying colors. I probably won't see any difference in how he breathes, but this is because he wasn't having any problems before. I didn't want to wait for a crisis to have the surgery done. The surgery was actually easier than most because usually Dr. Bruce will have to do it on an obese labrador - which is difficult. Excess body fat is not one of Wiska's problems. I'm looking forward to picking him up today.