Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Smooth sailing

Yesterday's two appointments in Boston were a breeze. First came the clinic visit, then a bone density test at another location. I didn't get tired at all, except for my usual spot halfway back. Maybe it's because I had a driver (thanks, Barry!) On the way home, I was able to take a little nap.

The day started off well. Sometimes I rummage through my closet, avoiding my own advice to set aside clothes the night before. Yesterday I went closet shopping and put my hand right on a dress that I had forgotten about.

It was a J Jill black T-shirt dress in a smooth fabric with a bit of stretch. Diane had the dress first, and when I heard about it I raced out to get one, which I found on sale. It makes you feel dressed up without any effort. In my closet, I also found a lime-green lightweight sweater to go with it.

Of course my idea of getting "gussied up," in my mother's words, involves simply shedding my shorts or running pants for something a level up. Really dressed up I am not. But under the "look good feel good" philosophy, I like to look decent when I go to the clinic. Put on sandals and nice jewelry and I'm ready to go.

Plus it's one of the only places I go where I can put on "real" clothes. And, for good measure, I have this idea that if I look good, they won't find anything bad. Bit of magical thinking, but I know that. This does not go for when I'm feeling sick, of course. Then I wobble in without caring how I look.

Anyway, I "only" had to wait an hour to see Melissa. I had left a large gap between my clinic appointment (11 a.m.) and the bone density test (3 p.m.). As it turned out, we had a little time to kill, so we went to nearby Brookline, one of my old stomping grounds, for lunch. We drove down the pleasant tree-lined street where I lived, during graduate school, with five other grad students in a dilapidated Victorian.

Quick trip down memory lane: We ate dinner on a converted pool table and shared a kitchen, living room and two bathrooms that nobody wanted to clean. My parents were appalled. We studied and sunbathed on a porch roof that had no railing. I loved it...until I didn't.

Yesterday we saw that the house had been renovated, with structural shoring up, a new paint job, a railing on the porch roof and other improvements. It looked quite respectable.

Next we walked along Harvard Street in what is known as the Coolidge Corner area, stopping at a Jewish deli called Zoftigs, where my search for the perfect Reuben led to a delicious sandwich.

Onward for the bone density test, which took less than five minutes. I joked to the technician that I had put it off because I'm sure my bones are crumbling, but she wasn't amused. Results to come.

I'm putting my counts at the end; in case anyone is tired of hearing about them, you can stop reading here.

White blood cells: 8.0 (normal=3.8-9.2)
Hematocrit: 26.2 (normal=34.8-43.6); low, but up a little since last week
Platelets: 84 (normal=155-410); decent for me
Sodium: 126 (normal=135-145); still low, but up a little
Potassium: 4.6 (normal=3.5l-5.0)

My liver function was slightly better, and the result of a fasting glucose test was 63 (normal is 65-105). This is the number that had been so high – 400 – that they called me in the next day. Melissa said the low was probably because I was fasting.

A couple of weeks ago they decreased my tacrolimus from .5 milligrams twice a day to once a day. I realized about a week later that I had stopped shaking. What a relief.

Small victories, big help.

3 comments:

Trish said...

I LOVE hearing about your numbers---then like your bone density test, I can avoid mine! ;-) glad the glucose seems to be cleared up too and that things are at least within spitting distance of normal elsewhere.

amazing the things we lived thru during college, isn't it? I found out one of my OT therapists lives down the street from a place we rented in college---firecrackers, automatic weaponfire going off around us on Tet and hideously shoddy building, oh and a fridge that predated my birth by at LEAST 15 years!

and you're making me drooool with the Reuben...the closest decent deli near me is more than 100 miles north of us! yuuum!

ok, and my wv is: reste...get some!

Ann said...

Great numbers and great news about the reduction in tacro. Tacro not only gives me the shakes, but also causes me to retain weight. Don't stress about the bone density results. I'm sure they'll be better than you're expecting. Just breathe. :)

pam said...

Dearest Runni-Nikey,

Goddess of Victory in Ancient Greek, more commonly known as the mispronounced tennis shoe...

with you, no victory is Small...Great steps, with the wind behind you, and values getting better every day...

and a happy KT Day again to all!

i remember that house, but don't remember that it was bad, just grad!

xop