The fun keeps going and going...

So I haven't written in a while, partly because I am sick of writing about medical stuff and just want to feel better.  Since the last procedure I wrote about, I had a great day followed by a day mostly spent in the ER.  That was for a loosely related problem--and I'll spare you the details other than it took over 5 hours and mostly all they did was take blood and do labs.  The labs showed that my electrolytes seem to be returning closer to normal so that was great news.

Sunday was a great day-- felt good, went to church, went walking, and made plans to actually do something fun on Monday (a Utah Holiday-- Pioneer day) and go to the Fiesta Days celebration in Spanish Fork.  As luck would have it, I decided to cook that morning and was cutting an avocado.  I thought I would do the Food Network thing and hit the pit with the blade of the knife and neatly pull it out.  Didn't work-- so I stabbed it with the point.  Except I missed and so I stabbed myself in the hand.  How dumb can you be???  After trying pretty unsuccessfully to stop it from bleeding, I decided that it was in a really awkward spot at the base of my finger where there is a lot of movement so maybe I should go to InstaCare and see if they could glue it (and also get a tetanus shot because my last one may have been 15 years ago...).  They suggested stitches instead so I spent the holiday at the InstaCare getting stitches.  I really must have forgotten how to have a good time.

Was able to go back to work on Tuesday anyway and it was really nice to be there...  Made it easier to get up and going in the morning just knowing that I had something productive to do.  Worked all week, although I did get tired and so left a little early on some days.  Just an hour or two though so I was at work most of the day.

Had another couple of good days.. other than having ongoing sleep problems.  I tend to fall asleep, and then wake up about an hour later and stay awake for 4-5 hours.  Then, I get tired and fall back to sleep about 4:00 and my alarm goes off at 5:30.  That certainly adds to problems getting tired during the day. Tuesday was memorable because I woke up once about 11:00 and then slept thru the entire night clear til the alarm woke me up.  Can't tell you how good I felt on Wednesday, in fact I just felt so much better all day.

Well, almost all day.  Mid afternoon I touched my lower calf for some reason and it felt wet.  Weird.  I looked at it and there was a big red blotch on my left leg and the leg was swollen up way more than the right one was.  Plus, it was weeping a little.  Gross!!  Freaked me out a little and so I left work to come home and wrap it up and call the doctor.  An urgent appt was scheduled for Thursday and so I spent most of today at the Transplant Clinic...  The doctor thinks it is cellulitis and so added another antibiotic and doubled my diuretics to reduce fluid/swelling.  He also wanted an ultra-sound of my leg to make sure that I didn't have a blood clot.  I was actually glad he ordered that because I have wondered about that since my left leg is always a bit bigger than my right one and it wasn't always that way.  IMC is nice because they will schedule tests right then and there and so they sent me over to ultra-sound and they took pictures of my leg.  No signs of a blood clot-- so that is good news!! Came home and took the new medicines, and decided not to go back to work since it was mid afternoon anyway, plus a double dose of diuretics can make you pretty busy...

While at the doctors, I asked him a few questions since the hospital doc last month had said that I shouldn't be traveling at all right now and that I was too sick.  Most of the time I don't really feel that sick, so I wanted to check it out.  This doc said I could travel within the 48 states if I wanted, but not to go to Alaska/Hawaii/Europe/etc.. places where there weren't any major transplant centers.  I also asked his projection regarding when I might really need the transplant.  I have been thinking a few years out-- until recently when I have been wondering...  He said within a year probably.  Hard to say exactly, could be longer or shorter but probably in a year.  Yikes!!  I think I was more prepared to hear that though because with all of these problems I've started to wonder if it is just better to get sick and get the surgery and get it over with.  They say you can return to pretty much normal activities within 3-4 months after a transplant.  He also said that 80% of those needing a transplant usually get one;  those that don't make it generally have other complications going on.  I have been alternating off and on between being calm about this news and being really anxious/upset, but really more calm.  The thing that worries me the most is that most people are not able to work for a time prior to a transplant because they are just too sick, and then you can't work for at least 100 days afterward.  I need a job and insurance, and so that is a bit stressful.  I got a blessing the Saturday night that I was in the ER (a blessing is something given by the priesthood in my church where they two priests lay their hands on your head and administer a blessing... when given to the sick, there are usually promises of comfort, sometimes recovery, etc) and one of the things mentioned was that when the time came for a transplant, things would work out.  Great promise that has given me a lot of comfort!

Got a non-medical story about another really dumb thing that I did.  I think I'm out of it and losing brain cells because this was just plain dumb.  Monday, I stopped at Walmart to pick up a prescription and a few other things.  I was exhausted the last few hours at work, and really wanted to just go home and go to bed, but decided that a 30 minute delay wouldn't hurt anything... Except that I left my purse on a cart in the parking lot and drove home.  Noticed right away when I got home and so I rushed back.  Knew exactly where I parked and the cart was still there because I had been too lazy to take it to the  little cart corral.  No purse!  Went inside to customer service, butted to the front of a very long line and asked about my purse and it hadn't been turned in.  Panic!!  The customer service lady came out to help me look along with the cart guy (bet everyone in line really loved that).  Both were so friendly, but no purse.  I left my name and Kim's phone number-- since both my cell phones were in my purse...  I have the cheapest land line hooked up in my bedroom just in case there is an emergency at night but I have never used it and so don't know the number.

Called and reported the purse to the police and the officer said he would go right to Walmart and see if he could watch tapes, etc.  Very nice response, actually.  Didn't start calling credit card companies or anything but did call a guy at work because my work keys were in there, cleverly attached to my name tag so it was pretty obvious where I work...  Didn't want to pay to re-key the doors AND then replace everyone's main door keys.  That would have been expensive!  He said to not worry right now; they would just wait to see what happened since the building does have security cameras, etc.  After talking to him, I thought that maybe I would say a quick prayer that my purse would be found and returned and I just kept having the thought that most people are honest...  Within a few minutes after I said a prayer, I heard a knock on my door.  Opened it and saw a man that I didn't know.  Looked at him, burst into tears (I know, I'm a baby...) and said "you didn't find my purse, did you?".  He said he thought he did and so I walked with him to the car and he had it.  He kept trying to reassure me that he had only looked in it to get my address, and I wasn't even thinking along those lines since I figured that anyone honest enough to return it (and this was his second trip to my house because he came the first time while I was back at Walmart) probably didn't steal anything.  I checked later and everything was there, even the money.  Been watching my accounts this week just in case but nothing weird on them.  Well, quite a bit of on-line spending but unfortunately I think that is me!  I wish I had thought to give him a bit of money as a reward to take his family to dinner or something but I didn't and I don't know who he is.  But I am extremely grateful for the blessings in my life.  Doesn't seem right now like I'm getting a lot of blessings medically ( although in the big picture, maybe I am) but other things have just been working out.

As a side note, I stopped by Walmart again this afternoon to pick up a prescription and I made it out and home with my purse!  Sometimes you learn...