1. I jumped the gun.
For many, March 14th is Pi Day.
But, for a whole other segment of the population, whose lives rotate around the axis of Glomerular filtration rate, Blood Urea Nitrogen levels, creatinine levels, reduced sodium intake, a low potassium diet, and the daily monitoring of blood pressure, among other things, March 14th is World Kidney Day.
But, did I wait until March 14th to see Dr. Kristie Jones, my nephrologist?
No. I saw her today, on World Kidney Day Eve.
As I anticipated, it was a pleasant visit.
Because I'd seen the results of my lab work, I knew that my numbers were stable: 16% kidney function or GFR; not much change in my abnormally high BUN and creatinine levels; everything else in great shape. Dr. Jones reiterated that because I am not diabetic nor do I have heart disease, it makes sense that I continue to feel well, not show symptoms of renal disease, and maintain stability.
I see Dr. Jones again in July.
Oh! By the way, I received a World Kidney Day gift a day early in the mail. My first blood draw kit arrived from the lab in Spokane that serves the Providence Sacred Heart transplant program. It's a handsome kit featuring an easy to open box, a slender red-capped tube, blue protective foam to keep the tube secure in the mail, easy to read labels, and concise and clear instructions.
I'm hoping that the proper paperwork will be in place tomorrow and that I can have my first blood draw for Sacred Heart performed on World Kidney Day.
2. I spent some time today in correspondence with a couple of friends in Eugene, discussing Lance Sparks, a longtime fellow instructor at LCC, who died on March 1st. Through Facebook, back in September of 2018, I received a group event notification of a Celebration for the Living given for Lance at Capitello Wines. I didn't know, back in September, that a lot of my friends in Eugene didn't know that Lance was ill or about the event in his honor; nor did they know the cause of his death once they learned he had passed away.
If you are reading this and knew Lance, you still might not know what afflicted him, so let me tell you.
Not long before his friends held the Celebration of the Living, Lance had been diagnosed with an uncommon, degenerative disease called progressive supranuclear palsy. The condition slurs speech. It causes loss of balance and falls. Lance needed a walker. Even more cruelly, this disease causes loss of vision and so, in his final months of life, Lance couldn't read or write. There is no cure or treatment for progressive supranuclear palsy.
I would have posted this information sooner, but I assumed, wrongly, that if I knew about Lance's illness up here in North Idaho, that it would have been well-known in Eugene.
To memorialize Lance, the family is hosting an open house on Saturday, March 23rd from noon to 5 pm at Kat and Lance's house. Attendees are welcome to bring, in Kat's words, "a nibble to share or a bottle to toast . . . or a story". I'm not comfortable posting the address of the open house on this blog, but will be happy to share it in private.
3. I don't know what the future holds for the St. John's Red Storm as far as the NCAA tournament goes, but at the very least, this evening I got to see the Johnnies play a whole game with gleeful energy as they thumped DePaul, 82-74. Tonight, after playing lousy during a three game losing streak, the Johnnies combined drives to the iron, easy buckets scored off turnovers, some timely missiles from long range, and some nifty hoops scored after pinpoint interior passes to roar out to an early lead they never relinquished. All five starters scored in double figures. Over the last several weeks, I've watched St. John's bounce back and forth between being the "good Johnnies" and the "bad Johnnies" and I loved seeing them perform tonight as the good Johnnies.
After watching the good Johnnies waltz to victory, I watched most, but not of all, of the Oregon Ducks total dismantling of the WSU Cougars, 84-51. If I can take Bill "Magic Carpet Ride" Walton at his word -- no, at his voluminous, non-stop words --, right now, the Ducks are playing the best defense of any team in the Pac-12. In addition, some of their younger players have developed superbly over the course of the season and they are playing their best basketball now, at the end of the season. Next up, the Ducks play the tough and well-coached Utah Utes, a stern test, and we'll see if their late season momentum and winning ways continue.
Oh! And St. John's faces Marquette next. St. John's has defeated Marquette twice, but, like the Ducks, face a rigorous challenge today.
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